Why You Should Be Excited for the $500k Super High Roller Bowl at ARIA

Move over, Big One For Big Drop; there’s a new super high roller about to grab the world’s attention: the $500k Super High Roller Bowl at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

The second largest buy-in tournament in the history of poker is set to run from July 2-4 as part of ARIA’s new Super High Roller Bowl series, which is set to run near the end of this summer’s World Series of Poker. Why should you care? We think the answer is rather obvious, but if you want to find out more info—and get even more excited—check our list below.

The Players

There are currently 58 contestants signed up for the event and, as you’d expect for a tournament of this magnitude, it’s as star-studded an event as you will probably ever see. From Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, and Phil Galfond to Dan Colman, Sam Trickett, and Scott Seiver, the Super High Roller is set to feature the very best players on the planet. Throw in a few rich businessmen and you have all the makings of a must-watch event. Hell, even Jean-Robert Bellander somehow managed to scoop a buy-in! You can check out the full lineup here.

The Rivalries

If you’ve had a chance to look at the lineup (see link above), you’ll notice that Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Daniel “jungleman” Cates are going to be at the same tournament together. Can you imagine if they were seated at the same table after their history? The entire online poker community is slobbering at the thought of potential fireworks—just picture Dwan busting Cates on the bubble. Other possibilities include Phil Hellmuth vs. everyone, Dan Smith’s sarcasm vs. whoever is unlucky enough to play him, and Connor Drinan’s AA vs. anyone else’s AA (this video is still tough to watch.)

The Prize Pool

The tournament currently features a prize pool of $29 million and an estimated first-place prize of over $9 million. While many of these players are already disgustingly wealthy—and many, if not all, have backers/sold off some of their action—this is truly life-changing money. Like the Big One For One Drop, whoever wins this will be launched into the upper stratosphere of the poker world.

The Ring

While a massive prize pool and seven-figure paydays are always important, a tournament of this stature is also about bragging rights. With a small field consisting of the top tier of poker players, money isn’t the only thing up for grabs. The winner will also receive a customized, diamond-covered Super High Roller Championship ring.

The Side Games

With large tournaments come the inevitable side games, as with some of the sickest degenerates all in one room you know there’s going to be some ridiculously juicy cash tables. In point of fact, ARIA is running their own Super High Roller Cash Game during the series—catch it June 30-July 1. I can only expect that even more games will run during the week.

It’s Televised

One of the biggest problems with last year’s Big One For One Drop was that it wasn’t really televised—we only got two episodes of highlights. At this year’s SHRB, we’re going to get all the action, thanks to a TV contract on the new Poker Central Network. Poker Central is the world’s first 24/7 poker TV network and will work together with POKER PROductions, the producers of the World Series of Poker, to bring the show to a major sports television network.

No Rake

As a result of the aforementioned television deal between ARIA and the Poker Central Network, the $500k Super High Roller Bowl will not feature a rake, which is a great incentive to players and means that there will be an even larger prize pool than there would be at another tournament of the same size. Somewhere, a NIT looked at his 10% fees on the micro tables and cried.

Satellites
Can’t afford to pony up a cool half-a-million dollars? Don’t worry; we’re not going either. But if you still want a shot at all that money, you’re in luck, because there will be satellites into the event. There are no details on the specifics of the satellite tournaments yet, but we’ll keep you posted.

The Contest

Are you ready to become a high roller? The Super High Roller Bowl is running a special contest where the winner will enjoy the ultimate high roller vacation for you and a friend. The prize package contains hotel, flights, and front row seats to the final table, as well as $5,000 cash. Enter here for your chance to win, and check out the video below.