Even though Jason Koon bagged Day 1 of Event #40: $250,000 Super High Roller at the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP), he will not be joining the other High Rollers for Day 2. The high-stakes star had his stack pulled from the largest buy-in event of the summer after he received word that his wife was in labor with their second child just in time for Father’s Day.

Koon, who bagged a stack of 1,740,000 — a little more than the starting stack of 1,500,000 — will be fully refunded for his $250,000 entry, according to WSOP officials.

“Prior to the end of registration in event 40 with more than a starting stack, entrant Jason Koon requested a void and refund so as to accompany his wife to the hospital who had gone into labor,” WSOP told PokerNews. “Request was granted. Issuing a refund before the end of registration is clearly within the discretion of tournament officials and common practice at WSOP. We wish Jason Koon and all our WSOP dads a happy Father’s Day.”

Koon was among the 37 players who advanced to Day 2, including Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, Alex Foxen, Chance Kornuth, Artur Martirosian and Main Event champs Koray Aldemir and Espen Jorstad.

The now 36 players who advanced will be joined by anyone who hopped in before the close of late registration at the start of Day 2.

Koon, who won his first WSOP bracelet in 2021 just weeks after the birth of his first child, was a guest on The Chad & Jesse Poker Show this week and spoke about missing the second half of the series for the birth of his child.

“This year is special for me because I don’t get to play the Main Event, so it’s bittersweet,” Koon said. “My wife and I are expecting our second son in a week. So I’m shutting everything down, I’m going to be hanging out at the house and rooting for my friends to win bracelets this summer.”

There is a precedent for players having the opportunity to be refunded in this event. In the 2021 $250,000 Super High Roller, players agreed that anyone in the tournament who tested positive for COVID-19 would be refunded the six-figure buy-in.

While he won’t be winning a second bracelet in the $250,000 Super High Roller, Koon will be able to enjoy Father’s Day with his newly born second son.

Since the Matt Berkey $1 million heads-up challenge loss, we’ve seen a humbler Nikhil “Nik Airball” Arcot. Just kidding. The polarizing high-stakes player had yet another controversial moment on Friday during the high-stakes Hustler Casino Live stream when he randomly slowrolled Ethan “Rampage” Yau in a monster pot.

In a $100/$200 game (with straddles), the poker vlogger had pocket aces cracked and was all in on the turn with $238,500 in the pot. Needing to only dodge a two-outer on the river, Airball acted as if he was doomed, but he knew he was well ahead with trips.

Earlier in the session, Airball was down over $100,000, far less than the $990,000 he lost during the historic $1 million buy-in game on May 30 at Hustler Casino in Los Angeles.

Shaun Deeb Would Approve

Channeling his inner Shaun Deeb, Nik Airball livened up the game a bit during the middle of the stream. Action folded around to Rampage in the big blind and he bumped it up to $3,000 with A♦A♣. Airball then three-bet to $7,000 from one of the straddles with J♦5♦ before calling a four-bet to $18,000.

The flop came out K♠5♣4♥ and Rampage enticed his opponent to call a small bet of $10,000, less than one-third the size of the pot. But the aces were cracked when the 5♥ showed up on the turn.

Rampage, who had $90,900 left behind, still had no reason to think his over pair was beat, so he wagered $27,000, this time around half the size of the pot. Airball, who had turned trips and had his opponent covered, moved all in and received a snap call.

“Boat?,” Nik Airball asked.

“I have aces,” Rampage responded.

“F**k!” Airball answered back, acting as if trips were no good.

Airball then asked Rampage if he wanted to run it twice before exposing his cards. The two agreed to just one river card, which turned out to be a meaningless J♠.

Immediately after the river card was revealed, Airball quickly turned his cards over and then shouted, “All the chips!” He followed that up with a celebratory dance and some uncontrolled laughter. Yau, however, wasn’t laughing with him and quietly rebought into the game.

When the stream concluded at around 11 p.m. PT, Rampage was down $192,000 and Nik Airball was about even for the session.

A total of 361 players showed up to the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #36: $3,000 Nine Game Mix, generating a prize pool of $963,870 and first-place prize of $221,124. When the final hand was dealt around 1:30 a.m. local time inside the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, it was already past 5 p.m. in Japan, where a poker-mad nation witnessed a new homegrown star.

