Farhintaj Bonyadi won the 2018 World Series of Poker $1,000 Super Senior’s no-limit hold’em event for $311,451. The 83-year-old beat an area of 2,191 players, every one of which needed to go to the very least 60 years old in order to get involved. Bonyadi is the mother of three-time bracelet winner Farzad Bonyadi, and also with this win, both also become the first mother-son duo to win WSOP gold. Along with her very first bracelet, becomes the first female to win a bracelet event of the summer.
“It’s just only my first bracelet,” Bonyadi told WSOP reporters after claiming the title. “I’m so happy. My son has three. I’m just so happy.”
Farzad educated his mom how to play poker, as well as existed on the rail when she removed this event for the most significant title of her career.
“I was standing there for 20 hours trying to help her out, but she did it on her own,” said Farzad. “I’m so happy for her. She deserves it. She’s been cashing so many times. She won a tournament for $50,000, for $45,000, but this is her biggest score.”
Bonyadi entered into the final table in 7th chip position. She had the ability to knock Paul Lee out in 3rd area ($ 140,273) to go into heads-up play against Robert Coastline at a 3-to-1 chip disadvantage. By the time play was stopped at the end of day 3 Beach had actually expanded that benefit to 4.5-to-1.
In spite of being down, Bonyadi chose not to quit. The also inevitably fought it out for 175 hands of heads-up action. Bonyadi was able to fight her way into the lead by the time the final hand occurred.
Michael Mizrachi won the most desired World Series of Poker titles on Tuesday night, for the 3rd time in his career. The poker pro from South Florida defeated 87 of the world’s best players to win the $50,000 Poker Players Championship for the 3rd time in his career, getting his 4th World Series Of Poker title. He was the chip leader at the end of Day 2, 3, 4 and took it down on the 5th and final day, going almost wire-to-wire with the chip lead.
Michael Mizrachi defeated John Hennigan heads-up that dropped simply reluctant of his 2nd Poker Players Championship title as well as 6th career bracelet. Just like a lot of PPC final tables, it was full of leading poker talent.
Dan Smith, Mike Leah, Benny Glaser as well as Aaron Katz completed the last 6 players. Smith and Katz were attempting to gain their initial WSOP titles, while Glaser and also Leah were planning to include an additional one to their career. Smith, a popular big bet player and high roller regular, completed in 3rd, Leah busted in 4th, three-time bracelet winner Glaser hit the rail in fifth and Katz was the first to go.
Mizrachi took simply less than a 4-to-3 introduce heads-up play against Hennigan. Mizrachi extended his lead by winning a couple of vital pots throughout the three-way draw deuce-to-seven round, then secured the deal when the game changed to no-limit hold ’em. In the final hand, Mizrachi increased to 225,000 from the button with the blinds at 200,000-400,000. Hennigan three-bet to 750,000 from the big blind and Mizrachi called.
The flop brought the QHeart Suit9Spade Suit5Heart Suit and Hennigan produced a wager of 700,000. Mizrachi made it 2,000,000 to go, just to have Hennigan shove for 5,300,000. Mizrachi swiftly called with the 9Heart Suit8Heart Suit for a set and also a flush draw. Hennigan held the JDiamond Suit10Club Suit for an open-ended straight draw. Mizrachi struck the 10Heart Suit right now to leave Hennigan drawing dead. The 8Diamond Suit on the river was a plain formalitu, eliminating Hennigan in second place for $765,837.
Final Table Results of $50K Poker Players Championship
The 55-year-old Steve Albini from Chicago has had a storied career as a musician and producer, performing in bands like Big Black and Shellac and serving as a recording engineer for the likes of Nirvana, Pixies and countless other bands. Now he is a World Series of Poker champion, having won the 2018 WSOP $1,500 seven-card stud event. Steven Albini took home his first gold and the $105,629 first-prize.
Watch the video to learn more about his title run.
The $50,000 Poker Players Championship kicked off on Friday with a field of 87 players. Many of the game’s top names entered the event and most of them failed to make the money included Daniel Negreanu, Ben Lamb, Anthony Zinno, Justin Bonomo, Jason Mercier, David Benyamine, and 2017 champion Elior Sion. Dan Smith and Jean-Robert Bellande are the bigger names who still have a chance but are both still looking for their first WSOP wins.
