A five-outer on the river. A tear in the eye. An established and popular American pro finally making one stick at the World Series of Poker, a year after the loss of his father.
It was a dramatic and emotional night in the halls of the WSOP as Chris Hunichen, known to all as 'Big Huni' emerged victorious for the first time from his eighth WSOP final table -- and what a time to do it. Hunichen took down the $100,000 High Roller event, which carried a first place prize of $2,838,389.
A great WSOP night for Chris 'Big Huni' Hunichen “It was the biggest rollercoaster I’ve ever been on in my life times 1,000," Hunichen said. "The emotions, the waves…The feeling like I was going to bust and the feeling like I was going to have all the chips."
This time last year, Hunichen's WSOP was interrupted by the tragic news of his father's death. It meant all the more that he could come back this year and make far happier memories.
Hunichen was second in the chip counts when six players returned for the final day. At a crucial moment, he managed to spike a six when all in with 
against overnight leader Viktor Blom's 
. Hunichen then followed up by sending Blom to the rail in third. That left Hunichen to square off against six-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus, who hit his own three-outer against Hunichen to double a short stack back into contention.
With stacks all but level, the pair went to a flop of 
in a three-bet pot and all the money went in. Hunichen had flopped top pair with his 
but was still behind Ausmus's pocket jacks. Hunichen feared another runner-up finish was coming his way until the dealer put the 
on the river. Cue: celebratory mayhem.
"Rivering the nine was the most magical moment in my life," Hunichen said. "It’s insane.”
PokerOrg's Blaise Bourgeois was ringside for the Big Huni show.
A bracelet at last for Chris HunichenNegreanu, Ivey in Razz final dozen; Shack-Harris leads
Razz may not be the variant that attracts the most players, but it's quality over quantity in the $10K Razz Championship event, which is down to the final 12. There are 22 WSOP bracelets shared between that dozen, with exactly half of those in the possession of Phil Ivey, who sits ninth in the chip counts coming into the final day.
Ivey is two spots ahead of Daniel Negreanu, himself a six-time bracelet winner, and the man who had been jostling for the chip lead for much of the day. However, Negreanu endured a torrid late couple of levels and takes the second smallest stack into Friday's finale.
Phil Ivey in the hunt for bracelet #12Brandon Shack-Harris, a two time WSOP champion and perennial Player of the Year contender, leads the way, with Robert Campbell, another double champ and 2019 POY winner, in sixth. Campbell, of course, famously beat Negreanu to the POY accolade, denying Negreanu a record-extending third POY banner on the walls of the WSOP tournament rooms.
European online mixed game tyros Dzmitry Urbanovich and Denis Strebkov are also still in this one, as well as John Racener, who is looking for a second bracelet of the summer. All in all, this is shaping up to be a final day for the ages when they play to a winner on Friday.
H.O.R.S.E. bracelet kept in stable for another night
With only five players and 66 big bets between them, it seemed likely that the final table of the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship would gallop to a winner on Thursday. Not so. This one turned into a spectacular grind and paused for the night with two players left, planning a heads-up duel for the bracelet on Friday.
The last two players are Maksim Pisarenko and Mike Leah, with the former holding a narrow lead, 5,720,000 to 5,145,000. Leah will be absolutely delighted to be in with a great chance for a second career bracelet, having returned to the table today with only two big bets, but somehow managing eight double-ups inside the first level. It kept him afloat all day long.
The comeback kid: Mike LeahWhen someone goes up, someone else goes down, and this was not Benny Glaser's day. The British pro tumbled out of the overnight chip lead to bust in fifth, and he was followed by Steve Zolotow and Lawrence Brandt. Pisarenko, second overnight, held firm and will face off with Leah in a bid to win a first bracelet.
There's $399,988 for the winner, but we won't know their identity for another day.
Smooth ride for Neves in Monster Stack
A final table chip lead doesn't guarantee a title -- just ask Viktor Blom or Benny Glaser. But things were significantly more straightforward for Pedro Neves, who converted an enormous seven-handed lead into his first bracelet in Event #38: $1,500 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold'em.
