Super High Roller: Stefan Schillhabel Defeats Talented Field for the Title

2018 Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino 
Hollywood, Florida
Event 12
$50,000 Super High Roller
$1,000,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 25
Prize Pool: $1,232,500
January 17-18, 2018

The biggest buy-in tournament on the Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open schedule brought out some top poker talent. The Super High Roller surpassed its $1,000,000 Guarantee and generated a lot of great poker action. After a long two days at the tables, Stefan Schillhabel defeated Adrian Mateos heads up for the Super High Roller title and $493,000.

The $50,000 buy-in tournament drew 25 entries to create a prize pool worth $1,232,500 and the last five players took home some of the money.

Day 1 played out over 13 hours and included Isaac Haxton, Rainer Kempe, Seth Davies, Sean Winter, and Stephen Chidwick along with Hall of Famer Erik Seidel among a list of top players. Alan Schein had the distinction of going out on the first hand of the tournament when Ben Tollerene’s turned straight was best.

The field slowly filled and the structure provided plenty of play. They moved along at a steady pace until the final table was formed and they began to approach the money bubble late on Day 1. Action slowed until the burst the money bubble. Tollerene was the beneficiary of the early double but he went out on in sixth place with five spots paying.

The clock was paused and the five remaining players returned on Thursday to play it out. Schillhabel and Mateos were joined by David Peters, Nick Petrangelo, and chip leader Justin Bonomo.

The stacks were deep at the start of Day 2 but it took only three hands to lose the first player. Peters moved in with a suited ace but Mateos woke up with a bigger ace to send the 2016 GPI Player of the Year out in fifth place.

Nick Petrangelo lost a flip with fives against Bonomo to exit in fourth but that was the end of the good times for Bonomo.  He began the day with the chip lead but fell out in third place after doubling up Schillhabel. He made a small comeback but was unable to finish it off.

Mateos began heads up play with the lead but it was exchanged several times during the long, two-hour match. Schillhabel took command late and Mateos was unable to pull back even in the match. The tournament ended with Schillhabel pairing his two live cards to win the Super High Roller title.

This is the third biggest cash for Schillhabel after his Super High Roller Bowl third-place finish in Las Vegas and his WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star title, both for more than $1,000,000.

Mateos earned more than $300,000 for his time at the tables and the Spanish pro booked his second SHRP Super High Roller runner-up finish, the first coming last spring to Dietrich Fast during the Showdown series.

Schillhabel conquered a tough field and talented final table.

“Pretty tough field. Like only two recreational players, and the rest were pros,” he commented. “The re-entries came mostly from the better players.”

“And that final table, I think it was the toughest final table I’ve ever played.”

“Just try to play my best against these guys,” Schillhabel answered about his strategy. “Not too loose. Playing tight. Take my spots against them.”

“Against these guys — it’s hard to exploit them. So you just have to play your best game and not be exploited yourself.”

It was another great Super High Roller. Congrats to Stefan and thank you to the entire field for a great two days of poker.

Super High Roller results:
1st: Stefan Schillhabel – $493,000 + trophy
2nd: Adrian Mateos – $308,125
3rd: Justin Bonomo – $197,200
4th: Nick Petrangelo – $135,575
5th: David Peters – $98,600