Michael ‘The Grinder’ Mizrachi is one of the players in history to win the $50,000 buy-in Poker Players Championship at the World Series of Poker more than once. Mizrachi and Brian Rast have opportunities to do just that this week. Now he is leading the pack who bagged up a total of 8,865,000 chips at the end of play on Monday, June 18. The final six will return at 2:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday to play down to a winner.
Simply a couple months eliminated from their back-to-back victories at the APPT Macau High Roller and Super High Roller, poker power couple Alex Foxen and Kristen Bicknell were at it once again, this time playing against each other for a huge competition title in Las vegas.
Both players were belonged to 178 entries in the $5,000 buy-in Mid-States Poker Tour event at the Venetian as a component of the continuous DeepStack Championship Poker Series. After 3 days of action, the happy couple discovered themselves heads-up and chopping the lion’s share of the prize pool.
Bicknell, a former Supernova Elite from Ontario who already owns two WSOP bracelets, entered into the final table of 10 in the fourth cheap lead position. Poker pro Foxen from New York with more than $4.2 million in earnings, entered as the chip leader.
Despite a nice payday waiting at the top of the prize pool, Foxen and also Bicknell really did not avoid each other at the table. They really did not also seem to hesitate to go after each other, according to the MSPT live updates.
With 8 gamers left, Bicknell five-bet obstructed over Foxen’s cool four-bet from the big blind. Foxen obtained Pavel Plesuv in 7th and also Joey Weissman in 6th, while Bicknell busted Blake Whittington in 5th as well as Phong “Turbo” Nguyen in 4th, keeping the couple atop the leaderboard.
Foxen won a large pot with a collection of jacks against Bicknell throughout the three-handed play, yet she won some back by pushing over his flop wager a little bit later on. At some point, both players took turns increasing via Australian high-stakes poker pro Kahle Burns, who eventually bowed out in third place.
With Bicknell and Foxen now heads-up for the title, the two agreed to each pocket $200,000 and play for the remaining $39,000 on the side. A few minutes later, both players got it in with on a board reading 9Heart Suit7Heart Suit4Diamond Suit8Diamond Suit. Bicknell had 9Diamond Suit5Heart Suit for top pair and a straight draw, but Foxen had KDiamond Suit9Spade Suit for top pair with a better kicker. The river was the KClub Suit and Foxen doubled through, leaving Bicknell with just a few big blinds. She was eliminated on the very next hand.
Here are the final table results.
Place
Player
Payout
1
Alex Foxen
$239,000*
2
Kristen Bicknell
$200,000*
3
Kahle Burns
$120,000
4
Phong “Turbo” Nguyen
$85,000
5
Blake Whittington
$65,000
6
Joey Weissman
$51,000
7
Pavel Plesuv
$39,000
8
Conor Beresford
$30,000
9
Jake Schindler
$24,000
Take a look at the hand on Joey Ingram’s Twitter:
A bunch of people are asking me about this hand between @krissyb24poker@WAFoxen at the MSPT final table.
I haven't seen the rest of the action but I'm not sure this hand is that ridiculous?? Probably some sick relationship meta-game going on. What do you guys think? pic.twitter.com/0Mup9gqL11
Gal Yifrach has won the 2018 World Series of Poker $3,000 six-max no-limit hold’em event, overcoming a field of 868 total entries to win his first WSOP gold bracelet and the first-place prize of $461,798. This was the largest score of the 31-year-old Los Angeles entrepreneur’s life, with his biggest previous cash coming from a win in the 2017 WSOP Circuit Bicycle Casino $3,250 buy-in no-limit event for $90,005.
“I’m feeling pretty good. I’m feeling great,” Yifrach told WSOP reporters after coming out on top. “You know, coming into this event, I didn’t expect, obviously, to win. Everybody has hopes. Everybody is hoping to get very far. I was fortunate enough to get there … But you know, when you run good, you play good as well. It comes hand-in-hand.”
