Christoph Vogelsang Wins 2017 Super High Roller Bowl For $6,000,000

It took 5 days of hard battle to separate the 56 entrants in the $300k buy-in Super High Roller Bowl, but when the dust had settled it was Germany’s Christoph Vogelsang who emerged on top, $6million to the good after defeating Jake Schindler heads-up.

Big names fall

There was a long list of highly-regarded pros who fell by the wayside in the extremely tough event which saw the world’s top players joined by mega-wealthy luminaries from the world of business and commerce. Names such as Negreanu, Hellmuth, Polk, Mercier, Esfandiari couldn’t make the money, while Bill Perkins, Haralabos Voulgaris (first to bust on day1) and the only female entrant, Lauren Roberts, also hit the rails in a gruelling event.

Kevin Hart made most of the headlines over the first 2 days, disposing of Phil Hellmuth and then last year’s runner-up Fedor Holz, but it was a fairly select bunch who eventually made the top 7 paid spots, the bubble boy being Jason Koon (who actually walked off with $60k to get the interminable bubble play over with) the rest guaranteed at least $600,000.

The Kingsman finishes 4th

The big ‘surprise’ for those who haven’t seen him in action was King’s Casino owner Leon Tsoukernik, but the Russian-born Czech businessman had already taken down a High Roller last December, the $50k EPT in Prague, and was one of the few who would be playing the event on his own money - his often unorthodox style causing trouble to his illustrious companions.

In an interview after the event Leon claimed that Justin Bonomo, who finished 7th ought to have been disqualified for not following the rules - Bonomo not allowing his hole-cards to be seen by the cameras, to the dismay of those watching on the livestream and the consternation of his fellow players.

The Germans

Last year had seen a German 1-2 in Kempe and Holz and for a while it looked to be a distinct possibility again, with Vogelsang and countryman Stefan Schillihabel taking on Schindler in three-handed play on day 5, Kaverman and Buddiga having bust out 5th and 6th respectively, Tsoukernik finishing a highly-creditable 4th and looking forward to his Kings Vegas Cash Room being opened this week for the WSOP.

However short-stack Schillihabel – despite doubling up early – ran out of luck when his button AJ walked into Vogelsang’s pocket queens, and it was game over, although he walked off with a healthy $2.4million for his great 3rd spot finish.

There can be only one

Heads-up it was hard to choose between the German and Schindler, but fortune was on Vogelsang’s side, twice hitting river outs when way behind – and when the end came it was a huge river bluff by Schindler which Vogelsang eventually called with seconds left on his clock.

The $6million victory doubled Vogelsang’s career earnings in one fell swoop, launching him into 2nd spot in Germany’s all-time tournament money winners list behind Fedor Holz.

The full prize list was as follows: