Event #15: $10,000 High Roller 6-Handed
Day 2 Completed
2023 WSOP Paradise
Event #15: $10,000 High Roller 6-Handed
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
2023 WSOP Paradise
Buy-in
$10,000
Prize Pool
$1,690,000
Entries
169
Level
25
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
100,000
Entries
94
Players Left
4
Chen Leads Final Four in Event #15: $10,000 High Roller 6-Handed
Level 23
: Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
After 13 grueling hours, the action has reached a conclusion in Event #15: $10,000 High Roller 6-Handed at the 2023 World Series of Poker Paradise here at Atlantis Resort. Although the event was scheduled to finish on the second day, the tournament staff and players have agreed to extend it to a third and final day given that play went on into the early hours of the morning with no sign of ending soon.
Leading the way is China's Dong Chen, who finished the night with 4,550,000, worth 57 big blinds and nearly half the total chips in play. Chen is most closely followed by France's Thomas Santerne (3,245,000) while Jean-Noel Thorel (1,260,000) and Mike Watson (1,155,000) remain in contention.
Event #15: $10,000 High Roller 6-Handed Final Table
| Seat | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Dong Chen | China | 4,550,000 | 57 |
| 3 | Thomas Santerne | France | 3,245,000 | 41 |
| 5 | Jean-Noel Thorel | France | 1,260,000 | 16 |
| 6 | Mike Watson | Canada | 1,155,000 | 14 |
Day 2 Action
The high roller tournament attracted a field of 169 total entrants to create a prize pool of $1,690,000. The penultimate day began with 94 players, with 59 players bagging chips at the end of yesterday’s Day 1 and 35 players exercising their option to register as late as possible, just before the start of Day 2. Those players would begin with a stack worth 20 big blinds to start the day.
The field rapidly dwindled in the early parts of the day, with notable players such as Fedor Holz, Joao Vieira, Bryn Kenney, Isaac Haxton, Ren Lin, Alex Keating, Daniel Dvoress, Masashi Oya, Chris Brewer, Martin Kabrhel, Shaun Deeb and Daniel Negreanu all hitting the rail within the first three levels of the day.
Thorel began the day as the chip leader and continued to accumulate chips throughout the day. In one early highlight, the French businessman turned a set to crack Maxime Dube’s top two pair and soar up the chip counts. Meanwhile, notables Jesse Lonis, Stephen Song and Alexandra Botez couldn’t gain much momentum and were eliminated midway through the day as the money bubble drew near.
Hand-for-hand play began when players were two eliminations away from reaching the money and would last nearly 90 minutes. Armin Rezaei began building a monster stack around this time, exerting pressure on smaller stacks to win many pots without showdown. Yuri Dzivielevski and Philipp Gruissem would ultimately become the unfortunate souls to burst the money bubble, with the former losing a flip against Sergi Reixach and the latter running into the ace-king of Brandon Wilson and failing to improve.
Once the money bubble burst, eliminations came fast and furious taking less than an hour for the field to dwindle from 26 players to the final three tables. Rui Ferreira and Jessica Teusl were among the notables to hit the rail shortly after making the money. Rezaei and Thorel held a firm lead over the rest of the field at this time but Santerne would start closing the gap quickly after eliminating Luis Faria and Renan Bruschi in quick succession to surge up the counts.
Chen began to establish himself when there were ten players left, particularly after getting a five-bet shove through against Rezaei to make a serious dent in the latter's stack. Rezaei would double up a short-stacked Reixach shortly afterwards before ultimately falling to Reixach in ninth-Place. Reixach himself would hit the rail in eight-place soon afterwards to set up the unofficial seven-handed final table.
Watson would come into the final table third in chips but face an early setback after running into the pocket kings of Jin Hoon Lee. Despite losing nearly a third of his stack in that hand, Watson did an excellent job navigating the final table, outlasting the likes of Roman Hrabec, Zhewen Hu and Lee himself to finish the day as one of the final four players in the tournament. All four players are guaranteed at least $132,800 but will undeniably have their sights set on the top prize of $411,659 and a prestigious WSOP gold bracelet.
