Super High Roller Bowl: Timofey Kuznetsov Leads After Day 1
Timofey ‘Trueteller’ Kuznetsov must really like the beds at Aria Resort & Casino. The young Russian poker pro has just two live scores to his credit and they’re both at the Las Vegas hotel. After Day 1 of the 2016 Super High Roller Bowl, he’s on pace for his third cash – and this could be a big one.
Kuznetsov leads the 35 remaining players after Day 1 with 1,129,500 and he is the only player to break through the seven-digit barrier. Kuznetsov’s success at Aria includes final tabling the inaugural Super High Roller Bowl last summer for $2,125,000 while the second came just days ago when he took down a $50,000 buy-in event at Aria Resort & Casino for almost $750,000.
Kuznetsov’s closest competition after Day 1 is Matt Berkey and Fedor Holz who bagged 745,500 and 736,500 respectively. Both players won High Roller events last December just 10 days apart. Berkey won a $25,000 event at Aria while Holz took down the $100,000 buy-in Alpha8 event at Bellagio.
Rounding out the top five are the two players who finished first and second in the 2014 Big One for One Drop. Daniel Colman finished with 665,000 while Daniel Negreanu ended with 635,500 after holding the chip lead for most of the day.
The $300,000 buy-in event attracted a cross section of the some of the world’s best poker players and high stakes regulars, including some amateurs. There were 14 players sent to the rail on Day 1 including some players with high stakes success already to their credit.
Former Big One for One Drop Winner Antonio Esfandiari didn’t even make it through the first hour. Esfandiari lost an early pot to Jason Mercier and then saw the rest of stack at risk with 
against good friend Brian Rast’s 
. Esfandiari dodged the 
flop and 
turn but the 
river ended his tournament after just about 45 minutes.
Just days removed from winning the SCOOP High Main Event, Talal Shakerchi couldn’t keep his momentum going and was also a Day 1 casualty. The other 13 players eliminated on first day of play included Isaac Haxton, Scott Seiver, Haralabos Voulgaris and Doug Polk, who was the last elimination of the day.
Day 2 Schedule
Action gets back underway Monday at 1 PM PT. The first three hours of play will be streamed on a one-hour delay at https://www.twitch.tv/pokercentral starting at 2pm PT. The CBS Sports Network broadcast gets underway at 5 PM PT and will air until Midnight PT as players player another seven levels.
Top 10 Chip Counts
- Timofey Kuznetsov – 1,129,500
- Matt Berkey – 745,500
- Fedor Holz – 736,500
- Daniel Colman – 665,000
- Daniel Negreanu – 653,500
- Bill Perkins – 613,500
- Phil Galfond – 578,500
- Jason Mercier – 568,500
- Dan Perper – 559,000
- Justin Bonomo – 544,000