Ryutaro Suzuki, just 22 years old, became just the seventh World Series of Poker bracelet winner from Japan when he defeated Walter Chambers in a short heads-up match, bringing an end to a dominating final table performance. Suzuki won an online Circuit ring in 2021 for $140,050 but his previous best live WSOP cash was for a 69th place finish in the Eight Game Mix less than a week ago for just over $3,000.

Suzuki’s magical run to the bracelet was chronicled the entire way by a large contingent of Japanese media and supporters, showing the growth of the game and its potential in a nation of more than 125 million people. After his victory, Suzuki recognized the importance of this win for the Japanese poker community.

“Now the Japanese poker community is really growing up. There were a few bracelet holders, especially in mixed games. So it’s really so special for me and the poker community,” Suzuki said through translator Tamon Nakamura, himself a rising Japanese star and fourth-place finisher in this event.

Suzuki only took up mixed games a year ago and enjoyed the experience so much that he bookmarked this year’s WSOP as the year when he would try to put everything he learned to the test against the game’s most experienced and seasoned professionals. With his fearless aggression and sharp strategy, he overpowered one of the toughest fields at the WSOP, prevailing over several past bracelet winners until he joined their ranks.

“I’m not so long experienced in mixed games. But last year I experienced mixed games and it was really fun for me. So I target this year for mixed game events. I practice a lot. [Nakamura] also told me and I prayed a lot. Luckily I won. I’m not a master. I tried and had some luck,” Suzuki said.

2023 WSOP Event #36 Final Table Results

Day 3 Action

Suzuki came into Day 3 in ninth place out of 22 returning players but won a massive pot with rolled up quads in Seven Card Stud to climb up the leaderboard. Day 1 chip leader Andres Korn fell in 21st place, while Jean Gaspard (20th), Chris Vitch (19th), Yueqi Zhu (16th), Philip Long (12th), Shawn Buchanan (11th), and Scott Clements (9th) missed the final table.

By the time of the final table, Suzuki had opened up a sizeable chip lead with 3,950,000. But it was his native countryman Nakamura who scored the first knockout on the first hand, making a straight in Seven Card Stud to eliminate bracelet winner Justin Liberto in eighth place.

Per Hildebrand, who began the final table in second place, fell sharply on the leaderboard before losing his last chips to Nakamura in a pot of Stud Hi-Lo. Then the final table entered a sort of stalemate as Ian Steinman, knocked down to just 30,000 at one point in the day, doubled up repeatedly and stayed alive. Renan Bruschi finally fell in sixth place when, down to just 65,000, he moved all in with king-three and lost to Jason Pedigo’s ace-queen in No-Limit Hold’em. Steinman finally had his run end in fifth place when he called all in on the turn holding top pair, but Nakamura had made a straight.

Chambers took the chip lead away from Suzuki for the first time at the final table when he made a jack-high straight in Omaha Hi-Lo. Nakamura, meanwhile, enjoyed a roller coaster-like experience at the final table. He doubled up twice, fell back down to 145,000, then quadrupled up and doubled up again. Suddenly he was back up to nearly 2,000,000.

Four-handed Action

Suzuki, Chambers, Nakamura, and Pedigo played four-handed for nearly three hours as Suzuki retook the chip lead from Chambers after showing the nut flush in Stud Hi-Lo. Suzuki began to significantly widen his lead when he made No. 3 on Pedigo in 2-7 Triple Draw, crossing 8,000,000, then won with two pair against Chambers in Stud to approach 10,000,000.

Nakamura’s luck finally ran out when he made a 9-8 in Razz, but Suzuki had an 8-7 to send his countryman out in fourth place. On the next hand, Pedigo was eliminated as Suzuki made a jack-ten. Suzuki had a nearly 10-1 chip lead over Chambers at the start of heads-up, 12,000,000 to 2,400,000, and the match wouldn’t last long.

Chambers potted the flop for 1,100,000 with straight and flush draws. Suzuki called with two aces and held on as he let out a loud yell and ran over to celebrate with his supporters on the rail, including Nakamura who stuck around to cheer him on after his elimination.

The win was Suzuki’s, but it was also for all of Japan. There’s a new Japanese star who’s just at the start of his poker journey. But Suzuki doesn’t want to stop at just being famous back home. He has much loftier goals than that.

“I want to be more famous in Japan, but also more famous in the world. A worldwide poker player like Daniel Negreanu. This is the first event for me becoming a more great player,” he said.

The celebration that began around the feature table will soon travel across the Pacific back to Suzuki’s home. In a field full of poker stars and bracelet winners, he proved he belongs with the game’s best.

