Jared Bleznick is the first-ever Super High Roller Bowl: Pot-Limit Omaha champion after a six-hour battle with Isaac Haxton and Stephen Chidwick to close out the inaugural $100,000 tournament at PokerGO Studio.
The final three outlasted a field of 38 players to fight over a $1,292,000 share of the $3,800,000 prize pool.
It was Haxton who fell in second place after holding a chip advantage over Bleznick in heads-up play. Chidwick picked up $836,000 for third and a field of Isaac Kempton, Aaron Katz, Frank Crivello, and Chino Rheem rounded out the rest of the cashing finishers.
Jared Bleznick Stalls Play in $100k to Open Sports Cards
Super High Roller Bowl: Pot-Limit Omaha Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jared Bleznick | United States | $1,292,000 |
| 2 | Isaac Haxton | United States | $836,000 |
| 3 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | $570,000 |
| 4 | Isaac Kempton | United States | $418,000 |
| 5 | Aaron Katz | United States | $304,000 |
| 6 | Frank Crivello | United States | $228,000 |
| 7 | Chino Rheem | United States | $152,000 |
Rheem Out First; Katz Ladders to 5th
Rheem was the first to go after he surrendered a double to Kempton in the opening salvos of Day 2. Kempton turned over the better hand and dodged a flush draw from Rheem to leave the PGT Mixed Games II champion with just a few chips. The last of it went to Bleznick, who turned over a Broadway straight to send Rheem to the rail with $152,000.
Haxton maintained the lead throughout the early part of the day and short-stacked Katz doubled through Bleznick to stay alive for long enough to see Crivello bow out in sixth place. Crivello picked up $228,000 from the cage and the final five players were guaranteed at least $304,000.
Katz fought back off the mat with another double, this time through Haxton, but he remained at the bottom of the chip counts as the only player under 1 million. Haxton remained in the lead throughout final-five play while Bleznick and Kempton jockeyed for second while Chidwick waited in fourth for Katz to go one way or the other with his last 10 big blinds.
Read about Isaac Haxton’s win in Super High Roller Bowl VIII
Haxton Loses Ground
It wasn’t long before Katz claimed fifth place for $304,000 and Kempton took the last of his chips to make a final four. The final four were much closer to one another than when five-handed play began and Haxton maintained a razor-thin lead against the charging duo of Bleznick and Kempton. Chidwick was now the short stack, but within arms reach of all three and sitting on more than 65 big blinds.
Kempton took a big step back in four-handed play when he ran into the flopped full out of Bleznick. Bleznick, in a bucket hat and white fur coat, took full advantage and the entire table’s chips started to fall his way until he had 6.8 million to Haxton’s nearest 2.2.
At one point, with Kempton all in for 11 big blinds, Bleznick used his time extensions to open a box of sports cards.
Chidwick fell back to the short stack for a brief moment before he doubled back through Kempton and put the Delaware native on the ropes. Kempton soon bowed out in fourth place for $418,000 at the hands of Bleznick, who entered three-handed play with 7.3 million chips.
Final Three Marathon
Bleznick’s nearest competitor in the final three was Haxton with 2.4 million and Chidwick was left to look for a spot with just over 1.5 million. That spot came just moments later and Chidwick doubled through Haxton to put the recent Super High Roller Bowl VIII champion on the short stack.
A fury of action followed as Haxton and Chidwick traded double-ups before the Brit finally took a big bite out of Bleznick when his kings held for a successful double. Bleznick still held the lead when the dust settled, but he was less than a million ahead of his two now-even opponents.
Three-handed play continued on for a total of six hours before Chidwick hit the rail in third place and left Haxton with the lead. Bleznick quickly jumped ahead and the two traded the high ground in a short heads-up match that ended with the champ turning three nines to beat Haxton’s queens.
*Images courtesy of PokerGO
Live Reporting Executive
Las Vegas-based PokerNews Live Reporting Executive, originally from Chicago, IL