Aria Super High Roller Bowl Title, and $5 Million, Goes to Rainer Kempe

The 2016 Aria Super High Roller Bowl in Las Vegas has now concluded with a new champion crowned. That man is none other than Germany’s Rainer Kempe, who defeated his countryman Fedor Holz in an intense heads-up match.

Germany’s Rainer Kempe took down $5 million for winning the second annual Aria High Roller Bowl 2016. (Image: superhighroller.com)

Kempe’s victory wasn’t a small one. He earned a life-changing $5 million for winning the tournament. That’s far and away his biggest career payday, and brings him to nearly $7 million in career live tournament winnings now.

The young German didn’t have it easy on the fourth and final day of this major summer poker event. Holz was a formidable opponent and refused to back down to Kempe’s big stack.

The two traded punches for hours once heads-up play began. Kempe started with a big chip advantage, but Holz battled back to take the lead a few times. The aggressive duel dragged on and on, one both players will likely never forget, but in the end, Kempe came out on top.

Wednesday’s action didn’t conclude until 1 am Thursday morning, with heads-up play lasting over three hours. Holz didn’t secure the title, but the $3.5 million payday for second should soften that blow.

Erik Seidel finished in 3^rd place ($2.4 million) Phil Hellmuth busted 4^th ($1.6 million), Matt Berkey went out in 5^th ($1.1 million), Bryn Kenney was 6^th ($800,000), and Dan Shak was the 7^th place finisher ($600,000). Dan Smith was the unfortunate “bubble boy” on Tuesday.

High Five for High Roller

In its second year, the Aria Super High Roller Bowl was quite a hit. Poker fans on social media raved about the excitement and television production. Poker Central aired the first couple of hours each day on a one-hour delay on Twitch and then CBS Sports Network took over the action for the remainder.

Ali Nejad and Nick Schulman provided the commentary. Both are popular poker TV announcers that have been doing this for years.

World Series Fever

With the conclusion of the Super High Roller Bowl, the World Series of Poker opens its doors. Play began on June 1 with the Casino Employees tournament, a $565 event only open to those in the gaming industry only.

There were 731 players registered for the event on Wednesday and only 23 are left heading into the second and final day. Leading at start of Day Two are Spencer Bennett, the chip leader with 627,000, Kerryjane Craigie in second with 323,000.

But all eyes on Thursday will be on Colossus II, which kicks off at 10 am PT in Las Vegas at the Rio.

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