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For players that are in contention, “Masters Sunday” is usually the most important Sunday of their lives. 18 holes separate golfers from the Green Jacket and four Sundays separate the world’s best poker players from the start of their 2018 Poker Masters journey. Before the race to the Poker Masters Purple Jacket® begins, Poker Central will preview the highest stakes week of the year with “Masters Sunday” updates covering everything and anything Poker Masters.

The Poker Masters schedule allows for players to ease their way into the grueling week of high stakes battle. High Roller events never sleep and a crew of five players enter Las Vegas this September on a high.

High Roller of the Year leaderboard points system determines who walks away with the Purple Jacket. A few of the names found here already have a spot in contention for the High Roller belt and have a chance to add even more points during Poker Masters.

Jake Schindler

One of the ARIA High Roller kings has been hard at work in major events since the end of the World Series of Poker. Schindler picked up a second place finish in the WPT Gardens Poker Festival a few weeks ago for $366,740. The silver medal stamped the third WPT final table for Schindler, who got to work in Florida not long after.

Schindler won the $25,500 High Roller at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open for a smooth $800,000 in one of the most sought-after High Roller titles outside ARIA.

Poker Masters 2017 booked two final tables for Schindler, who seeks a series win to add to his 2017 Super High Roller Bowl runner-up finish.

Stephen Chidwick

The perpetual High Roller contender earned his ARIA breakout by winning the U.S. Poker Open in dominating fashion. Chidwick continues to add to his stellar 2018 and made some noise around the globe in recent events.

The Venetian DeepStack Championship Poker Series closed with Chidwick taking fourth in the $5,000 Main Event where he earned $177,091. Chidwick then traveled to Korea and collected $372,828 more in the Triton High Roller Six-Max event for placing third.

Poker Masters is a marathon and Chidwick proved in February he is capable of running the entire race.

Jason Koon

Koon’s summer started with a Super High Roller Bowl final table and he followed up his third-place finish with a strong summer of High Roller scores. The West Virginian cashed in the WSOP’s $100,000 High Roller, $25,000 Pot Limit Omaha High Roller, and $50,000 High Roller for an aggregate sum north of $775,000.

2018 for Koon includes over $11 million in cashes and we’ll see him add to that total come Poker Masters. Last year, Koon missed the series but returned to take a silver medal in a $25,000 U.S. Poker Open event.

Nick Schulman

A win in the 2017 Poker Masters boosted Schulman’s High Roller resume. The voice of the Super High Roller Bowl on PokerGO traveled across the globe for some Short Deck and is a leg up on the competition come September.

Schulman won a Short Deck event in South Korea for $271,974 in what he claimed to be one of his first times playing the game. One of the most anticipated events of Poker Masters can expect to see Schulman in attendance.

Mikita Badziakouski

Badziakouski stormed the Super High Roller Bowl and made the final table in his first time playing the event. The Belarus sensation laid low the rest of the summer but returned with a fury in South Korea.

The Triton High Roller Series Main Event concluded with Badziakouski in the winner’s circle to collect $5.257 million. Badziakouski beat an incredible final table with Sam Greenwood, Jason Koon, and Sergio Aido in contention.

A Short Deck cash lines Badziakouski’s resume as well so expect to see him in the $10,000 Poker Masters variation.

Watch the Poker Masters live exclusively on PokerGO, September 8-15. New to PokerGO? Subscribe right now to enjoy more than 100 days of live poker action on top an extensive on-demand library. 

PokerGO, Stephen Chidwick, Jake Schindler, Nick Schulman, Mikita Badziakouski, Jason Koon, Poker Masters