The ARIA High Roller Series ran from June 15 through July 7, with 11 high-stakes tournaments collectively awarding more than $7 million in prize money. The tournaments also handed out plenty of PokerGO Tour rankings points, with several top contenders from that high-stakes-centric race adding to their totals from inside the PokerGO Studio.
Paul, Karakitukov, and Soverel Win Early
The first half of the slate was contended over the increasingly popular tournament game of pot-limit Omaha. The kickoff PLO event cost $10,00 to play, with 49 entries creating a $490,000 prize pool. Griffin Paul emerged victorious in the end, taking home $171,500 as the champion. The 2015 World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown winner now has nearly $2 million in career cashes to his name.
The second event was also a $10,000 buy-in. With 34 entries, there was $340,000 awarded across the top six finishers, with Veselin Karakitukov coming away with the title and $79,650. The Bulgarian PLO regular now boasts more than $3.4 million in lifetime earnings after this triumph. He ended up cashing in four of the six PLO tournaments at this festival, with this being his largest score among them.
Ahead of winning his third career bracelet as the winner of $10,000 no-limit hold’em six-max championship at the World Series of Poker, Sam Soverel took down two titles at this festival. The first saw him top 34 entries in a $10,000 PLO event for $122,400, defeating Dirk ‘VeniVidi1993’ Gerritse.
Results From Events #1-3
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Griffin Paul | $171,500 | 300 | 172 |
| 2 | Richard Gryko | $107,800 | 250 | 108 |
| 3 | John Riordan | $71,050 | 200 | 71 |
| 4 | Jordan Glazer | $51,450 | 150 | 51 |
| 5 | Nino Pansier | $39,200 | 125 | 39 |
| 6 | Richard Green | $29,400 | 100 | 29 |
| 7 | Veselin Karakitukov | $19,600 | 75 | 20 |
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Veselin Karakitukov | $79,650 | 240 | 80 |
| 2 | Stephen Hubbard | $72,750 | 200 | 73 |
| 3 | Joni Jouhkimainen | $70,050 | 160 | 70 |
| 4 | Sean Rafael | $69,950 | 120 | 70 |
| 5 | John Riordan | $27,200 | 100 | 27 |
| 6 | Christopher Frank | $20,400 | 80 | 20 |
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Sam Soverel | $122,400 | 240 | 122 |
| 2 | Dirk Gerritse | $81,600 | 200 | 82 |
| 3 | Gruffudd Pugh Jones | $51,000 | 160 | 51 |
| 4 | Nino Pansier | $37,400 | 120 | 37 |
| 5 | Artem Maksimov | $27,200 | 100 | 27 |
| 6 | Sean Rafael | $20,400 | 80 | 20 |
Jouhkimainen, Soverel, and Rivera Triumph In Back Half Of PLO Slate
Event no. 4 attracted 31 entries, with PLO legend Joni Jouhkimainen coming out on top in the end. The bracelet winner from Helsinki earned $111,600 as the champion, growing his career haul to more than $11.1 million in the process. UK poker pro Gruffudd Pugh Jones followed his third-place finish in event no. 3 up by making it down to heads-up in this event. Sean Rafael recorded his third final table finish of the series. He finished fourth, sixth, and fourth in events 2-4. Rafael is now ranked 18th in the Card Player Player of the Year standings presented by CoinPoker and 29th on the PGT leaderboard.
Marc Rivera
Soverel took down his second title of the series just a couple of days removed from his first, besting 25 entries in a $10,000 PLO event for another $112,500. He overcame two-time bracelet winner and two-time POY award winner Stephen Chidwick heads-up for the win. Karakitukov finished third for $40,000. Soverel now has three titles and nine final-table finishes on the year. His 4,015 POY points place him in 20th place the overall standings, while 1,883 PGT points are good for third on that leaderboard.
The final PLO tournament saw the field climb to 37 entries. Marc Rivera emerged victorious in the end, with Sean Winter finishing second. Rivera walked away with $133,200 as the champion. This was the third-largest score for the native of the Philippines, bringing his lifetime hail to nearly $3.4 million.
Results From Events #4-6
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Joni Jouhkimainen | $111,600 | 240 | 112 |
| 2 | Gruffudd Pugh Jones | $74,400 | 200 | 74 |
| 3 | Eelis Parssinen | $46,500 | 160 | 47 |
| 4 | Sean Rafael | $34,100 | 120 | 34 |
| 5 | Jonas Kronwitter | $24,800 | 100 | 25 |
| 6 | Lautaro Guerra | $18,600 | 80 | 19 |
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Sam Soverel | $112,500 | 180 | 113 |
| 2 | Stephen Chidwick | $70,000 | 150 | 70 |
| 3 | Veselin Karakitukov | $40,000 | 120 | 40 |
| 4 | Christopher Frank | $27,500 | 90 | 28 |
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Marc Rivera | $133,200 | 240 | 133 |
| 2 | Sean Winter | $88,800 | 200 | 89 |
| 3 | Talal Shakerchi | $55,500 | 160 | 56 |
| 4 | Jim Collopy | $40,700 | 120 | 41 |
| 5 | Veselin Karakitukov | $29,600 | 100 | 30 |
| 6 | Martin Dam | $22,200 | 80 | 22 |
