It was a high roller weekend at Aria Resort & Casino in the heart of Las Vegas, and as any high roller weekend at the popular gambling venue, there was quality poker action in huge quantities, fierce competition, and attractive prize pools.
Aria’s high roller tournaments tend to attract quite familiar poker faces and this tradition was not broken this past weekend. There were three higher buy-in tournaments to be played over the past several days – a $10,500 one, which took place on Thursday, August 17, and two $25,000 buy-in events, which were held on Friday, August 18, and Saturday, August 19, respectively.
While results from last night’s high roller are yet to be announced, we already know the names of the champions of the previous two.
On Thursday night, Florida poker pro Sean Winter emerged victorious from a field of 23 entries to take down the $10,500 event. The player received $115,000 for his efforts. Winter has taken part in quite a few of Aria’s High Rollers over the years and has won a number of in-the-money finishes. He has also emerged the victor in some of the tournaments he has participated in, capturing six-figure amounts for his performance in those. After his latest in-the-money finish, the player’s live poker winnings now exceed $5.1 million.
The overall prize pool of $230,000 was split among the top four finishers. Justin Young, a player from Henderson, Nevada, was Winter’s heads-up opponent. The player received $62,100 for his runner-up finish. Germany’s Giuseppe Pantaleo took third place, good for $34,500. Cary Katz, yet another Aria High Roller regular, finished fourth in the event for a payout of $18,400.
It was a happy weekend for the player, as he emerged victorious from the $25,000 on the very next day. On Friday night, Katz beat a field of 15 experienced high rollers to add another six-figure payout to his growing poker bankroll. The player earned $217,500 from the tournament, thus swelling up his live tournament earnings to nearly $11.8 million.
Over the years, Katz has taken part in almost all of Aria’s high roller events. And more importantly, he has cashed in almost all of the events he has taken part, successfully proving that he can easily be described as one of the world’s best high roller poker players. His winnings from Aria tournaments only account for millions of dollars.
The player has cashed in eight Aria High Rollers since the beginning of the year, winning one of them – a $25,000 buy-in one – back in February for $322,640. In late 2016, the player took down a $100,000 Super High Roller at the casino for $733,000.
Friday’s $25,000 High Roller drew a field of 15 participants, with those creating a prize pool of $375,000. Aside from Katz, two more players received a portion of the money. Brian Rast, who took second place, scooped a $112,500 payout. Jason Koon finished third for a total of $45,000.