This concludes the PokerNews coverage for Day 2 but make sure to stay tuned for the final day taking place tomorrow, December 14, as we bring you all the action from the moment cards are in the air until a winner is crowned.
End of Night Chip Counts (full)
Level 23
: Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
4,550,000
290,000
|
290,000 |
|
||
|
3,245,000
845,000
|
845,000 |
|
1,260,000
-830,000
|
-830,000 |
|
||
|
1,155,000
-55,000
|
-55,000 |
Play Concludes for Day 2
Level 23
: Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
The final four players have agreed to bag their chips and finish the event tomorrow. The impromptu Day 3 will begin at 12:00 p.m. tomorrow, December 14.
Full recap coming up shortly.
Jin Hoon Lee Eliminated in 5th Place ($98,564)
Level 23
: Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Dong Chen opened to 120,000 from under the gun and Jin Hoon Lee moved all in for his last 450,000 from the big blind. Chen made the call with a covering stack to put Lee at risk.
Jin Hoon Lee: K♦J♦
Dong Chen: A♣8♦
Chen was ahead preflop and remained so on the Q♣8♣7♦ flop. The 10♠ gave Lee some more outs but the 3♠ river was a blank and Lee was sent to the rail while Chen scored another final table knockout.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,260,000
80,000
|
80,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
|
|
||
Santerne Gets Big Double
Level 23
: Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Jin Hoon Lee opened the cutoff to 125,000 before the action made it to Thomas Santerne in the small blind who moved all in for about 1,100,000. Lee called and the cards hit their backs.
Thomas Santerne: J♥J♠
Jin Hoon Lee: A♦K♥
The full board ran out 6♠9♠6♣3♠7♦ and Santerne earned the pure double while leaving Lee with crumbs.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,400,000
1,555,000
|
1,555,000 |
|
|
160,000
-920,000
|
-920,000 |
|
|
||
Zhewen Hu Eliminated in 6th Place ($74,512)
Level 23
: 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Zhewen Hu opened to 125,000 from under the gun and Dong Chen defended from the big blind.
Both players checked the K♦10♦2♦ flop leading to the 2♣ on the turn. Hu moved all in for roughly 425,000 and Chen snap-called with a covering stack.
Zhewen Hu: Q♣J♦
Dong Chen: A♦4♦
The rest of the board ran out 2♣7♦. Chen was good at showdown with the nut flush to extend his lead over the rest of the field and send Hu to the rail in sixth-place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,180,000
505,000
|
505,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
Chen Hero Calls Santerne
Level 23
: 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Dong Chen opened to 125,000 from the cutoff and received calls from Thomas Santerne on the button and Jean-Noel Thorel in the big blind.
The flop came 9♥9♣4♦. Thorel checked, Chen bet 80,000, Santerne raised to 270,000, Thorel folded and Chen called.
On the 2♣ turn Chen check-called a 375,000 bet from Santerne.
The river was the 6♦. Chen checked and Santerne moved all in, covering Chen's remaining stack of 970,000. Chen took about a minute to decide before making the call.
Santerne could only show J♥10♥ for a bluff while Chen turned over A♦4♣ to take the chip lead while leaving Santerne with just under 15 big blinds.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,675,000
2,030,000
|
2,030,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
2,090,000
-535,000
|
-535,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
845,000
-1,380,000
|
-1,380,000 |
Roman Hrabec Eliminated in 7th Place ($57,395)
Level 23
: 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Roman Hrabec raised to 200,000 from middle position with just 25,000 back. It then folded to Jin Hoon Lee in the small blind who moved all in and the big blind folded. Hrabec put in the last 25,000 and the cards hit their backs.
Roman Hrabec: A♠10♣
Jin Hoon Lee: 7♠7♥
The 2♣8♦6♦ flop was safe for the sevens but the 10♠ turn vaulted Hrabec into the leads. However, the light was lost as the miracle 9♦ hit the river giving Lee a straight and sending Hrabec to the rail just short of the official final table.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,080,000
-10,000
|
-10,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
Level: 23
Blinds: 30,000/60,000
Ante: 60,000