That concludes PokerNews‘ coverage of Event #36: Nine Game Mix. Stay tuned for more updates throughout the 2023 WSOP.

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Another day at the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) wrapped up inside the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. A total of four bracelets were awarded throughout the day and the biggest buy-in tournament of the summer kicked off.

Event #40: $250,000 Super High Roller attracted some of the biggest names in poker. The 56 entries on Day 1 share an incredible 79 bracelets among them. Of course with Phil Hellmuth having the most, 16.

Businessman Dustin Bailey sits on top of the leaderboard after Day 1, leading 37 survivors to Day 2. Bailey increased his starting stack of 1,500,000 to 4,850,000. He’s being chased by Chance Kornuth (4,315,000), Henrik Hecklen (4,285,000), and Artur Martirosian (3,785,000).

Other familiar faces who bagged are Koray Aldemir (3,535,000), Espen Jorstad (2,800,000), Phil Hellmuth (1,590,000), and Phil Ivey (1,235,000).

Late registration is still open until the start of Day 2 and so it looks like last year’s number of 56 entries will be broken.

Jerry Wong Claims First WSOP Bracelet in $10K Razz Championship

An extra day was needed in Event #33: $10,000 Razz Championship to play down to a winner and Jerry Wong emerged victorious to capture the $298,682 first-place prize and his first WSOP gold bracelet.

Wong, who finished eighth in the 2016 WSOP Main Event, had been a perennial name on the “Best Without a Bracelet” list having made 11 prior WSOP final tables. That included two runner-up finishes over the past two years, a third-place finish in 2019, and a pair of fourth-place finishes the two years before that.

2023 WSOP Event #33 Final Table Results

Chris Klodnicki Wins Bracelet No. 2 in Event #35: $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Secret Bounty

After many ups and downs from chip leader, to short stack, to bracelet glory, Chris Klodnicki emerged victorious in Event #35: $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Secret Bounty.

It marked Klodnicki’s second bracelet and $733,317 in prize money was added to his already impressive earnings at the WSOP.

Klodnicki navigated his way through a field of 568 runners, including a stacked final table that had three other bracelet winners and multiple players with seven figures in earnings such as Jeremy Ausmus and Barak Wisbrod.

2023 WSOP Event #35 Final Table Results

Ryutaro Suzuki Becomes Japan’s Mixed-Game Master in Event #36: $3,000 Nine Game Mix

A total of 361 players showed up to Event #36: $1,500 Nine Game Mix, generating a prize pool of $963,870 and first-place prize of $221,124.

Ryutaro Suzuki, just 22 years old, became just the seventh World Series of Poker bracelet winner from Japan when he defeated Walter Chambers in a short heads-up match, bringing an end to a dominating final table performance. Suzuki won an online Circuit ring in 2021 for $140,050 but his previous best live WSOP cash was for a 69th place finish in the Eight Game Mix less than a week ago for just over $3,000.

2023 WSOP Event #36 Final Table Results

Sean Troha Cements Himself a Winner in Event #34: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha

Sean Troha was left standing after a fun and exciting three days here in Event #34: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha, capturing his second career WSOP gold bracelet.

Coming into Day 3, only ten players remained and it was anyone’s game. When the dust settled, it was Troha took home the top prize of $298,192, adding to his victory in Event #69: $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship in 2022.

“I guess I’m as confident as I’ve been, there are still better players out there, but I’ve done a little bit of work and I guess I’m just trying to do my best”, Troha told PokerNews following his win on his confidence level in Omaha.

Final Table Results

Benny Glaser Leads 10 Players into the Final Day of Event #38: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship

Day 2 of Event #38: Limit $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship is over and Benny Glaser is chip leading the final 10 into the final day of play. Glaser is looking to add his name to the increasingly prestigious list of players that have won their fifth bracelet.

The tournament drew a field of 130 players and the prize pool of $1,209,000 paid out to the top 20 finishers. The grand prize is $311,428 and all 10 returning players are guaranteed $25,822.

Glaser is taking 1,695,000 with him to Day but at Glaser’s heels is Finnish poker player Sampo Ryynanen (1,240,000). The other player above the one million mark is Joao Vieira who takes 1,105,000 into Day 3.

