ARIA and the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, photographed in 2019. Photo: Max Richard, CC0.
Youness Barakat finished Monday’s opening session of the $103,000 Super High Roller Bowl PLO with 1,299,000 chips. Sam Soverel follows with 991,000, ahead of Richard Gryko’s 903,000 at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas.
Barakat seized the lead in a late three-way pot. His kings full of queens knocked out Lautaro Guerra and won a large portion of Gryko’s stack.
Day 1 drew 27 entries and ended with 11 survivors. The field is still open: registration closes when play resumes on Tuesday, October 6, at 1 p.m. Pacific (20:00 UTC). PokerGO’s broadcast is scheduled for 4 p.m. Pacific (23:00 UTC).
The restart brings blinds of 4,000/8,000 and an 8,000 big blind ante, putting Barakat at roughly 162 big blinds. Jonas Kronwitter returns eighth with 671,000; Cesar Garcia has 344,000.
Kronwitter’s series title sets the backdrop
Kronwitter has just won the preceding PGT PLO Series standings with 598 points. Two victories and five cashes produced $576,088 in winnings, plus a $10,000 PGT Passport bonus. His wins came in Event #5, a $10,500 tournament, and Event #7, which cost $15,700 to enter.
The PLO Bowl runs October 5–7 at ARIA’s PokerGO Studio. Super High Roller Bowl XI follows on October 8–10, with Poker Masters starting October 12.