Yang Wang stuns Jesse Lonis to win first WSOP bracelet in $5K PLO thriller

Day 1 chipleader, Weisman, was in fourth place. Yang Wang was in sixth with a stack of 1.7 million. 

How did Lonis get all those chips? Hands like the one below helped him a lot. Hey, if you want to win a tournament, you need to be lucky as well as good, right?

Dream run for Lonis

Lonis wasn't counting his chickens. "Far from over," he posted on his X account, followed by a more chest-beating prediction: "Gorilla time."

With $595,388 up top and steep pay jumps, the other players at the table were up against it. And cards were still running the way of Lonis.

He eliminated Jarred Graham when both players flopped a set and turned a full house. The money went in on the flop, with Lonis having the superior set.  

Weisman was eliminated in sixth for $104,359 before Hubbard joined him on the rail just before the first break of the day. 

Lonis was still running the show, but his chip lead had been cut. 

1. Jesse Lonis (USA) – 18,175,000
2. Yang Wang (China) – 11,570,000
3. Evan Krentzman (USA) – 4,395,000
4. Justin Scott (USA) – 2,120,000

Dylan Weisman was eliminated in sixth for a six-figure score of $104,359.

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Wang tames the gorilla 

Lonis took out Scott in fourth place. Scott had kings and had the best of it on a queen-high flop, but Lonis had flopped top pair, turned two pair and rivered a full house. 

It really did seem like there was no stopping him. 

But PLO is a swingy game. 

The momentum shifted here when Wang pulled off a big bluff and asked Lonis if he wanted to see it. Lonis did, but perhaps he wished he hadn't.

Wang started chipping up and took the chip lead in a pot against Lonis, who was forced to fold after a big bet on the river. 

By the next break, Wang had opened up a Lonis-style lead, with almost two-thirds of the chips in play. He had 22.8 million, while Lonis had slipped below 10 million. 

And Wang continued his hot run through to the dinner break, when his stack had grown to 24.5 million to Lonis' 5.8 million, and Evan Krentzman's 5.5 million. 

Finally, five-and-a-half hours after Scott hit the rail, Wang eliminated Krentzman to take his stack just shy of 30 million – five times what Lonis had.

Yang Wang stood between Jesse Lonis and his third WSOP bracelet.

Wang wins his first at the WSOP

Could Lonis find an epic comeback of his own?

It didn't take long to get an answer, and the final hand was pretty brutal for Lonis.

• Jesse Lonis:
• Yang Wang:

The flop was all Lonis. He had top pair and the nut flush draw. Wang had a pair of fives but picked up two pair on the turn.

The river brought in the flush for Lonis but filled up Wang, who celebrated his first WSOP bracelet win. 

What was his mindset coming into the final table with such a dominant chip leader?

"I was always confident," Wang said. "I was short but I always thought I could win it."

You could see the excitement on his face. 

"I was calm before I won the bracelet," Wang said, "but now I've won, it's exciting. I've made multiple WSOP final tables and I didn't want to lose this one."