2013 World Series of Poker

Event #16: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em
Day: 3
Event Info

2013 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
k9
Prize
$331,190
Event Info
Buy-in
$10,000
Level Info
Level
6
Blinds
60,000 / 120,000
Ante
0

Congratulations to Mark Radoja, Winner of Event #16: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em ($331,190)!

Level 6 : 60,000/120,000, 0 ante
Mark Radoja, Winner of Heads Up WSOP 2013 Event 16
Mark Radoja, Winner of Heads Up WSOP 2013 Event 16

One of the more interesting events on the World Series of Poker schedule has officially come to a close. Mark Radoja was able to navigate a field of 162 entrants to come out on top of Event #16: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em, capturing the gold bracelet and the $331,190 first-place prize money in the process.

The third day of play began with four players returning and vying for the gold. On the secondary feature sat relative unknown Don Nguyen who had clinched his first WSOP cash with this event. Nguyen squared off with online legend Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky. All eyes were on Sulsky as the man who has consistently dominated the virtual felt was in the midst of a deep run in one of the most prestigious live tournaments around. Nguyen, however, made quick work of Sulsky, defeating him in just 41 short hands. On the final hand, Nguyen raised to 60,000 from the button, Sulsky three-bet to 145,000, Nguyen pushed out what looked like 800,000 in chips, and Sulsky moved all in for 935,000. Sulsky showed {a-Spades}{j-Clubs} and was ahead of Nguyen's {8-Diamonds}{2-Diamonds}. However, after the board ran out {k-Clubs}{9-Hearts}{7-Diamonds}{j-Spades}{10-Hearts}, Nguyen was able to seize victory with his straight and secure his seat in the finals.

Simultaneously, Radoja played Justin Bonomo over on the ESPN Main Stage in the semifinals. Bonomo was the clear aggressor in the match, winning most of the smaller pots. However, Radoja seemed to hold when the money got in and eventually Radoja was able to clinch a victory over Bonomo. During their final hand, a short-stacked Bonomo moved in from the button holding {J-Diamonds}{7-Diamonds} and Radoja snapped him off with {A-Clubs}{10-Diamonds}. An ace peeled off on the flop and that was all she wrote for Bonomo, who was eliminated in the semifinals taking home $110,485.

A mere half hour later, Radoja and Nguyen took their seats on the feature table to play one last match for the championship. Nguyen took an early lead and forced Radoja to cash in one of his add-on's fairly early. Radoja found a huge double about halfway through the match when his pocket queens were able to hold against Nguyen's {A-Clubs}{6-Hearts} during a preflop all in. Despite this, Nguyen had managed to work Radoja down to cashing in his final lammer, meaning Radoja had a huge uphill battle to seize the victory.

From this point on, Radoja worked the short stack to his advantage by winning small pots by shoving all in and taking advantage of the ever-raising blinds. On the 83rd hand of the match, Nguyen moved all in from his button and Radoja snapped him off with pocket sixes. The pocket pair held and Radoja was able to completely turn the tide on Nguyen, who was left with only one lammer to cash in. A mere two hands later Nguyen shoved his short stack from the button and Radoja called for the tournament.

Nguyen: {A-Diamonds}{3-Clubs}
Radoja: {K-Spades}{9-Spades}

Nguyen's ace-high was ahead and it stayed that way when the{j-Clubs}{6-Hearts}{5-Hearts} flop hit the felt. The {4-Diamonds} on the turn made it more likely that the match would roll on, but the {K-Diamonds} on the river brought everything to an abrupt halt with Radoja eliminating his final opponent and seizing WSOP glory.

PokerNews would like to extend its deepest congratulations to Radoja who is taking home his second WSOP braclet. That does it for our coverage of heads up action, but be sure to check out our Live Reporting page for immediate coverage of all of the remaining events at the 2013 WSOP!

Tags: Mark RadojaDon Nguyen