This was a monster in all ways: a field of 8,703 entries and five days of play, plus that big stack of starting chips. By the time the photographers were getting ready to position Neves in front of their lenses, he had all 435 million chips in play -- plus the most important monstrous number, the $1,098,220 first prize. Not bad for a $1,500 buy-in.
Pedro Neves: Champion!Neves is a hotshot from Trarusura De Sao Luis, Portugal, and has been tipped for greatness since emerging from the online tables onto the European scene. He won a succession of major set-ups on Day 4 in this one, earning him close to 40 percent of the chips in play at the final. But he told WSOP that he couldn't be complacent. "Every one of my friends thought that I already won it, but there was so much work to do today," Neves said. "So it was a difficult night, but I was focused, and I think I played my best game."
Neves never surrendered the chip lead, eventually beating Aaron Johnson, the man who had been closest throughout, into second place. In the final hand, Neves laid a trap with 
, just completing from the small blind. Johnson found 
, ripped in his last chips, and got the bad news. Johnson won $732,329 for his runner-up finish.
Meanwhile, Portugal is off the mark for this year at the WSOP. It's the 11th bracelet for Portuguese players, tied with Denmark and ahead of the Czech Republic, Belgium and Finland.
Vitch cruises to third bracelet in PLO
It was plain sailing too for Christ Vitch, who completed a career WSOP hat-trick in the $1,000 PLO, which got done in double-quick time on Thursday. Vitch was all but neck-and-neck with David Prociak at the start of the day, with Prociak hunting a second bracelet of the series.
However, the final stages quickly became the Vitch show as he moved hastily into the outright lead and never looked back. Prociak finished in third, with Canada's Thomas Taylor in second. The winner earned $262,734 to go with his bracelet; Taylor's runner-up finished banked him $175,179 and Prociak made do with $126,853.
Chris Vitch won his third bracelet in the $1,000 PLO. Vitch's two previous bracelets came in Triple Draw Lowball and Stud Hi/Lo, so PLO represented something even more conventional. He told WSOP that this wasn't his strongest game, but wasn't done yet.
"I'm excited that I have a win under my belt, but I have plenty more events to play," Vitch said, eyeing the $3K Nine-Game Mix, which was just getting started. (He bagged 130K in that, a top 30 stack.)
Super Peter Park wins Super Turbo
Although he is two letters short of the perfect name for headline writers, Los Angeles native Peter Park nonetheless pulled off a brilliant, superhero-like performance late on Thursday night at the WSOP, taking down the single-day Super Turbo Bounty and banking $240,724.
The Super Turbo freezeout format made this one a thrill ride from the off, with 2,110 players taking their seat and a 25,000 stack, with scores abandoning them almost immediately. The bubble burst when only 317 players remained, and it was then another race to the final. Park had 18 big blinds when they sat around the last table, 10-handed, but picked up aces twice to bust players in seventh and sixth.
Fellow American Mark Dube held the three-handed chip lead until Park doubled through Dube, with 
beating 
. Dube then knocked out Adria Diaz in third to regain the lead, but Park doubled again, flopping trips with 
and then holding with 
against 
to hold on the final hand.
With that, the mild-mannered Daily Bugle photographer (probably) swings off into the sunset with Mary-Jane Watson in one arm and a WSOP bracelet on the other.
Big names remain ahead of jewel-encrusted weekend
Thirteen players remain in Event #49: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout, the best known of whom is two-time WSOP bracelet winner Maxx Coleman, returning in sixth place. Coleman's two previous successes came in a 2-7 Lowball event in 2022 and in a 6-Max Online NLHE tournament later that same year, but the $523,195 winner's prize in this one is worth more than both those events combined. Ben Hoy has the big lead at this stage, and is joined by Joseph Carden, Nikolay Yosifov and Uri Reichenstein.
