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Rainer Kempe and Maria Ho Win LAPC High Roller Events

In case you didn’t know, Rainer Kempe and Maria Ho are an item. They are one of the latest poker “power couples” to go on a nice run in the game, taking down a pair of events at the 2019 Los Angeles Poker Classic.

On Monday, Kempe took down Event #66, the $25,000 High Roller. A day later, Ho took down the other $25k High Roller, outlasting Kristin Bicknell heads-up for the title.

Rainer Kempe Takes Down $25k High Roller at LAPC

The first of two $25k High Roller events kicked off on Monday at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. The event drew a small, but elite field of 27 entries to create a total prize pool of $674k. Only four players made the money of the event with Kristin Bicknell being the bubble girl of the event.

Ali Imsirovic took fourth, good for $96k while Jeremy Ausmus took third for $127,320. Heads up play in this event was between Joshua Gordon and Rainer Kempe. Ultimately, it was Kempe who took down the first place prize of $270,905. Gordon didn’t fare too badly for second, taking down $180,600.

This is Kempe’s fourth win of 2019 and sixth final table. He won two events at the PCA in January and then won the $25k Challenge at Aussie Millions. He also finished fourth in the $100k Challenge. Kempe already has $2.12 million in earnings this year and looks well on his way for a career year in the game. He has $19.42 million in career earnings and is presently 23rd on Poker’s All-Time Money List.

Mario Ho Wins Other $25k High Roller

While Maria Ho is best known for her roles behind the camera, she is still a fierce poker player and proved that on Tuesday by taking down Event #68 of the LAPC, the second $25k High Roller of the series.

This time around, 28 entrants put up $25k each to create a prize pool of $699,860. Just five players were paid two of the biggest female stars in the game looking to take the prize. Manig Loesner finished in fifth, earning $49,460. Tamon Nakamura finished fourth for $76,270. Sean Winter continued his winning ways and followed up his stellar performance at the US Poker Open to finish third in this event, earning $117,190.

Heads up in this event came down to Maria Ho and Kristen Bicknell. Boyfriends Rainer Kempe and Alex Foxen were railing both in anticipation of the epic battle. Ultimately, it was Ho that walked away the winner and the $276,690 top prize. Bicknell settled for second place, earning $180,070.

This was Ho’s largest score since finishing runner up in the $5k NL event at the 2011 World Series of Poker. The win will take her up to $3.25 million in career earnings and should allow her to leapfrog to seventh on the Women’s All-Time Money List.

In addition to the prize money won by Ho and Kempe in their respective High Roller events, they also earned 300 points towards Poker Central’s High Roller of the Year race. Ho is now ninth and Kempe 10th with Ho taking the superior position based on cash earned.

Sean Winter’s third-place finish in the last $25k High Roller at the LAPC gave him 150 points and allowed him to leapfrog over David Peters for the top spot on the High Roller of the Year rankings. The next events that count towards the race are March 21 through 23rd as the first three ARIA High Roller events of 2019 commence. It will be interesting to see whether Winter can retain the top spot on this list and whether Kempe or Ho can continue their winning ways.

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