Event #5: $25,000 Dealers Choice Championship Day 2 | 2024 WSOP Paradise

Dec 10, 2024

Three-Way All In as Mercier Triples and Bleznick Hits the Rail

Brett Slezak

Level 11

Limit Flop/Draw: 6,000-12,000, 12,000-24,000 Limit
Stud Games: 3,000 Ante, 3,000 Bring-In, 12,000 Completion, 12,000-24,000 Limits
No-Limit & Pot-Limit: 6,000/9,000 Ante, 3,000-6,000 Blinds

Pot-Limit Omaha

Jared Bleznick opened the hijack to 18,000 and Jason Mercier called in the cutoff. On the button, Nacho Barbero potted to 81,000 and both opponents called.

On the K♠7♥5♠ flop, Bleznick led for 10,000. Mercier went deep in the tank with 12,000 behind and opted to call. Barbero then potted, Bleznick called all in for 135,000, and Mercier put in his last 2,000.

Jason Mercier: J♣J♥4♠4♦ All in
Jared Bleznick: 10♥9♣8♠8♥ All in
Nacho Barbero: A♠A♣9♥5♣

Surprisingly, Barbero's aces were still in front while Bleznick had a gutshot. However, the 4♥ landed on the turn and Mercier made a set to take the lead. Mercier filled up on the 5♦ river and Bleznick hit the rail with Barbero winning the side pot.

"How do I not win there?" questioned Bleznick. "Any six and you guys are dead."

"You have a gutshot, bro," replied Barbero.

Tags: Jared Bleznick Jason Mercier Nacho Barbero

Dec 10, 2024

Racener Shoves on Sternheimer

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Connor Richards

Level 11

Limit Flop/Draw: 6,000-12,000, 12,000-24,000 Limit
Stud Games: 3,000 Ante, 3,000 Bring-In, 12,000 Completion, 12,000-24,000 Limits
No-Limit & Pot-Limit: 6,000/9,000 Ante, 3,000-6,000 Blinds

No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw

Philip Sternheimer opened to 15,000 on the button and John Racener three-bet jammed a stack of around 225,000 in the big blind.

Sternheimer went in the tank before folding to hang on to a similar amount.

Tags: John Racener Philip Sternheimer

Dec 10, 2024

"You're Just Lighting Chips on Fire"

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Brett Slezak

Level 11

Limit Flop/Draw: 6,000-12,000, 12,000-24,000 Limit
Stud Games: 3,000 Ante, 3,000 Bring-In, 12,000 Completion, 12,000-24,000 Limits
No-Limit & Pot-Limit: 6,000/9,000 Ante, 3,000-6,000 Blinds

Badugi

Jared Bleznick raised from the hijack and was called by Jason Mercier in the cutoff and Nacho Barbero on the button.

Bleznick stood pat, Mercier took one, and Barbero took two. Bleznick bet and both opponents called.

On the second draw all players did the same. Bleznick led again, Mercier raised, and Barbero folded. After some deliberation, Bleznick tossed out a three-bet and Mercier opted to let it go.

Bleznick showed a nine-eight badugi to the table.

"That's an insane three-bet," Mercier elaborated. "You're just lighting chips on fire."

Tags: Jared Bleznick Jason Mercier Nacho Barbero

Dec 10, 2024

Glaser Check-Jams on Watson

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Connor Richards

Level 11

Limit Flop/Draw: 6,000-12,000, 12,000-24,000 Limit
Stud Games: 3,000 Ante, 3,000 Bring-In, 12,000 Completion, 12,000-24,000 Limits
No-Limit & Pot-Limit: 6,000/9,000 Ante, 3,000-6,000 Blinds

No-Limit Hold'em

In a heads-up pot on a flop of 10♣5♥9♠, Benny Glaser checked from the big blind and Mike Watson bet 25,000 from the hijack. Glaser called. Both players then checked on the 7♦ turn.

Glaser checked again on the Q♦ river and Watson bet 45,000. Glaser check-jammed a stack of around 200,000 and Watson slid his cards to the muck.