The massive Seniors Event played into the money on its second day, with 1,194 players from 7,954 entries securing a cash. They included 94-year-old Sam Kobrinsky, established as the oldest player remaining in the field, who credited his old friend Jack Daniels for his longevity (see 'Tweet of the Day' below.) The day ended with 209 players still battling, led by Canada's Nathan Henry. Double bracelet winner Mark Seif sits in third place at this stage.
A massive field in the Seniors Event played into the moneyThe $5K 6-Handed event drew nearly 800 entries and carved away more than three quarters of them on its opening day. French pro Julian Sitbon leads the way, with 2020 WSOP Main Event champion Damian Salas also in the top 15. This is still a very strong field, with Joao Vieira, Bin Weng and Joe McKeehan among a host of well-known players still involved.
The same applies to the $3,000 Nine-Game Mix, which played its opening day on Thursday. Fresh off his second career bracelet win, Richard Ashby heads the 139 players remaining from the 379 entries, with four-time bracelet winner Yuri Dzivielevski in fourth, 2021 Main Event champ Koray Aldemir in sixth, and Hall of Famer Brian Rast in eighth. None are yet even in the money, which kicks in when 57 are left. Then the race begins for a $215,982 first prize and some more bling.
Richard Ashby is in pole position for a run at a second bracelet of the yearHand of the day
Any number of hands featuring Chris Hunichen could have qualified for today's Hand of the day, but this one narrowly takes the prize.
Viktor Blom still held the chip lead with three players left and put in a raise with . Hunichen had only 22 big blinds and looked down at .
"This could be dangerous," said Nick Schulman in the commentary booth.
Hunichen made a committing three-bet, Jeremy Ausmus folded and Blom shoved. Hunichen called off his last 3 million and was staring at elimination.
There was no help on the 
flop. "That's rough," Hunichen said. There was a "glimmer of hope" on the 
turn, which brought a straight draw. As his packed rail bellowed for the 
, the dealer responded with precisely their card.
Hunichen took the enormous double, ran a lap of the stage, then finished the job a couple of hours later.
Here's how the hand played out.
Photo of the day
'Photo of the day' usually comes before 'Hand of the day', but it's better this way round today, for obvious reasons.
Chris Hunichen begins his celebratory run after hitting to stay alive against Viktor BlomTweet of the day
It's not just that Sam Kobrinsky is 94 and the oldest player in the Seniors Event. It's also that this hasn't exactly been a life of abstinence.
Video of the day
Reputations don't matter for Ren Lin. Everyone is fair game...
The day in numbers
94
Age of Sam Kobrinsky, the oldest player to make the money in the $1,000 Seniors Event. Kobrinsky is into the tournament's third day, perched in 103rd place.
22
Bracelets between the players placed 9th through 11th overnight in the $10,000 Razz Championship. Phil Ivey has 11. Brian Yoon has five. Daniel Negreanu has six. They are relative short stacks coming back, however, with double-bracelet holder Brandon Shack-Harris leading.
8
Double ups for Mike Leah in the early stages of Day 3 of the $10K H.O.R.S.E. Championship, taking him from the short stack with only 2 big bets into the heads-up duel.
Coming up on Day #25
The buy-ins have been getting steadily bigger through the past week and they hit a new high on Friday with the start of the $250,000 Super High Roller. (That's the first time this year WSOP schedulers have reached for the superlative "super", by the way.)
While only a 4x ROI in the $250k will mean a $1M+ payday, at least one player will manage to pick up seven figures from a greatly reduced outlay. In other words, the Millionaire Maker also gets under way, with at least $1M for the winner of this $1,500 buy-in event. There are three opening flights on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so expect hordes.
The third event to begin on Friday is the $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball (Limit), which couldn't be further from No-Limit Hold'em if it tried.
The final stages of the $3K No-Limit Freezeout as well as that delayed H.O.R.S.E. Championship will play out, while the Senior's Event and the $10,000 Razz Championship will be reduced to their final tables.
