With plenty of prestigious events going on this week, the crowds in Las Vegas have had their fair share of big names fighting it out for bracelets. They have also seen numerous Asian players grinding away in the latter stages of tournaments too, and after several close calls, we now have our first Asian winner of the series. There has also been two bracelets for British pros, both of whom were claiming the first of their careers, despite being well respected names.
Event 47: Jiyoung Kim wins the $1,000/$10,000 Ladies event
The WSOP ladies event of 2019 saw a field 968 players buy in, with the prize pool inflating to $871,200. The event saw some of the world’s best female players fighting it out in what is a ladies-only event by name. Technically, male players can still play, but they must pay $10,000. The final table was an all-female gathering, with no former bracelet winners in attendance. Korea’s Jiyoung Kim looked strong throughout and after taking the chiplead five-handed, never looked like letting the title slip away. She extended her lead four-handed, took the chiplead into heads up play, and finished off Nancy Matson to claim her first ever bracelet, and South Korea’s second. Sean Yu won Korea’s first bracelet in 2017.
The final payouts are as follows:
1st – Jiyoung Kim – $167,308
2nd – Nancy Matson – $103,350
3rd – Sandrine Phan – $78,821
4th – Tu Dao – $52,007
5th – Lyly Vo – $37,654
6th – Lexy Gavin – $27,643
7th – Raylene Celaya – $20,582
8th – Stephanie Hubbard – $15,544
9th – Barbara Blechinger – $11,911
Event 45: Stephen Chidwick defeats James Chen to win first bracelet
The $25K PLO is an event that always attracts a star-studded field, the size of which rose to 278 this time around. The final figure for the prize pool went on to reach $6,602,500, with the top two places each netting seven-figure scores. As the final stages of this event played out, there were three players busy providing hope of an Asian bracelet winner. Sadly, Hong Kong’s Yan Shing “Anson” Tsang could not reach the final table and hit the rail in 14th place for $74,083.
Ka Kwan Lau fared a little better, making it into the top ten and earning $150,483 for his creditable 8th place finish. It was James Chen who took the plaudits in terms of Asian hopes however, eventually losing out to Stephen Chidwick in a heads-up duel for the bracelet. Taiwan’s Chen is the latest Asian player to come lose to a bracelet this summer but will be forced to console himself with his 2nd place prize of $1,000,253 and a new top rank in Taiwan’s All Time Money List.
Sure, this guy might have a loving wife, a beautiful healthy baby and now an extra $1.6 million in his pocket… but jokes on him! He’s no longer the best player without a bracelet 🤠 pic.twitter.com/zKzKFVYhMq
— Dan Smith (@DanSmithHolla) June 23, 2019
The final payouts are as follows:
1st – Stephen Chidwick – $1,618,417
2nd – James Chen – $1,000,253
3rd – Matthew Gonzales – $699,364
4th – Robert Mizrachi – $497,112
5th – Alex Epstein – $359,320
6th – Erik Seidel – $264,186
7th – Wasim Korkis – $197,637
8th – Ka Kwan Lau – $150,483
Event 42: Aristeidis Moschonas wins the $600 Mixed NLH/PLO Deepstack after remarkable comeback
The latest small buy in event at the WSOP brought a crowd of 2,403 players together, creating a prize pool of $1,261,759. In just the fourth level of play, Aristeidis Moschonas found himself down to just half a big blind but after a string of double ups, he was back in the race. Amazingly, he went on to win that race against all the odds, defeating Dan Matsuzuki heads up two days later, winning his first gold bracelet in the process. He collected $194,759 for his victory. There were several notable deep runs for the Asian community too, including Quan Zhou (98th) and James Chen (67th). Both players collected payouts of a few times their buy in. Sam Razavi had another near miss, taking 10th for $16,603.
Meanwhile, two Indian players were going further, with Ashish Ahuja and Raghav Bansal both reaching the final table. Ahuja went on to fall in 5th place for $48,914 while Bansal took 3rd place for $88,410.
The final payouts are as follows:
1st – Aristeidis Moschonas – $194,759
2nd – Dan Matsuzuki – $120,374
3rd – Raghav Bansal – $88,410
4th – Rainer Kempe – $65,482
5th – Ashish Ahuja – $48,914
6th – Stephen Ma – $36,852
7th – Adam Lamphere – $28,006
8th – Daniel Moravec – $21,469
Event 49: Luke Schwartz grabs his first career bracelet with Yueqi Zhu taking 5th
The $10K 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship brought numerous illustrious names to the felt, with the final field size reaching 100 and the prize pool growing to $940,000. The final stages saw plenty of recognisable faces still in the hunt, with plenty of quality on display as the final table was set. Additionally, China’s Yueqi Zhu remained in contention, but as the final table wore on, he found himself struggling, and eventually busted in 5th place for $58,547. As the event got down to the final three players, a marathon of endurance ensued, with the chips being traded around the table for a full five hours before Johannes Becker finally hit the rail. George Wolff put up as much resistance as he was able, but he was unable to stop outspoken high stakes British pro Luke Schwartz from claiming his first ever WSOP bracelet and $273,336 in prize money.
The final payouts are as follows:
1st – Luke Schwartz – $273,336
2nd – George Wolff – $167,936
3rd – Johannes Becker – $116,236
4th – Mark Gregorich – $81,635
5th – Yueqi Zhu – $58,547
6th – Calvin Anderson – $42,898
Other winners
Event 43 – $2,500 Mixed Big Bet
Prize pool: $490,500
Entries: 218
Winner: Loren Klein – $127,808
Event 44 – $1,500 NLH Bounty
Prize pool: $2,439,450
Entries: 1,807
Winner: Asi Moshe – $253,933
Event 48 – $2,500 NLH
Prize pool: $2,241,000
Entries: 996
Winner: Ari Engel – $427,399
Article by Craig Bradshaw
