Spain's Sergio Aido cemented his name into the history books by winning Event #39: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) for a career-best score of $2,026,506 and his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet. Aido overcame Chance Kornuth in an enthralling heads-up battle that spanned two levels, which saw the American player bank $1,351,000 for his runner-up finish — also a career-best cash.
The field of 177 players was the largest in WSOP history, and thus, it generated a prize pool of $8,451,750, which broke the previous high.
WSOP 2024 Event #39: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) Final Table Results
| Rank | Name | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sergio Aido | Spain | $2,026,506 |
| 2 | Chance Kornuth | United States | $1,351,000 |
| 3 | Viktor Blom | Sweden | $951,727 |
| 4 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | $681,554 |
| 5 | Jesse Lonis | United States | $496,293 |
| 6 | Jonathan Jaffe | United States | $367,577 |
| 7 | [Removed:554] | Netherlands | $276,987 |
| 8 | Bruce Buffer | United States | $212,423 |
| 9 | Leon Sturm | Germany | $165,849 |
Winner's Reaction
"Yeah, it feels very good, of course, it's something special. So, yeah, I had a very good idea about this. The best thing in my poker career for me for the moment," replied an elated Aido when asked how he was feeling after winning his first bracelet.
Aido was then asked how he felt being the big stack for almost all of the final table.
"Yeah, I think it's my best game. So I prefer to, but when I do not have that many [chips], it's not that easy for me,"
"I mean, yes, of course he knows me; I know him, and it's a bit different. Sometimes, you have to level or think a bit too much about it. Yeah. In the end, I was lucky," remarked Aido when asked how it was playing with his countrymate and good friend on the final table.
"Yes, I probably will celebrate, save some money, and play more," stated Aido in response to what he would do next after landing his career-best score.
"I'm going to play the $100k. Almost everything. I just play no limit, so I'm going to play no limit," responded Aido on what his plans are for the rest of the series.
Final Day's Action
The third and final day began with thirteen players remaining who had all locked up a guaranteed payday of $106,810 and were looking to ladder up those payouts as they gradually increased. Bruce Buffer got off to a flying start just a few hands in when his pocket kings held up against Jonathan Jaffe's ace-ten.
Morten Klein was the first casualty of the day after he got all the chips in the middle with ace-jack but couldn't improve against the pocket kings of Jesse Lonis. Artur Martirosian (12th), Robert Salaburu (11th), and Martin Kabrhel (10th) all fell short of making the final table, with the latter losing a flip with pocket nines against the ace-queen of Aido.
Kornuth's start to the final table couldn't have gone much better as he doubled up with ace-king against the king-jack of the reigning champion Leon Sturm. That pot left Sturm short-stacked, and he would soon hit the rail after he shoved with king-jack for a second time but ran into the Cowboys of Aido.
UFC announcer Buffer gave an inspiring introduction to the start of Day 3 with his famous catchphrase, but it was soon time for him to depart after he ran his ace-king into the pocket kings of Jaffe. Incredibly, this was Buffer's first tournament in any WSOP event for over eight years, which ended in him finishing eighth for a career-best score of ($212,423).
[Removed:554] had been quiet throughout the day, and his stack had dwindled to just ten big blinds when he shoved all in with queen-jack. Unfortunately for [Removed:555], Aido picked up ace-jack, and with no help from the board, [Removed:555] was out in seventh.
The players then had a 90-minute dinner break, and once they returned, it took just a few hands before the next player was eliminated. Jaffe four-bet shoved ace-four after Aido three-bet out of the big blind, and ran into the Spaniard's pocket kings. Despite flopping a wheel draw, Jaffe could never catch up, which sent him home in sixth.
An interesting pot developed between Adrian Mateos, Kornuth, and Lonis which left the latter short-stacked. Kornuth opened with ace-king, Lonis committed himself with pocket fives, and Mateos woke up with pocket kings and then shoved all in. Holding ace-king, it seemed certain that Kornuth would make the call, but he found the correct fold and Mateos' pocket kings held up.
Lonis couldn't hold on for much longer as his ace-jack was undone by the jack-ten of Viktor Blom, which left him on the rail in fifth.
Two of the remaining four players were from Spain but that number was soon halved as Mateos was eliminated by his countrymate. A short-stacked Mateos shoved with queen-eight and was put at risk by Aido's king-seven. The runout left Aido with trips, which meant Mateos was out in fourth.
Aido held a commanding lead when three-handed play got underway with well over half of the remaining chips in play. That chip lead was reduced when Aido rivered two pair holding queen-seven, but the same river card improved Kornuth to the nut straight and doubled up the American player.
Blom was then left short-stacked after his king-jack failed to take down the ace-nine of Kornuth, which left the Swedish player with just nine big blinds.
After a few shoves, Blom had got his stack back out of the danger zone, but soon lost them all to Kornuth. Blom had flopped two pair holding seven-four, but Kornuth had flopped a higher two pair with seven-five, which ended Blom's run in third. This cash takes Blom from ninth up to fifth on Sweden's all-time money list.
When heads-up play began, Kornuth had almost evened out the stacks with the two players separated by only a few big blinds in the counts. Aido then lost the chip lead for the first time on the final table as Kornuth started to chip away at the Spanish player's stack.
Aido composed himself quickly and regained the chip lead after he picked off a bluff from his opponent on the river and never looked back from there.
In the final hand of the night, Aido flopped a full house holding nine-six, and Kornuth hit top pair with jack-nine. Betting action on all three streets ended with Aido shoving the river and Kornuth calling off the remainder of his stack.
Congratulations to Aido on winning his first-ever WSOP bracelet and the huge seven-figure score to go with it.
That concludes PokerNews coverage of Event #39: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed). Stay tuned for more updates from the remaining bracelet events at the 2024 WSOP.