Tags: Benny Glaser Mike Watson

Level: 11

Limit Flop/Draw: 6,000-12,000, 12,000-24,000 Limit
Stud Games: 3,000 Ante, 3,000 Bring-In, 12,000 Completion, 12,000-24,000 Limits
No-Limit & Pot-Limit: 6,000/9,000 Ante, 3,000-6,000 Blinds

Dec 10, 2024

Late Entries

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Brett Slezak

Level 10

Limit Flop/Draw: 5,000-10,000, 10,000-20,000 Limit
Stud Games: 2,000 Ante, 3,000 Bring-In, 10,000 Completion, 10,000-20,000 Limits
No-Limit & Pot-Limit: 5,000/8,000 Ante, 3,000-5,000 Blinds

Dec 10, 2024

Big Stacks at the Break

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Brett Slezak

Level 10

Limit Flop/Draw: 5,000-10,000, 10,000-20,000 Limit
Stud Games: 2,000 Ante, 3,000 Bring-In, 10,000 Completion, 10,000-20,000 Limits
No-Limit & Pot-Limit: 5,000/8,000 Ante, 3,000-5,000 Blinds

Dec 10, 2024

Flashback: Online Qualifier Stanislav Zegal Wins First WSOP Paradise Main Event

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Kaelaine Minton

Level 10

Limit Flop/Draw: 5,000-10,000, 10,000-20,000 Limit
Stud Games: 2,000 Ante, 3,000 Bring-In, 10,000 Completion, 10,000-20,000 Limits
No-Limit & Pot-Limit: 5,000/8,000 Ante, 3,000-5,000 Blinds

Last year, the first-ever World Series of Poker (WSOP) Paradise Main Event champion was crowned as Germany's Stanislav Zegal took down the $5,000 buy-in event for $2 million and his first WSOP bracelet. The GGPoker qualifier defeated heads-up opponent Michael Sklenicka of Czechia to wrap up a final day that only lasted four hours.

The inaugural WSOP Paradise Main Event at the five-star Atlantis Resort in The Bahamas drew 3,010 players for a prize pool that climbed above the $15 million guarantee. The field included dozens of online qualifiers, including Zegal, who was able to parlay his online poker prowess into a life-altering seven-figure victory.

“I was so lucky, the cards just fell my way all the time," Zegal told PokerNews. "I think I played well too, but obviously (there’s) tons of luck... This is what you call life-changing money, I guess.”

2023 WSOP Paradise Main Event Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Stanislav Zegal	Germany	$2,000,000
2	Michael Sklenicka	Czechia	$1,200,000
3	Daniel Neilson	Australia	$900,000
4	Matt Glantz	United States	$685,000
5	Rui Sousa	Portugal	$510,000
6	Gabriel Schroeder	Brazil	$400,000
7	Montgomery McQuade	United Kingdom	$300,000
8	Luke Graham	United States	$250,000

Read the Tournament Recap Here

Dec 10, 2024

First Break

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Connor Richards

Level 10

Limit Flop/Draw: 5,000-10,000, 10,000-20,000 Limit
Stud Games: 2,000 Ante, 3,000 Bring-In, 10,000 Completion, 10,000-20,000 Limits
No-Limit & Pot-Limit: 5,000/8,000 Ante, 3,000-5,000 Blinds

The remaining 20 players have been sent on their first 15-minute break of the day.

Dec 10, 2024

Texas Mike is Back

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Connor Richards

Level 10

Limit Flop/Draw: 5,000-10,000, 10,000-20,000 Limit
Stud Games: 2,000 Ante, 3,000 Bring-In, 10,000 Completion, 10,000-20,000 Limits
No-Limit & Pot-Limit: 5,000/8,000 Ante, 3,000-5,000 Blinds

Michael Moncek sat down and was quickly eliminated by Daniel Negreanu but wasted no time buying back in to be situated in between Shaun Deeb and Josh Arieh.

"Texas Mike" had a rough summer but is coming off a ninth-place finish in Event #2: $1,000,000 Triton Million for $1,200,000.

Tags: Daniel Negreanu Josh Arieh Michael Moncek Shaun Deeb