Thomas Marchese Wins 49th Aria $25k High Roller

(Photo: Cardplayer.com)

Speak of the devil and he shall appear goes the saying, and yesterday’s mention of one of 2016’s outstanding players seemed to predict perfectly the winner of the second $25K buy-in high-roller at the Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas – Thomas Marchese!

A year which had seen 22 cashes and $5million+ in tournament winnings just got even better for the 29-year old from New Jersey as he scooped the $288,000 on offer for top spot, edging out perennial Aria casher Cary Katz.

The heads-up encounter didn’t last long, as PokerTelegraph recount it:

"… that’s what happens when two huge hands collide when you’re heads up. After Cary raised the button, Tom re-raised his big blind. Cary thought about it for a few seconds then announced all in. Tom rolled pocket Queens as he snap called."

Tom – Qh Qs

Cary – Ah Kh

How’s this for a flop. The door was the Kd, followed by the Ah and then Qc. The turn was the Jc bringing chop outs. But the 5d on the river ended the tournament in favor of the winner, Tom Marchese.

Congratulations to @BigCheese_poker for his victory in the @ARIAPoker $25K High Roller! pic.twitter.com/ZvEEDfvsqy

— Paul Campbell (@TDPaulCampbell) December 30, 2016

Based in Las Vegas as so many other top high-stakes pros are, Marchese bagged his 8th high-roller title at the Aria against an extremely tough field, which included Doug ‘WCGRider’ Polk. Polk’s 3rd place finish and $86,400 came a day too late to win his crossbooking bet with Dan Smith, but he did at least have the satisfaction of busting his buddy at the final table…

Sometimes you a bust a $25k final table to a guy eating cookies pic.twitter.com/GrxzGMGyIw

— Dan Smith (@DanSmithHolla) December 30, 2016

Marchese is now sitting pretty in the number 15 spot in the all-time tournament earners list with over $15million and should he bag today’s 3rd and final high-roller in the Aria’s pre-New Year series he could well improve on that.

The players have decided to make the $100k buy-in biggie a 1-day event, doubtless not fancying a late finish on or even over New Year, Aria’s Tournament Director tweeting…

FYI the @ARIAPoker High Roller players have decided to make tomorrow's $100K a ONE DAY event.

Structure unchanged - 150K/40min

— Paul Campbell (@TDPaulCampbell) December 30, 2016

Results of the second high-roller were as follows:

$25K buy-in, $576,000 prizepool, 24 entries