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$300K SHRB VI Marks Justin Bonomo’s Return to Live Poker After Nearly 2 Years Away

Patrick Mandelle September 29, 2021 3 min read

September 28, 2021 Chad Holloway

It’s been nearly two years since Justin Bonomo played a live poker tournament. A couple of days ago he returned by competing in a $50K, which he followed up by being one of 21 players to renter the $300,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl VI.

“It’s good to be back,” said Bonomo, who in the meantime hasn’t slowed down winning online. “I was a little bit nervous that I wouldn’t really feel it, but you know, 20 years of doing this it’s like riding a bike. You get right back into the flow.”

The flow for Bonomo is pretty good, especially in SHRB events. Back in 2018, he topped a 75-entry field to win the Super High Roller Bowl China for HK$37,830,000 ($4,823,077) and then followed it up by navigating a 48-player field to win the $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl IV for $5,000,000.

As if that wasn’t enough, Bonomo didn’t let the pandemic slow him down as he took his game online by beating a 50-entry field to win the $102,000 buy-in 2020 Super High Roller Bowl Online for $1,775,000.

Bonomo, who currently sits second on poker’s all-time money list with a staggering $53.2 million, has a chance to become a four-time SHRB champ, though even he admits it won’t be easy.

“It’s a tough tournament. These are long grueling days. You’re up against tough players who have very different styles of play. I’m just trying to stay focused and play my best game.”

Indeed, Bonomo is up against some tough competition, but fortunately for him, he has experience with them all.

“I’ve played with everyone here a ton,” he said. “There are some people I’ve only played with online, like Chris Brewer. I’ve only played with him online until now, but I know he’s a very tough player. I think I have a good feel for how everyone plays.”

Check out our profile on Chris Brewer here

While Bonomo is focused on the SHRB, PokerNews did ask about his plans for the upcoming World Series of Poker (WOSP).

“I won’t be there the whole time,” he revealed. “Right after this I’m flying to Greece for a wedding, but I’ll be back eventually. Probably mid or late October I’ll start playing some events, and then there are some really good high rollers that I’m definitely going to play, but I’m not going to be playing 50 events or anything like that.”

Finally, PokerNews couldn’t help but ask about Bonomo’s hairdo, which was no longer dyed bright pink.

“I feel like I made the statement that I wanted to with the pink,” he said. “It came to be this thing where I didn’t want to be known as the ‘pink hair guy,’ I didn’t want that to be my identity. I had some fun with it but I moved on.”

Bonomo was still in contention for the SHRB VI title with eight players remaining at the time of publication. PokerNews will offer a recap after the conclusion of Day 2 as well as a winner recap on Wednesday.

Previous Super High Roller Bowl Winners

Year	Event	Buy-In	Entries	Winner	Prize
2015	Super High Roller Bowl I	$500,000	43	Brian Rast	$7,525,000
2016	Super High Roller Bowl II	$300,000	49	Rainer Kempe	$5,000,000
2017	Super High Roller Bowl III	$300,000	56	Christoph Vogelsang	$6,000,000
2018	Super High Roller Bowl China	HK$2,100,000	75	Justin Bonomo	HK$37,830,000
2018	Super High Roller Bowl IV	$300,000	48	Justin Bonomo	$5,000,000
2018	Super High Roller Bowl V	$300,000	36	Isaac Haxton	$3,672,000
2019	Super High Roller Bowl London	£252,500	12	Cary Katz	£2,100,000
2019	Super High Roller Bowl Bahamas	$250,000	51	Daniel Dvoress	$4,080,000
2020	Super High Roller Bowl Australia	A$250,000	16	Timothy Adams	A$2,160,000
2020	Super High Roller Bowl Russia	$250,000	40	Timothy Adams	$3,600,000
2020	Super High Roller Bowl Online	$102,000	50	Justin Bonomo	$1,775,000
2021	Super High Roller Bowl Europe	$250,000	41	Wiktor Malinowski	$3,690,000

Remember, the Super High Roller Bowl is only available to PokerGO subscribers. If you’re not currently subscribed, you can get a monthly subscription for $14.99, a three-month plan for $29.99, and an annual subscription for $99.99. You can also save $10 off an annual subscription by using promo code “PokerNews” at checkout.

_{*Images courtesy of PokerGO.}

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