Ian "IanMa" Matakis can now call himself a WSOP bracelet champion after winning Online Event #2: $500 No-Limit Hold'em Bankroll Builder at the 2023 World Series of Poker.
"I've always wanted to win a bracelet," Matakis told PokerNews. "I basically played this tournament on my phone the whole day until the end of the 5k (No-Limit Hold'em Freezout.) I bagged about 50 bigs for the start of Day 2 on that one. When play ended, my buddy drove me home, and I was able to play the final table on my laptop."
$500 No-Limit Hold'em Bankroll Builder Final Table Results
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1
Ian "IanMa" Matakis
United States
$120,686
2
Baruch "QQlove" Forst
United States
$88,089
3
Thomas "Pkrwarrior23" Rosa
United States
$64,756
4
"worldsgrtest"
United States
$47,977
5
Paul "plenkeit2" Lenkeit
United States
$35,480
6
"Deeznutz"
United States
$26,479
7
Justin "MadTitan" Turner
United States
$19,837
8
Joey "OnSpectrum" Weissman
United States
$15,031
Including rebuys, the tournament had 1,253 total entries resulting in a prize pool of $873,900. Some 240 places were paid, with all players in the money banking at least $1,311.
Numerous notable players entered but failed to make the money, including Matt "berkey11_S4Y" Berkey, Vanessa "ContainsNuts" Kade, and Cody "1eggadaymike" Bell, who won Online Event #1: $333 No-Limit Hold'em Triple Treys Summer Tip Off three days prior to today's tournament.
Notable players finishing in the money included Joey "OnSpectrum" Weissman (8th, $15,031,) John "RiverRace" Racener (20th, $3,670,) Davide "drogonzizi" Suriano (27th, $3,146,) and Phil "HeyGuys" Galfond (34th, $2,622.)
Another pro that cashed was Chance "BingShui" Kornuth, who found himself registered for two online tournaments at the same time. Kornuth was seen sitting out in one tournament so that he could open and play in the other. Despite having to miss hands, Kornuth cashed in both events (finishing 129th for $1,486 in this one.)
Eliminations came quickly at the final table. Weissman's ace-queen ran into Baruch "QQlove" Forst's pocket aces to exit in eighth.
Justin "MadTitan" Turner went out in seventh after his top pair fell to the flopped trips of "worldsgrtest." "Deeznutz" then fell in sixth to a rivered straight by Matakis.
Paul "plenkeit2" Lenkeit exited in fifth when his king-queen lost to king-deuce.
Matakis then played two big hands against "Worldsgrtest," first doubling up with pocket aces before eliminating them in fourth via pocket tens over pocket sevens.
Thomas "Pkrwarrior23" Rosa finished third when their pocket nines fell to a flopped pair of aces from Forst.
Matakis and Forst then played heads-up for about twenty minutes before the hand that ended the tournament.
The final hand
Matakis held king-jack while Forst had ace-eight. After limping, Matakis bet on the ace-jack-four flop.
"It was a limped pot so that flop is usually better for me. That's why I bet out." The turn came a king. "On the turn, I hit two pair and block his two pair, and so I kept betting." Matakis bet and Forst raised all in with top pair. "When he jammed, it was a snap call." The river came a meaningless two, and Matakis became a WSOP bracelet winner.
"I'll be playing Day 2 of the 5k tomorrow," said Matakis, "but after that, this year, I was planning on taking it day by day."
PokerNews' coverage of WSOP online bracelet events continues with Online Event #4: $600 No-Limit Hold'em Ultra Deepstack on June 6 at 3:30 p.m. local time.