Day #24 gallery
Results
Event #38: $1,500 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold'em
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pedro Neves | $1,098,220 |
| 2 | Aaron Johnson | $732,329 |
| 3 | Jeremy Maher | $550,920 |
| 4 | Jose Andrade | $417,213 |
| 5 | Guangming Li | $318,077 |
| 6 | Brian Roff | $244,137 |
| 7 | Tim Reilly | $188,660 |
Full results on WSOP
Event #47: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Hunichen | $2,838,389 |
| 2 | Jeremy Ausmus | $1,892,260 |
| 3 | Viktor Blom | $1,311,091 |
| 4 | Chance Kornuth | $932,725 |
| 5 | Aleksejs Ponakovs | $681,796 |
| 6 | Justin Saliba | $512,465 |
Full results on WSOP
Event #48: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (8-Handed)
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christopher Vitch | $262,734 |
| 2 | Thomas Taylor | $175,179 |
| 3 | David Prociak | $126,853 |
| 4 | Joe Firova | $92,850 |
| 5 | Jay Harwood | $68,702 |
| 6 | Ioannis Angelou Konstas | $51,396 |
| 7 | Kharlin Sued | $38,877 |
| 8 | Christopher Frank | $29,740 |
Full results on WSOP
Event #51: $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout
| 1 | Peter Park | $240,724 |
| 2 | Mark Dube | $160,474 |
| 3 | Adria Diaz | $117,451 |
| 4 | Qing Liu | $86,821 |
| 5 | Jungyang Lin | $64,828 |
| 6 | Jose Rodriguez | $48,899 |
| 7 | Zhigang Yang | $37,264 |
| 8 | Julio Novo | $28,693 |
| 9 | Joe Kuether | $22,326 |
Full results on WSOP
Ongoing events
Event #45: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship (final two)
| Place | Player | Chips/Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maksim Pisarenko | 5,720,000 |
| 2 | Mike Leah | 5,145,000 |
| Results so far | ||
| 3 | Lawrence Brandt | $183,049 |
| 4 | Steve Zolotow | $128,863 |
| 5 | Benny Glaser | $93,094 |
| 6 | Maria Ho | $69,063 |
Full results on WSOP
Event #46: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nathan Henry | 2,900,000 |
| 2 | Marc Wolpert | 2,350,000 |
| 3 | Mark Seif | 2,300,000 |
| 4 | Danny Panagatos | 2,205,000 |
| 5 | Thomas Ferguson | 2,185,000 |
| 6 | Mikey Wangh | 2,130,000 |
| 7 | Sean Downs | 2,000,000 |
| 8 | Federico Sturzenegger | 1,870,000 |
| 9 | Rafael Benami | 1,825,000 |
Full chip counts on WSOP
Event #49: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout (last 13)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben Hoy | 7,300,000 |
| 2 | Joseph Carden | 6,300,000 |
| 3 | Nikolay Yosifov | 4,635,000 |
| 4 | Uri Reichenstein | 4,480,000 |
| 5 | David Stamm | 4,300,000 |
| 6 | Maxx Coleman | 4,105,000 |
| 7 | Erlend Melson | 3,750,000 |
| 8 | Ivan Ruban | 3,445,000 |
| 9 | Clemen Deng | 3,260,000 |
Results so far on WSOP
Event #50: $10,000 Razz Championship (final 12)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brandon Shack-Harris | 1,550,000 |
| 2 | George Alexander | 1,178,000 |
| 3 | Ren Lin | 945,000 |
| 4 | Dzmitry Urbanovich | 815,000 |
| 5 | Hal Rotholz | 705,000 |
| 6 | Robert Campbell | 457,000 |
| 7 | John Racener | 381,000 |
| 8 | Denis Strebkov | 337,000 |
| 9 | Phil Ivey | 215,000 |
Event #52: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Julien Sitbon | 520,500 |
| 2 | Krasimir Yankov | 500,000 |
| 3 | Filipp Khavin | 443,500 |
| 4 | Maksym Sheingart | 421,000 |
| 5 | Ihar Soika | 393,500 |
| 6 | Joseph Roh | 392,000 |
| 7 | Yuliyan Kolev | 387,500 |
| 8 | Boris Berthomet | 377,500 |
| 9 | Matthew Hunt | 372,500 |
Full chip counts on WSOP
Event #53: $3,000 Nine Game Mix (7-Handed)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richard Ashby | 465,000 |
| 2 | Antonio Seremet | 433,500 |
| 3 | Jeffrey Lo | 268,500 |
| 4 | Yuri Dzivielevski | 251,000 |
| 5 | Gershon Distenfeld | 245,000 |
| 6 | Koray Aldemir | 200,000 |
| 7 | Ashish Gupta | 196,000 |
| 8 | Brian Rast | 195,000 |
| 9 | Adam Friedman | 188,000 |
Full chip counts on WSOP
Bracelet winners
- Event #1: $5,000 Champions Reunion – Asher Conniff (USA)
