After two third place finishes, Bryn Kenney finally got his hands on the PCA SHR Championship trophy Friday

Before the final table of the $100,000 buy-in PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Super High Roller began on Friday afternoon there were a number of storylines in play.

Joe McKeehen, just two months from winning the WSOP Main Event was third in chips.

Isaac Haxton, just weeks after leaving Team PokerStars Online, was fifth in chips at PokerStars’ marquee live event.

Mustapha Kanit, who won the €50,000 buy-in Super High Roller at the EPT Grand Final last May, was looking for another title and seven figure score to add to his impressive resume.

And then there was Bryn Kenney. Five years ago Kenney finished third in this event. He did that again in 2015, finishing third behind runner-up Roger Sippl and champion Steve O’Dwyer. But on Friday Kenney exorcised the demons and came through with a victory – and a $1,687,800 payday – against the stacked field.

McKeehen got the party started in all in preflop confrontation with Haxton. With just over 14 big blinds left, Haxton moved all-in with Ts 9s on the button and McKeehen called from the big blind with As Ks. The board ran out Ac Jd 4h Td 5s to give McKeehen top pair and eliminate Haxton in sixth place.

Almost 90 minutes later David Peters was shown the door. Working with just over 10 big blinds, Peters moved all-in holding Ad 9s, Kenney called from the big blind with As Td. The Ks Qd 3c flop was no help for Peters but the Qh turn gave Peters some chops outs. The Ts river however sealed Peters’ fate with a fifth place finish.

Ankush Mandavia completed from the small blind before Mustapha Kanit raised to 290,000 from the big blind. Mandavia responded by moving all-in and Kanit called. Mandavia was racing with his Ah Jh against Kanti’s 7c 7s. The Td 9h 8d flop gave both players straight draws. The 4h turn changed nothing the but the Qs river completed Mandavia’s straight and sent Kanit to the rail in fourth.

Despite the chips he picked up by busting Kanit, Mandavia’s run ended not long after that hand. Mandavia moved all-in from the small blind for 2,135,000 and Kenney called from the big blind. Mandavia had kicker issues after turning over Ks 4h and seeing Kenney held Kd 9d. After the Jc Th 6s 3d 7d board Mandavia was out in third and Kenney was left to play heads-up with reigning WSOP Main Event champ McKeehen.

When heads-up play began Kenney had the chip lead, holding 7,945,000 chips to McKeehen’s 6,550,000. The two played 46 hands of heads-up poker with both players taking turns with an overwhelming chip lead. On the final hand of the night McKeehen raised his button to 480,000 before Kenney moved all-in. McKeehen called and tabled 5d 5h while Kenney turned up Kh 7c. The 7d 7h 4c flop put Kenney ahead with trips and when the 3s turn and Js river failed to give McKeehen a full house, he was out in second place leaving Kenney as the champion.

The event attracted a total of 58 entries – down slightly from the 66 that played last year.

Final Table Payouts

  1. Bryn Kenney – $1,687,800
  2. Joe McKeehen – $1,220,480
  3. Ankush Mandavia – $787,640
  4. Mustapha Kanit – $596,360
  5. David Peters – $461,340
  6. Isaac Haxton – $360,060
  7. Daniel Dvoress – $286,920
  8. Kathy Lehne- $225,040