The World Series of Poker continues with full throttle at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino which provides players with a premium level of accommodations and poker offerings. This 49th edition of the poker festival is also marked by considerable records when it comes to people participating at the events.
This weekend saw the final table of the Event #42: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed High Roller which made Shaun Deeb the new champion bagging a total of $1,402,683. The 42nd event in the rich schedule of the poker festival is also the first High Roller in the diverse schedule of this year’s WSOP. Classified as a premium event, the High Roller is one of the multiple-day ones which provide players with enough time to develop their full potential on the felt.
A total of 230 entries were registered for participation until the window for registration was still open, which gave as many players as possible the chance to enter the event. It also defined the event as the largest one to date at the WSOP. With their joint efforts, the overall prize pool which was later shared among the top 35 players registered for action amounted to some $5,462,500 which is sure to guarantee them a motivation to go far in the tournament.
Among the players who made it all the way to the final table were big names in the industry to the likings of James Calderano who claimed the first palace in the last year’s edition of this event, Scotty Nguyen who is a member of the Poker Hall of Fame. There was also Jason Koon who appear to be determined to cash at as many poker events at the WSOP as possible. He claimed the seventh place at the first High Roller event of WSOP which brought him $372,894.
High Roller Promises Considerable Payouts
Even though they all had great potential to make it all the way to the top, the winner was no other than Deeb who has a total of three WSOP gold bracelets to his name up this point. The first one was claimed back in 2015 when he participated at the Event #15: $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em Championship and bagged $318,857.
The second one came with his first place at the 2016 Event #49: $1,500 Seven-Card Stud which brought him $111,101 for his deep run in the tournament. His third WSOP bracelet comes as no surprise to anyone since he has the potential to claim it and proved it in the 42nd event. Deeb plaid the heads-up duel against Ben Yu and what should be taken into account is that the two of them do not meet for the first time.
It could be recalled that they have had previous encounters at poker tournaments such as the 2017 WSOP Event #34: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship. Back then Yu made it all the way to the top and defeated Deeb in the heads-up duel at the end of the final table. Now Deeb received the chance to make up for that second place and he claimed the throne. Yu, on the other hand, settled for the runner-up position and the $866,924 coming with it.
Prior to the heads-up duel, the two players were talking and Deeb mentioned that the might have the opportunity to redo their previous duel and turn the situation around. Yu managed to claim the chip lead at the end of Day 2 with a total of 3,695,000 chips to his name. Since many players have made the point that unlimited re-entries make poker tournaments easier than they should be, WSOP had decided for the first time ever to make this event a single re-entry one.
The third place on the official leader board was reserved by Scotty Nguyen who has a total of five WSOP gold bracelets won throughout his live poker career. His name is also familiar from the 1998 WSOP Main Event where he claimed the throne. At the end of this High Roller event, he bagged some $592,875.
