Three months before it's set to begin, the $300,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl at the Aria is already sold out.
All 49 seats have officially been snapped up and the waiting list of those equally intent on plunking down over a quarter-million is growing.
The Super High Roller Bowl was initiated last year with a $500k buy-in and, beyond Brain Rast's $7.5m victory, the highlights were multiple.
This year the lineup will be even more impressive and star-studded, making it again one of the must-watch events of the summer.
One of the "lucky" players to have already secured himself a front-row seat for the action? 888poker pro Dominik Nitsche.
Three Phils, Five Dans, One Dom
The list of players who’ve registered already is an assembly of most of the game's best. You only have to check the “Phils” – Hellmuth, Laak, Galfond – or the “Dans” – Negreanu, Peters, Colman, Smith, Shak - alone to prove it.
Not missing it this time.
There will be only one "Dom," though. Dominik Nitsche – now representing 888poker – has soared to the top of the German GPI and is currently second in the POY race.
After making two final tables at the Aussie Millions in January, Nitsche went to Dublin to take down one event and come second in two others.
He then travelled to San Jose, California, where he was one of the Shooting Stars at WPT Bay 101. He made it to the last two tables before he was eventually busted by Griffin Paul, who later made the final table.
Already a three-time WSOP bracelet winner, 2015 has been Nitsche's best year in poker and things are still looking up. And he's certainly not going to miss the Super High Roller Bowl this time around:
"I was a bit sad to have missed out on the $500,000 buy-in last year," says Nitsche, referring to the inaugural event. "It sounded like such an amazing event but I quite honestly wasn't convinced it would be great value.
“This year they have decided to add an extra $300,000 to the prize pool to create a negative rake. I've also heard quite a few amateur players are interested in playing. I have done quite well in high roller tournaments recently, so I figured why not?"
First SHRB, then WSOP
So what's the incentive to take on a few dozen of the game's best players for the cost of a three-bedroom bungalow?
It's an open secret that the vast majority of High Rollers have shares in each other, so the risk of losing a full $300k is minimized.
There are also a few amateur players - mostly from the business world - who like to try and test their skills against the best. These are the stacks players like Nitsche have their eyes on.
Bracelets on his mind.
“You have to really adjust your strategy based on whom you are playing," Nitsche says. "I guess the same can be said for any tournament, but in Super High Rollers it's most important.”
After finishing the WPT California Swing Nitsche is currently on a break, and by "break" we mean he sat down in front of his computer and took down the Sunday 500 on PokerStars last weekend for $55k.
But even a poker rambler like Nitsche needs some time off, so the only live event on his schedule before another hot summer in Las Vegas is the EPT Grand Final in Monaco.
Apart from that he’ll spend a lot of time playing online on 888poker, so if you want to take him on, fire up the lobby and search for him in the large tournaments. Come the WSOP, Nitsche’s got his eye on matching Max Pescatori, the only European player to win four bracelets.
"I will be playing every single No-Limit Hold'em event and also some Pot-Limit Omaha," he says. "Obviously, I'd love to win my fourth bracelet, but I do realize it's very unlikely. That's not gonna stop me from trying, though."
