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The countdown to the year’s biggest event has begun and over the next 25 days, Poker Central will introduce the entire 2017 Super High Roller Bowl field. From the world’s best high-stakes players, to online crushers and successful businessmen, poker’s most exclusive event has it all. Follow Poker Central’s “25 Days of SHRBowl” to know who will be competing when cards get in the air on May 28th.
The $300,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl attracts the world’s best players but over the last two years, the Super High Roller Bowl has also attracted participants from outside the confines of the poker community. These players come from many different industries and this year is no different.
When play begins later this month, a quarter of the 56-player field will be considered “non-pros” but none will be easy outs. They all have success in some of the world’s biggest and most prestigious events, including Lauren Roberts and Zach Hyman, who will be making their Super High Roller Bowl debuts in 2017.
California financier Lauren Roberts burst onto the tournament scene two years ago when she final tabled the biggest event on the World Poker Tour’s Season XVI schedule. The $10,000 buy-in WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event is not only the biggest but arguably the toughest WPT event of the year and Roberts navigated the stacked Five Diamond field to notch a 7th place finish and a $173,000 score.
Fast forward to the summer and Roberts claimed her first World Series of Poker Main Event score, a result that moved her career earnings near the quarter-million mark. While she may not have a lengthy tournament resume like many other Super High Roller Bowl players, she is no stranger to the high-stakes arena.
Roberts primarily plays in high-stakes cash games and while most of those big buy-in games are behind closed doors, those doors were briefly opened last week. Roberts played in a massive $100/200 No Limit cash game at the Playground Poker Club against a table of High Rollers, including Antonio Esfandiari, and partypoker Ambassador Sam Trickett.
Despite the tough lineup, Roberts was one of the biggest winners in that partypokerLIVE cash game. She ended up over six-figures but Roberts isn’t the only Super High Roller Bowl rookie booking wins. California businessman Zachary Hyman has had some good warm-up runs over the last few months, with most of his damage coming in ARIA High Roller events.
Hyman, pictured above, has cashed in three ARIA $25,000 High Rollers since the start of the year and those results have pushed him dangerously close to the $2 million career earnings mark. While Hyman has recently tested the High Roller waters and found success, he has had success at nearly every level of poker.
Of his four career six-figure scores, three have seen Hyman finish in the winner’s circle, including a $729,000 result from the $10,000 buy-in Wynn Classic Main Event in 2007. That career-best result kick-started Hyman’s tournament career and since that victory, Hyman has won events with buy-ins ranging from $2,000 to $25,000.
The Super High Roller Bowl will be the biggest buy-in event that both Roberts and Hyman have ever played but each have high-stakes experience to draw from. That means that neither rookie should be out of their element when they make their debuts later this month.
Tomorrow, “25 Days of SHRBowl” moves back to the professional player pool to feature two American High Rollers. Follow all of Poker Central’s coverage of the year’s biggest event here.
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