- Event #2: $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em – Jose Garcia (USA)
- Event #3: $500 Kickoff No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout – Daniel Willis (UK)
- Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better (8-Handed) – James Chen (USA)
- Event #5: $1,000 Mystery Millions - Malcolm Trayner (Australia)
- Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship – Darius Samual (UK)
- Event #7: $1,500 Dealer's Choice – John Hennigan (USA)
- Event #8: $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha (8-Handed) - Bryce Yockey (USA)
- Event #9: $1,500 Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) - Nick Guagenti (USA)
- Event #10: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship - Scott Seiver (USA)
- Event #11: $1,500 Badugi - David Prociak (USA)
- Event #12: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em - Simeon Spasov (Bulgaria)
- Event #13: $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship - Robert Mizrachi (USA)
- Event #14: $1,000 Super Turbo Bounty No Limit Hold'em - Thibault Perissat (France)
- Event #15: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better - Caleb Furth (USA)
- Event #16: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Brent Hart (USA)
- Event #17: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack - TJ Murphy (USA)
- Event #18: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha - Dylan Weisman (USA)
- Event #19: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship - John Racener (USA)
- Event #20: $300 Gladiators of Poker No-Limit Hold'em - Stephen Winters (USA)
- Event #21: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (6-Handed) - Brek Schutten (USA)
- Event #22: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw (6-Handed) - Aaron Cummings (USA)
- Event #23: Event #23: $1,500 SHOOTOUT No-Limit Hold'em - Dan Sepiol (USA)
- Event #24: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship - Sean Troha (USA)
- Event #25: $3,000 Limit Hold'em 6-Handed - Daniel Vampan (USA)
- Event #26: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) - Nick Schulman (USA)
- Event #27: $1,500 Big O - Michael Christ (USA)
- Event #28: $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em - Evan Benton (USA)
- Event #29: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship (6-Handed) - Phil Ivey (USA)
- Event #30: $600 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack - Alen Bakovic (Canada)
- Event #31: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed - Nicholas Seward (USA)
- Event #32: $1,500 Seven Card Stud - Richard Ashby (UK)
- Event #33: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack (8-Handed) - Alex Manzano (Chile)
- Event #34: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout - Antonio Galiana (Spain)
- Event #35: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. - Phillip Hui (USA)
- Event #36: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack (8-Handed) – Timur Margolin (Israel)
- Event #37: $10,000 Big O Championship – John Fauver (USA)
- Event #39: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) - Sergio Aido (Spain)
- Event #40: $1,500 Razz – Scott Seiver (USA)
- Event #41: $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot Limit Omaha Double Board Bomb Pot - Xixiang Luo (China)
- Event #42: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship - James Obst (Australia)
- Event #43: $1,500 Mixed: PLO Hi-Lo 8; Omaha Hi-Lo 8; Big O - Magnus Edengren (Sweden)
- Event #44: $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Jared Kingery (USA)
- Event #47: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em - Chris Hunichen (USA)
- Event #48: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (8-Handed) - Chris Vitch (USA)
- Event #51: $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout - Peter Park (USA)
