The World Series of Poker (WSOP) might be racing towards its conclusion but the list of big-name winners continues to grow.
Following another round of action inside the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Phil Galfond, Chance Kornuth and Jean-Robert Bellande have all walked away with bracelets. First to etch his name into the record books and secure a $341,598 payday was American pro Kornuth.
Online Events Continue to Impress
The Colorado native was one of 356 players to sit down and ante-up in the WSOP’s $3,200 Online High Roller. Part of the ever-expanding online series, which is now open to players in Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware, the MTT saw its prizepool break the $1 million thanks to 124 rebuys.
When the action reached a final table of nine, only David Goodman was in a position to threaten Kornuth and that dynamic remained in place throughout. As the rest of the field gradually slipped away, Kornuth and Goodman were left battling for the bracelet.
Eventually, it was a set of sixes that earned the player known as BingShui his second WSOP title. After watching the board roll out K
As the final pot slide its way across the table, Kornuth became only the second player in history to win a WSOP live and online.
Bellande Finally Gets One
While history was being made online, Jean-Robert Bellande was making his own little piece of history. Often the proverbial underdog and seemingly always battling to keep his bankroll afloat, the man known on Twitter as BrokeLivingJRB found himself in with a shot at his first WSOP bracelet.
Lining up for the finale of the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max event, Bellande certainly had the support of the rail. With the chips on his side from the start, things were running smoothly for the former Survivor contestant until he got heads-up with Scotland’s Dean Lyall.
An early misstep saw him lose the chip lead before rebounding to take the match with K
Galfond Gets Gold Again
In other weekend’s other WSOP headline, high stakes star and founder of the training site Run It Once, Phil Galfond, scoop his third bracelet. Having won titles in 2008 and 2015, the online-turned-live player overcame Michael McKenna in the final throes of Event #60 to add another piece of bling to his collection.
Having already tasted success in Pot Limit Omaha tournaments, Galfond showed another wrinkle to his game in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship. After taking down the tournament and banking $567,788, the American told the WSOP’s live reporting team that luck played a big part in the outcome.
“There’s nothing like the first one, so that stands ahead. It still feels really good, on par with the second. I just ran really hot at the right time. I ran bad all summer, so I was saving it up for now. Now, it’s even,” Galfond said after his June 2 victory.