Kenney, Schulman and Adams Among Poker Masters Champions Crowned

1. Home
2. News
3. Kenney Schulman And Adams Among Poker Masters Champions Crowned

The inaugural Poker Masters series has played down to the Main Event. Over the last five days, a series of high roller events concluded at the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas awarding millions in prizes.

Some of the game’s biggest names took down events over the weekend and Steffen Sontheimer is the current favorite to take down the Poker Masters Purple Jacket, the award for the event’s top player.

Nick Schulman Takes Event #1 for $918,000

The opening $50,000 event kicked off on Wednesday and drew a solid field of 51 entries. By the end of the day, only the final table remained headlined by Daniel Negreanu. Joining him was Nick Schulman, Dominik Nitsche, Adrian Mateos, Matt Hyman, Steffen Sontheimer, Koray Aldemir and Stefan Schillhabel.

Ultimately, it was Schulman against Hyman for the title. Schulman started with the chip lead but the pair swapped it multiple times before the blinds started catching up to them. In the final hand, Schulman’s A-K was too much for the A-8 of Hyman and Schulman took the first event and $918,000.

Steffen Sontheimer Stop Fedor Holz to Take Event #2

Event #2 of the Poker Masters kicked off on Thursday and drew 50 entries. Steffen Sontheimer and Adrian Meteos once again made the final table and started the final table middle of the pack.

Christian Christner started the final table with the chip lead with “semi-retired” German superstar Fedor Holz right behind with 1.13 million. Also making the final table were Tom Marchese, Dan Shak, Bryn Kenney and Phil Hellmuth.

Holz dominated at the final table and took a massive stack of 5.4 million into heads-up play against Steffen Sontheimer who had just 810k.

However, fortunes quickly changed in a massive hand that saw Sontheimer double up with quad sixes. Soon after, the took the chip lead and never looked back on the way to an amazing comeback victory.

With his win, Sontheimer earned $900,000 and became the frontrunner to win the Poker Masters purple jacket. Holz walked away with $550,000 and moved up to 5th place on the Poker All-Time Money List.

Bryn Kenney Defeats Erik Seidel to Take Event #3

Bryn Kenney made his second straight final table of the Poker Masters on Saturday while Erik Seidel continued his march on first place on the All-Time Money List. The pair battled heads-up for the Event #3 title and $960,000.

The event had a slightly smaller field with just the final seven players receiving a payday. Among those making the final table were Cary Katz, Doug Polk, Dan Smith, Sergio Aido and Jake Schindler.

Heads-up play between Kenney and Seidel was a wild affair. Despite starting nearly even in chips, Kenney quickly knocked Seidel down to a short stack. However, the eight-time WSOP bracelet winner kept doubling up and ultimately took the chip lead.

Unfortunately, his momentum ran out. Kenney shoved with pocket sixes and Seidel called with Js-10s. The board failed to hit Seidel and he was left with less than a big blind. Seidel managed to triple up but it wasn’t enough. Ultimately, he was eliminated when his 3-2 was unable to outrun the K-J of Kenney.

Bryn Kenney earned $960,000 for his victory, giving him $1.085 in winnings for the series. Erik Seidel earned $576,000 and inched closer to Daniel Negreanu for the All-Time Money List lead. Negreanu leads with $34.33 million to the $33.1 million of Seidel.

Brandon Adams defeats Doug Polk for Event 4 Title

The last of the $50k preliminary events kicked off on Saturday and multiple players made repeat final table appearances. Steffen Sontheimer made his third final table of the series while Jake Schindler and Doug Polk both made their second straight final.

This event drew a smaller field of just 39 entries, meaning only the top 6 were paid. Jake Schindler was first out with Steffen Sontheimer out in fifth. Justin Bonomo finished 4th and David Peters added to his impressive live tournament resume with a third place finish.

Brandon Adams and Doug Polk faced off for the title and while Polk started with the chip lead, Adams quickly hopped into the drivers seat. The final hand saw both players hit a flush but Adams’ flush was superior, allowing him to win the title and $819,000.

Poker Masters Main Event Commences Monday

The final event of the Poker Masters, the $100,000 NL Hold’em freezeout, kicks off later today. The three-day event is the final chance for players to take their shot at the purple jacket. Whomever finishes the series with the most money won will take the jacket.

Here’s the current top five:

Steffen Sontheimer – $1.22 million
Bryn Kenney – $1.08 million
Nick Schulman – $918,000
Brandon Adams – $819,000
Doug Polk – $612,000

If the $100k event draws a field similar to the $50k, we can expect a first place prize of around $1.5 million, giving most anyone a legitimate shot of winning the jacket. However, Sontheimer and company have been on a roll and it will be interesting to see if they can continue it into the final event.