Jean-Noel Thorel limped the button and folded when Sam Greenwood made it 70,000 to go in the small blind.
Byron Kaverman then raised to 37,000 and Justin Bonomo clicked it back to 130,000 in the small blind. What followed was a four-bet to 250,000 by Kaverman.
"How much do you have behind?" Bonomo asked Kaverman, who simply moved his hands to reveal the chips at his disposal. "Can you break down the 25s?" Bonomo followed up and Kaverman revealed he had 300,000 of those.
Two time banks were used by Bonomo, who then moved all-in and forced an instant fold of Kaverman.
Artur Martirosian's cutoff raise was defended by Cary Katz in the big blind, which led them to the flop. Katz elected to check-call a bet of 16,000 and then open-shoved the turn.
Martirosian asked for an exact count and made the call when it was deemed to be for 205,000.
Cary Katz:
Artur Martirosian:
The top pair of the Russian was ahead but Katz had plenty of outs with his gutshot and flush draw. However, the river was not among them to reduce the field to the final 10 players.
One hand later, Martirosian raised and collected the blinds and big blind ante without resistance.
"Not a steal", he joked and exposed the . "A little steal," Chris Brewer added.
Christoph Vogelsang opened to 33,000 from under the gun and it folded to Rob Yong on the button who moved all in for 197,000 total. Artur Martirosian asked for a count in the big blind and then moved all in over the top for 1,100,000. Vogelsang took close to 30-seconds before showing and making the fold.
Rob Yong:
Artur Martirosian:
Vogelsang was kicking himself after seeing the hands and when the board ran out , the eights for Martirosian held up to eliminate Yong on the final table bubble.
Jean-Noel Thorel raised to 50,000 from under the gun and Christoph Vogelsang as the shortest stack moved all-in.
"Can I get a count?" Chris Brewer in the cutoff inquired. Once it was deemed to be for 298,000, Brewer used one time bank extension before announcing a reraise to 540,000. It folded around to Thorel, who pushed all-in for little more than that and Brewer quickly called.
Christoph Vogelsang:
Chris Brewer:
Jean-Noel Thorel:
The flop gave Thorel kings and queens, and he retained the lead throughout the turn as well as the river.
"Hehe ... I win?!" Thorel asked the dealer and then giggled when it was confirmed.
In the meantime, Vogelsang said his goodbyes while a visibly upset Brewer sighed loudly and bemoaned his lack of fortune. He later apologised in table chat for his outbreak after he paid off the double to Thorel for 681,000, becoming the joint short stack in the process.
The most expensive tournament of the 2023 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure has gathered some of the biggest names in the world of poker but just eight of them remain in contention after Day 2 of the $250,000 Super High Roller.
All of them are eyeballing a portion of the $9,498,060 prize pool but two contenders will go empty-handed, as just the top six finishers earn a cash prize at the lavish Baha Mar Resort on The Bahamas.
French businessman Jean-Noel Thorel soared to the top of the leaderboard in the final level of the night after claiming 2,295,000 to his name, surpassing Sam Greenwood (1,755,000) and long-time chip leader David Yan (1,675,000) eventually.
Fourth on the overnight leaderboard is rising Russian star Artur Martirosian with 1,295,000, who finished third in the 2023 PCA $10,300 Main Event just a few days ago. All-time money leader Justin Bonomo already tasted success during the series as well and advanced with a healthy stack of 1,090,000.
The line-up is completed by Orpen Kisacikoglu (790,000), Byron Kaverman (620,000), and Chris Brewer (260,000). Last casualty of the night was Christoph Vogelsang, who was part of a spectacular three-way all-in with Thorel and Brewer, in which the Frenchman cracked two ace-kings with king-queen suited to rise near the top of the leaderboard.
Seat Draw for the Final Day
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Jean-Noel Thorel
France
2,295,000
92
2
Artur Martirosian
Russia
1,295,000
52
3
Sam Greenwood
Canada
1,755,000
70
4
Orpen Kisacikoglu
Turkey
790,000
32
5
Chris Brewer
United States
260,000
10
6
David Yan
New Zealand
1,675,000
67
7
Byron Kaverman
United States
620,000
25
8
Justin Bonomo
United States
1,090,000
44
The final day is scheduled to recommence at 12.30 pm local time on Thursday, February 2, 2023 with level 15, featuring blinds of 10,000-25,000 and a big blind ante of 25,000. While all eight in contention will miss out on the late registration for the $25,000 High Roller and compete for seven-figure paydays, they can later on jump in the final $100,000 High Roller as of 8pm local time.
Jean-Noel Thorel, his rail and Timothy Adams
The late registration had remained open for the first four levels and following dinner break, during which the field size increased significantly from 25 to 39 total entries. First casualty of an action-filled day was Chris "Big Huni" Hunichen who returned with the shortest stack and was unable to spin it up.
Many other big names of the international poker scene would follow such as Mikita Badziakouski, Kathy Lehne, and Bryn Kenney. Adrian Mateos and Dan Smith were among those to lose their chips right before and after the end of the late registration period as neither was unable to bounce back to winning ways.
Isaac Haxton flirted with the chip lead in the early stages of the day but was unable to keep up the momentum, while Eric Worre was ousted by eventual chip leader Thorel. Yan not only avoided an expensive re-entry but spun up a severe short stack to the dominating lead after he could seemingly not lose any showdown for several hours. Michael Addamo was among those to hand over his chips with the Aussie bowing out prior to the final two tables.
David Yan - from short stack to big stack on Day 2
In rather quick succession, the unofficial final table was determined with the rapid eliminations of Ben Heath, Chalie Hook, Stephen Chidwick, Aleksejs Ponakovs, and Henrik Hecklen. They were joined on the rail without anything to show for by Cary Katz and Rob Yong, who were both knocked out by Martirosian within a couple minutes from each other.
Kisacikoglu kept his hopes of a finish in the money alive with a double through Yan once the unofficial nine-handed final table was set. Only one further player ran out of chips thereafter and it was a quite memorable hand in which Thorel was trailing preflop holding king-queen suited. Vogelsang and Brewer both held ace-king but the king-queen high shook up the leaderboard.
All eight players are set to return to their seats of the Convention Center at the Grand Hyatt at 12.30 pm local time to play down to a winner. The PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor to provide exclusive updates.
flop. Katz elected to check-call a bet of 16,000 and then open-shoved the 
turn. 
river was not among them to reduce the field to the final 10 players.
. "A little steal," Chris Brewer added.
and making the fold. 
flop gave Thorel kings and queens, and he retained the lead throughout the 
river.