In addition to the money and the bracelet, Yifrach also earned 1,368 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win. This was his first final table of the year, but this win alone was enough to catapult him into 80th place in the 2018 Player of the Year standings. Yifrach entered the unofficial seven-handed final table of this event in second chip position, behind only WSOP bracelet winner James Mackey. Gary Hasson eliminated Ben Palmer in seventh place ($48,823) to set the final table and move into an essential tie for second chip position with Yifrach.
Hasson continued his run by knocking out Ana Marquez in sixth place ($67,116). Two-time World Poker Tour main event winner Aaron Mermelstein score the next elimination, winning a preflop race against Darren Rabinowitz. Mermelstein’s 8Spade Suit8Heart Suit flopped a set against Rabinowitz’s ASpade SuitKDiamond Suit and held from there, sending the two-time WSOP Circuit ring winner to the rail with $93,917.
Despite winning that hand, Mermelstein was the next player to be eliminated. Gary Hasson doubled up through him to leave him with less than six big blinds. Shortly after that Yifrach finished the job, knocking Mermelstein out in fourth place ($133,731) to take a dominating lead into three-handed play. The event was scheduled to play to a winner in three days, but in the end the decision was made late on day 3 for the remaining three players to bag up their chips for the night. Yifrach sat with 6,965,000, Mackey with 3,100,000 and Hasson 1,960,000.
Early on day 4 Hasson moved all in for around 1,500,000 (around 10 big blinds) from the small blind. Yifrach made the call from the big blind with the ADiamond Suit6Diamond Suit. Hasson held the KSpade Suit10Club Suit. The board ran out QSpade SuitQDiamond Suit10Diamond SuitKHeart SuitASpade Suit, with the ace on the river giving Yifrach the superior two-pair to earn him the pot and send Hasson home with $193,716.
Yifrach began with nearly a 2-to-1 chip lead over Mackey, but the 2007 WSOP $5,000 no-limit hold’em event winner was able to mount a comeback. After the first six hands of heads-up play, he had essentially evened things up. Then the final hand of the tournament arose. With blinds of 80,000-160,000 and an ante of 20,000 Yifrach raised to 325,000 from the button. Mackey three-bet to 1,125,000 from the big blind and Yifrach called.
The flop brought the 8Diamond Suit6Heart Suit2Club Suit and Mackey fired out 1,000,000. Yifrach called and the turn brought the 2Spade Suit. Mackey moved all-in for 4,325,000 and after several minutes of thought Yifrach made the call, putting Mackey at risk as he had him covered by roughly a single big blind. Mackey held the 10Spade Suit10Diamond Suit for the best hand, with Yifrach’s ASpade Suit8Heart Suit in trouble heading into the river. The 8Club Suit on the river bailed him out, giving him a full house to win the pot and the title. Mackey was eliminated as the second-place finisher, earning $285,377 for his deep run.
The 47-year-old poker pro John Hennigan wins the 5th gold bracelet of his WSOP career in taking down the 2018 World Series of Poker $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. championship, overcoming a tough field of 166 players to win his fifth gold bracelet.
John Hennigan joined the likes of John Juanda, Jason Mercier, Scotty Nguyen, Daniel Alaei, Gary “Bones” Berland, David Chiu, Allen Cunningham, Berry Johnston and Stu Ungar as a five-times WSOP title winner. John Hennigan won his first bracelet in 2002 and 16 years later Hennigan is still at the top of his game.
“I’m not too preoccupied with it, but it does feel better than four,” Hennigan told WSOP reporters when asked about securing his fifth bracelet. “It makes me think about ‘Saturday Night Live’ where you get that jacket.”
Hennigan came into the third final day of this event in third chip position with 16 players remaining. He made a straight and a 7-6 reduced to scoop the pot and send Ohel home in fifth place with $92,808. Iraj Parvizi spent a lot the final table in the lead, but
as play got short-handed he lost momentum. He ultimately succumbed to two-time bracelet winner David ‘Bakes’ Baker to knock him out in 4th place for $127,724.
Baker then eliminated Lee Salem in third place for $179,216 to set up a heads-up showdown with Hennigan, who held roughly a 5-to-3 chip advantage. Hennigan extended his lead a bit before play was halted for the night.