End of Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

Yuan Li Bags the Lead Going Into Day 3; Multiple Big Names Still in the Hunt

Day 2 of Event #37: $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em ended with only 28 players remaining. Those returning for Day 3 will battle it out for the remainder of the $3,492,360 prize pool with $534,777 and a coveted WSOP gold bracelet reserved for the eventual champion.

Yuan Li bagged the overnight chip lead with 5,350,000 in stack but will have no easy path to victory as he is closely followed by Patrick Truong (5,220,000), and Jeremy Joseph (3,930,000). All three will be gunning to win their first WSOP bracelet when the tournament plays to a winner.

Other notables to make it through to Day 3 include 2017 WSOP Main Event final tablist Antoine Saout (3,615,000), Day 1 chip leader Lee Piniatoglou (2,610,000), bracelet winners Ankush Mandavia (1,240,000) and Carlos Chang (975,000) and the 2023 PSPC champion Aliaksandr Shylko (1,275,000).

End of Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

Pavlin Karakikov Bags Chip Lead on Day 1a of Event #39: $1,500 Monster Stack

A total of 3,945 players entered Day 1a of Event #38: $1,500 Monster Stack, the first of two Day 1 flights. The number smashed the attendance of 2,947 set on Day 1A of last year’s event

The gargantuan field generated a massive prize pool of $5,266,575, a number that will continue to grow as Day 1B on Saturday is expected to be an even bigger flight.

After 11 hours of play a total of 1,242 players found a bag for Sunday’s Day 2. Pavlin Karakikov ended the day as the chip leader, bagging 593,500 at the end of the day. Other notable big stacks at the end of the day include Arun Malhotra (563,500), Adrian Bertini (549,500) and Fabian Gumz (512,000).

What to Expect on Day 19 of the 2023 WSOP

The PokerNews live reporting team will bring you live and exclusive coverage of all events on June 17th, which is the 19th day of the 2023 World Series of Poker.

For the first time ever at the World Series of Poker there is a Big O tournament as Event #41: $1,500 Big O starts. Event #39: $1,500 Monster Stack has it’s second and final starting day, while late registration closes at the start of Day 2 of Event #40: $250,000 Super High Roller.

Bracelets will be awarded in Event #37: $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em and Event #38: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship.

Make sure to head to our 2023 WSOP hub for everything you need to know about this year’s series.

After many ups and downs from chip leader, to short stack, to bracelet glory, Chris Klodnicki emerged victorious in Event #35: $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Secret Bounty at the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Horseshoe Las Vegas.

It marked Klodnicki’s second bracelet and $733,317 in prize money was added to his already impressive earnings at the WSOP.

Klodnicki navigated his way through a field of 568 runners, including a stacked final table that had three other bracelet winners and multiple players with seven figures in earnings such as Jeremy Ausmus and Barak Wisbrod.

2023 WSOP Event #35 Final Table Results

After the win, Klodnicki was asked by PokerGO where he has been over the past few years.

“Really not traveling for poker but playing online. I’ve been playing a ton of online no-limit hold’em so, you know, I felt really good, and they have the bounty events online too so I felt really comfortable in this format and it was nice to get back to live poker. I’ve always felt comfortable in live poker. I’ve worked on my fundamentals a little bit more by playing online”

He was then asked, “This was a bit of a crazy final table, chips flying around. How did it feel?”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever get back to playing full schedules, maybe when my kids are off in college but I’ll definitely be here more than the past few years.”

“It was very shallow, it was very gambley, not a ton of actual poker being played which is kind of unfortunate for an event this size but, whatever, I’m happy I won. I was down super short, I think I was in last place with eight people left but just hung around. Obviously ran good in the spots I needed to and just happy to be here right now.”

So, is this the return of Chris Klodnicki?

“I think gradually. I think I’ll play a little more next year,” he said. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get back to playing full schedules, maybe when my kids are off in college but I’ll definitely be here more than the past few years, which was not at all.”

PokerNews also asked Klodnicki about the bounty aspect of the tournament.

“Yeah, I always like when things change a lot in tournaments. I just feel like I have a bit of an advantage when it comes to inflection points where other people might not be paying quite as much attention. Like when the bounties were in play, I tried to do some calculations to figure how much they were worth. I was fighting hard for the bounties but didn’t get any big ones. I was fighting for the $250K.”

Final Table Action

Klodnicki’s road to the bracelet was filled with swings. He entered as chip leader but quickly lost it to Ausmus, who jumped in the lead after snagging aces on the first hand of the final table. The first elimination would be Eric Yanovsky who was eliminated in eighth place ($73,756) after his jacks couldn’t hold up against Ausmus’ Ace-Queen.

