Bryn Kenney won the PokerStars Championship Monaco Super High Roller event on Saturday (PokerStars photo/Tomas Stacha)

In the era of High Roller of Super High Roller tournaments, maybe no player has enjoyed more success than American Bryn Kenney. He’s had six High Roller or Super High Roller wins, two seven-figure scores and 29 six-figure scores. On Saturday in Monaco the 31-year-old added another win and the single biggest cash of his career when he took down the PokerStars Championship Monaco €100,000 Super High Roller event.

The win earned Kenney €1,784,500 ($1,944,326 US) and pushed him to 15th on the all-time earning list with just over $17.1 million. After having already won the $100,000 Super High Roller at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in 2016, Kenney now has another prestigious title on his resume – the first for him in Monaco.

“I’d never had a good trip in Monaco. It’s nice to finally win the biggest tournament here,” said Kenney.

Nine players started the final day with only eight spots paying. Isaac Haxton busted on the bubble leaving the final eight to play and it didn’t take long for action to pick up. Just fives minutes after Haxton left empty-handed, Sam Greenwood was shown the door.

Viacheslav Buldygin raised to 160,000 from UTG and Greenwood called from the big blind. The flop came Ks8s3c, Greenwood then check-raised all in after Buldygin bet 150,000. Buldygin called and tabled AcAd while Greenwood showed KhJh for top pair. Neither the turn or river were any help though and the Canadian was out in eighth.

It took just another five minutes for Buldygin to find another victim. Buldygin raised to 160,000 from late position and Martin Kabhrel raised all in for a little over 1,000,000 from the big blind and Buldygin called. Kabhrel tabled 3d3h while Buldygin showed TcTd. The AsJc7h flop kept Buldygin ahead and neither the 4d turn or 8c river were any help for Kabhrel, eliminating him in seventh.

Buldygin took a back seat to Kenney for the next few bustouts. Kenney raised to 175,000 from middle position before German Steffen Sontheimer moved all in right after him for just under 1,000,000. Kenney called instantly and tabled AcAs while Sontheimer found himself in trouble with Ah6h. The QcQd3c7d2c runout did nothing to help Sontheimer and he was out in sixth for €380,700 – the largest score of his career.

Kenney stayed hot and ten minutes later busted another high roller regular who was on a heater of his own. Ole Schemion, who won the €10,000 High Roller earlier this week, opened to 175,000 from the cutoff before Kenney moved all in from the big blind. Schemion called and showed QhQs while Kenney had Ah9d. The Td6c3c flop kept Schemion in front. The 8d turn gave Kenney a gutshot straight draw and the 7c river filled the straight, sending Schemion out in fifth.

Kenney showed no signs of slowing down after picking up those two eliminations and found himself adding another player’s entire stack to his own just over 30 minutes later. With blinds now at 50,000/100,000 (10,000), Kenney raised to 200,000 from the cutoff before David Peters moved all in from the button for 2,200,000. Kenney called and showed QdQs after Peters tabled As7d. The 8h5d3c flop was no help for Peters and neither was the Kh turn or 9s river. That hand gave Kenney almost 80% of the chips in play with just two opponents, Buldygin and Daniel Dvoress, standing in the way of the title.

Kenney finally got to take a back seat ten minutes later as the other two players clashed. Buldygin moved all in from the button and Dvoress called all in from the small blind before Kenney folded. Buldygin was racing with QsJs against Dvoress’ 6d6s. The AcTc9c flop didn’t directly connect for Buldygin, but he did pick up a number of extra outs. The Ks turn was one of them and Buldygin eliminated Dvoress in third as the 3c river completed the board.

When heads up play began, Kenney had 13,000,000 chips while Buldygin had just 2,250,000. Despite the huge advantage, in both chips and relative experience closing a big tournament, it wasn’t exactly an easy ride for Kenney. Finally, with Viacheslav Buldygin down to just 10 big blinds, Kenney moved all in after Buldygin attempted to limp his button. The Russian called and showed KdQd against the 2d2s of Kenney. The 6s3c2h flop put Kenney in nearly complete control and the 9s turn and 8s river sealed Kenney’s win, eliminatiing Buldygin in second place.

Payouts

  1. Bryn Kenney – €1,784,500
  2. Viacheslav Buldygin – €1,290,800
  3. Daniel Dvoress – €832,800
  4. David Peters – €630,600
  5. Ole Schemion – €487,715
  6. Steffen Sontheimer – €380,700
  7. Martin Kabrhel – €303,350
  8. Sam Greenwood – €237,950