Yesterday, the Aria Resort & Casino, which is currently considered to be one of the best Las Vegas-based venues to play poker at, hosted the one-day Aria $25,000 High Roller II event. The turbo tournament attracted a total of 41 players, many of which were well-known names in the world of poker and frequent visitors of the casino in question.
Andrew Robl, Tony Gregg, Josh Arieh, as well as William Tonking, who finished fourth at the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event, were among those who entered the Aria event.
The entire prize pool amounted to $1,004,500 and only the top six places got paid. Players Thomas Marchese and Ben Lamb were the last to remain on the final table. Instead of facing each other in a heads-up play, they decided to opt for an ICM (independent chip model) chop. Thus, Lamb took the amount of $300,000.
As for Marchese, he was awarded $383,060 of the entire prize pool and technically won the tournament. This is actually his second big win from an Aria Resort & Casino event. Back in September 2014, the player finished first at the Aria $100,000 Super High Roller II to capture the substantial sum of $1,306,800. It is also important to note that at present, Marchese is ranking first in the venue’s all time money list.
As mentioned above, only the first six players were paid for their participation and performance in the tournament. Cary Katz was unfortunate enough to burst the bubble by finishing seventh and leaving the final table with empty pockets. He was eliminated by Byron Kaverman.
Jason Mercier, who is the proud owner of two WSOP gold bracelets, was the next to go. He was defeated by Matt Hyman. The poker pro received $40,180 for his sixth place. Hyman himself left next and was soon followed by Kaverman. The players were paid $60,270 and $80,360, respectively.
Thus, Antonio Esfandiari, Ben Lamb, and Thomas Marchese were the last three players on the final table. Esfandiari, who is known in the world of poker as “The Magician”, was quickly eliminated by Lamb. The player was holding [Qh][10h] on what turned out to be his last hand. With Lamb holding [As][8h] and the board showing two 8s on the flop, it became clear that Esfandiari was to take the third place. The player received $140,630.
After Esfandiari’s elimination, Marchese and Lamb decided on a chop instead of a heads-up play and were awarded $383,060 and $300,000, respectively.
Today, the Aria Resort & Casino is hosting yet another one-day $25,000 High Roller event. It is expected to kick off at 12:00 pm local time.
