Kempe defeated fellow German pro Fedor "CrownUpGuy" Holz in heads-up play to claim the title and the $5 million first place prize, check out our final table recap below!
The 7-handed finale of the $300,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl kicked off on June 1 at the ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The final table had a fantastic lineup consisting of both old-school crushers aswell as the top players of a new generation.
Seat1. Phil Hellmuth – 905.000
Seat 2. Matt Berkey – 1.205.000
Seat 3. Rainer Kempe – 5.545.000
Seat 4. Bryn Kenney – 2.085.000
Seat 6. Fedor Holz – 2.190.000
Seat 7. Erik Seidel – 1.120.000
Seat 8. Dan Shak – 1.650.000
Play started on Level 20 (25,000/50,000 – 5,000 ante) but the first bustout only happened during Level 21 (30,000/60,000 – 5,000 ante), when shortstack Dan Shak shoved all-in for 530,000 with K-J after Fedor Holz opened to 140,000.
Holz called with A-9 and hit a straight on the T-7-3-8-J board to send Shak packing.
The next player to be eliminated was Bryn Kenney, he lost a big pot against Berkey and soon shoved his remaining 1,300,000 chips from the button with 7-7. Unfortunately for him, Holz woke up with J-J and Kenney couldn’t improve.
The next player to go was Berkey, he limped on the button, then shoved all-in for 1,300,000 with A-9 suited after Kempe raised to 205,000 from the small blind. Kempe called with 7-7 and improved to a full house on the 4-7-3-8-4 board.
By Level 22 (30,000/60,000 – 10,000 ante), Kempe held a massive lead while Seidel was the short stack.
Rainer Kempe – 9.875.000
Fedor Holz – 2.185.000
Phil Hellmuth – 1.705.000
Erik Seidel – 935.000
The next player to be eliminated was Phil Hellmuth, on Level 23 (40,000/80,000 – 10,000 ante) he limp/called all-in in a battle of the blinds with Q-J and roughly 800,000 chips. Kempe showed K-J and the best hand held up.
Rainer Kempe – 9,555,000
Fedor Holz – 4,145,000
Erik Seidel – 1,000,000
Poker legend Erik Seidel was the next player to go, he shoved all-in for 1,200,000 during Level 24 (50,000/100,000 – 10,000 ante) from the small blind with A-7 but Kempe woke up with A-T suited in the big blind and the 9-9-3-A-6 brought Seidel no help.
Seidel received $2,400,000 for his third place finish and the two German pros started the heads-up battle.
Rainer Kempe – 9,230,000
Fedor Holz – 5,470,000
Holz managed to double up pretty early in the match but by Level 27 (80,000/160,000 – 20,000 ante) Kempe once again held the lead. In the final hand of the tournament, Holz raised to 400,000 from the button, Kempe re-raised to 1,200,000 and Holz shoved all-in for 4,380,000.
Kempe called with 8-8 and was in a dominating position against Holz’s 2-2. The best hand held up and Holz was eliminated in second place for $3,500,000 while Kempe received $5,000,000 and the title.
Final table results
1. Rainer Kempe – $5.000.000
2. Fedor Holz – $3.500.000
3. Erik Seidel – $2.400.000
4. Phil Hellmuth – $1.600.000
5. Matt Berkey – $1.100.000
6. Bryn Kenney – $800.000
7. Dan Shak – $600.000