Baker did his best to fight back but in the end Hennigan was able to sending Baker to the rail with $256,297.
Final Table Payouts of Poker $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Event:
The 29-year-old poker pro, Benjamin Dobson wins his first WSOP bracelet in Event #25: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better for $173,528. Benjamin Dobson outlasted a field of 363 players to win the 2018 WSOP $1,500 seven-card stud eight-or-better event.
“I’m Absolutely on top of the world,” Dobson told WSOP reporters after his win.“Stud eight-or-better is probably my favorite game of poker and it is one that I don’t get to play a lot. I only get to play it a few times a year, but I really enjoy it.”
Dobson came into the final day as the chip leader with three players remaining, but he had some stiff competition to contend with in two-time bracelet winner Jesse Martin and seven-time WSOP final tablist Timothy Finne.
“Part of it is just a huge relief because I had a huge chip lead basically through Day 2 and Day 3 and coming into today,” said Dobson. “So, I kind of had high expectations for myself, but it was also really tough because Timothy and Jesse, they are probably better than me at stud eight-or-better, so I felt like I was a bit of an underdog. I managed to hold my own and ran good in some of the crucial pots. Luck was on my side for sure.”
Final Table Payouts of 2018 WSOP $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo:
Joe McKeehen has been one of the most consistent live tournament players in recent years. The 2015 WSOP main event champion has finished 22nd or better in the Card Player Player of the Year race for three straight years and currently sits in 11th place in 2018. Card Player TV caught up with him on a break on the final day of the 2018 WSOPMillionaire Maker event to learn how he’s been able to put up such great numbers year after year and also to talk to him about his run so far in this event.
The 2018 WSOP Europe schedule has been released, and with 10 gold bracelets at stake, the World Series of Poker Player of the Year race could come down to these final events set to take place at King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic, from Oct. 9 to Nov. 2.
WSOPE Guaranteed
In total, the World Series of Poker is guaranteeing at least €13 million in prize pool money to those who cash in the WSOPE events. Points in these tournament count towards the POY race which has already begun in Las Vegas with Elio Fox leading the way through Tuesday.
The WSOP will leave Las Vegas in mid-July following the conclusion of the $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop charity event and then return to action in a different continent in October.
Key 2018 WSOP Europe Events
October 9, Event #1, €550 Colossus No-Limit Hold’em (€1 million guaranteed)
October 18, Event #5, €1,100 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold’em (€1 million guaranteed)
October 22, Event #7, €2,200 Pot-Limit Omaha/8-Handed (€200,000 guaranteed)
October 24, Event #8, €25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em (€1 million guaranteed)
October 26, Event #9, €100,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold’em (€5 million
guaranteed)
October 27, Event #10, €10,350 WSOP Europe Main Event (€5 million guaranteed)
King’s Casino is owned by the controversial high stakes poker grinder Leon Tsoukernik who, on multiple occasions in the past couple of years, was accused of refusing to pay off debts by fellow poker players.
Tsoukernik promotes his casino in Las Vegas at the Rio during the summer WSOP with a King’s Casino Lounge high-limit cash game room inside the convention center.
Player of the Year Implications
It’s too early to project a POY winner as the summer WSOP still has more than 50 bracelets to hand out. Elio Fox currently leads the race with 2,010.14 points, more than 300 points ahead of Paul Volpe, who is in 2nd place.
But Fox, winner of the $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold’em tournament on May 31, could have an additional 600 points had he taken heads-up play seriously in the $100,000 high roller instead of cutting a side deal with Nick Petrangelo, who eventually won the bracelet.
With 10 bracelet events at stake this fall in Rozvadov, the POY race likely won’t be wrapped up until sometime during WSOP Europe in the fall.
Last year’s winner, Chris Ferguson, left Las Vegas in 2nd place behind John Racener. The man often referred to as “Jesus” won his sixth career bracelet in a €1,650 buy-in PLO hi-lo event and cashed six times at WSOPE, giving him a record 23 WSOP cashes in one year and the 2017 Player of the Year title.