Daniel Rezaei would fall in seventh place ($96,265) after all the chips got in preflop and his queen-nine could not hold against Ausmus’ flopped pair of aces. Angel Guillen was then eliminated in sixth place ($127,515) after his pocket nines were ahead in a three-way all-in hand against Wisbrod and Ausmus, who both found an ace on the river with their respective Big Slicks to chop up Guillen’s chips.

Tracy Nguyen had an amazing showing at the final table. She came in as the short stack but would ladder all the way to fifth place ($171,389) after her pocket tens lost to Klodnicki’s ace-queen.

Ausmus held the chip lead for the bulk of the final table but would be eliminated in fourth place ($233,690) after a cold deck saw his queens lose to Klodnicki’s ace-king for the chip lead, and then his short stack found its way into the middle with king-duece to Klodnicki’s aces.

Barak Wisbrod was eliminated in third place ($323,181) after he got it all in preflop with ten-high but was unable to improve against Klodnicki’s king-high.

On the wild last hand of play, Aram Oganyan was eliminated in second place ($453,226) after the chips all got in the middle preflop. Oganyan turned a straight with his nine-eight but a miracle ace on the river made a full house for Klodnicki, who once again held pocket aces.

Overall it was an action-packed day that saw Klodnicki’s perseverance earn him his second bracelet. He was top stack, shortest stack, and ultimately champion. It was a feat many can only dream of.

That does it for our coverage of this event, but stay tuned to PokerNews for the whole rest of the 2023 WSOP as we bring you more live updates, which you can follow here.

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Sean Troha was left standing after a fun and exciting three days here in Event #34: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha, capturing his second career WSOP gold bracelet here at the World Series of Poker at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

Coming into Day 3, only ten players remained and it was anyone’s game. When the dust settled, it was Troha took home the top prize of $298,192, adding to his victory in Event #69: $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship in 2022.

“I guess I’m as confident as I’ve been, there are still better players out there, but I’ve done a little bit of work and I guess I’m just trying to do my best”, Troha told PokerNews following his win on his confidence level in Omaha.

Troha went on to say that he’s been playing Omaha for about eight years now and it was a transition that just happened naturally, it was just the most fun game to play in Cleveland, Ohio, his home town. He credits his older brother, Kevin, who just had his first baby, for turning him onto the game back when he was in high school. Both brothers deserve a congratulations!

An unlikely runner up to Troha was Ryan Coon, who had told his wife at the start of the day that he might not even make it through the level as he started the day short, but there he was – eight pay jumps later. Matthew Parry gave his opponents hell along the way but had to settle for the bronze. There were plenty of big names this trio had to battle through to arrive on the main stage, including the likes of multiple-bracelet winners Robert Mizrachi, Daniel Negreanu, and Josh Arieh, just to name a few.

2023 WSOP Event #34 Final Table Results

Final Day Action

Going into Day 3, only ten players remained and the chip leaders were clustered closely together. It was the unfortunate Antonin Teisseire, from France, who bubbled the unofficial final table of nine when he couldn’t out chase the kings of Ryan Coon. John Racener, Daniel Negreanu, and Josh Arieh all battled to the final two tables on Day 2 but came up short at the end of the day.

Final Table Action

Ryan Christopherson had a tremendous run and had to find some crucial doubles on Day 2 to arrive at the final table. A quiet and thoughtful presence at the table, Christopherson didn’t go down without a fight, battling against the best in the world. Ultimately, he fell in 9th place when Coon caught the river against him in a three-way pot.

Jason Bullock had an aces vs aces confrontation on Day 2 that gave him the fuel he needed for his deep run. He had a grand time at the final table and even managed to get a nice bluff through against the young gun at the table. In the end, he was short stacked in a bloated pot when his pair of jacks that were run down by Matthew Parry, who had an hour of power at the final table where he could do no wrong.

Robert Mizrachi, who has four gold bracelets in mixed games, came into the day with the chip lead and, despite some ups and downs, came into the final table with the chip lead as well. There was an exciting point in Day 2 where he, Negreanu, and Arieh were all at the same table, assuredly to the amusement and chagrin of their opponents. A huge momentum shift occurred late in Day 2 when Mizrachi was able to get three streets of value from Arieh. Eventually Mizrachi’s luck came to an end when his run down was run down by a worse run down and he was forced to exit in 7th place.

