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Ilkin Garibli has won the record-breaking $25k PCA 2015 HIgh Roller for $1,105,040 after beating American pro Joe Kuether heads-up. The pair chopped the event at 10.30pm but battled on for over two hours in a bid to win the title, the trophy and “Steel and Rose Gold” watch from SLYDE, the Official Watch Sponsor for the PCA Main Event, High Roller and Super High Roller.
Garibli, 26, from Azerbaijan, is normally a cash game player but just happened to be holidaying in the Bahamas when the PCA hit town. Some poker friends persuaded him to stay on and lo, he’s a million bucks up.
Kuether, also 26, snagged $1,050,000 for his runner-up finish. The Wisconsin native is a regular at major live tournaments and already has more than $2.2m in tournament winnings to his name including $136,250 for winning the $5k event at last year’s PCA.
EPT Vienna champion Oleksii Khoroshenin was third for $629,460 while 2013 PCA Super High Roller champion Scott Seiver was fifth for $398,340. With 269 entries (200 unique players + 69 re-entries), this year’s PCA $25k was not only the biggest PCA High Roller ever held but the seventh largest $25,000 buy-in tournament in poker history. The record field generated a prize pool of $6,456,000 with 39 players paid.