Naor Slobodskoy was representing Israel at this final table and has cashes at the WSOP dating back to 2018. Focused and tuned in, Slobodskoy was lacking cards this final table and fell in 6th place when he ran into Troha’s kings.

Matthew Beinner was good natured all three days and had a great time while trying his best to chip up along the way. Newer to the scene than most at this final table, Breinner locked up his highest career score with this final table. He was the beneficiary of Arieh’s bust out late in Day 2 and he was one of the stacks to watch entering on Day 2. Beinner was rather snug at the final table but finally had to go with a nice configuration of kings which were outflopped by the likes of Troha.

Benjamin Voreland was the young gun at the table, at only 22-years old and he was asked by Josh Arieh on Day 2 if he thought his youth gave him an edge. It was the same table mentioned earlier with three consummate pros and he chose his words carefully; in short, no. A failed bluff against Parry at the final table saw Voreland lose a large portion of his chips and he was unable to correct the trajectory, eventually being eliminated in 4th place.

Matthew Parry did garner the chip lead for a short while at the final table and fought tooth and nail each day. His previously mentioned ability to call correctly on the river helped to maintain a healthy stack throughout Day 3. In the end, it was aces cracked for Parry that showed him the exit. Parry was visibly flustered upon leaving the tournament area.

Heads Up Action

Heads up wasn’t the longest ordeal, as Coon lost a big pot to Troha’s full house early on. As mentioned before, Coon had entered the day as one of the short stacks but was able to double early and shortly after he eliminated Teisseire and moved into contention. His wife also competed in this event and could be seen on the rail, rooting her husband from the end of Day 1 on. Troha got the last of Coon’s chips when his jacks were able to outrun the broadway cards of Coon, ending Day 3 after just six hours of play.

This concludes PokerNews coverage of Event #34: $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha. Stay tuned as we continued to cover every WSOP event here in Las Vegas.

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Konstantinos Tsikopoulos entered the Bar Poker Open Pro-Am final table in the middle of the pack but showed heart and grit to emerge victorious at the Golden Nugget Casino.

Tsikopoulos took home an impressive $44,086 for the victory by defeating a field of 199 entries over two days of play which consisted of qualifiers from the Bar Poker Open, Golden Nugget regulars, and a host of pros that graced the field.

2023 Bar Poker Open Pro-Am Final Table Results

Edward Holt Wins 2023 Bar Poker Open Vegas World Championship for $100,000

Final Table Action

Kevin Kent came to the final table as one of the shorter stacks and quickly found an opportunity to get his chips into the middle but his timing was unfortunate as he fell to the pocket kings of Tsikopoulos.

Next to be eliminated were both Frankie Zeta and Jim Juvancic, seventh and eighth respectively, in a double elimination at the hands of Frenchman Clement Bonnant whose pocket queens held in a three-way all in.

It wasn’t long before fans were witness to another three-way all in that saw Steven Rodriguez eliminated in sixth place and Joseph Crowley score a triple-up in the process.

The flow of the final table took a big shift when eventual winner Tsikopoulos made a courageous hero call with third pair versus Bonnant which propelled him in the chip counts and began to dominate the final table.

Andrew MacKenzie has struggled to find any momentum in the day but managed to navigate himself to a fifth-place finish before moving in with his short-stack, only to walk into the pocket queens of Day 2 chip leader Ryan Hiller.

Moments after it was the end of the road for Joseph Crowley whose ace-king couldn’t improve versus Tsikopoulos’ pocket eights and the original nine were down to three.

Bonnant was next to bust to the hands of Tsikopoulos, he holding pocket eights and Tsikopoulos having the ace-king. An ace on the turn was enough to send the Frenchman packing.

Heads-up play went back and forth, lasting over an hour, with Tsikopoulos chipping away at Hiller before the latter found spots to double up. This happened two times before Tsikopoulos closed out the victory, flopping top and bottom pair and holding to claim the title and the $44,086 payday.

That concludes PokerNews‘ coverage of the 2023 Bar Poker Open, but there’s more to come from the Golden Nugget as the $1,100 buy-in, $1,000,000 GTD PokerNews Cup Mystery Bounty will take place from June 29-July 3. Click here for more details on that tournament.

How to Win One of 100 Mystery Bounty PokerNews Cup Seats at Golden Nugget for FREE

_{*Images courtesy of Bar Poker Open / Joe Garrett.}