Samuel Rosborough Denies Conniff the Gold in Event #52: $1,500 Freezeout
By many’s opinion, the truest form of tournament poker is a freezeout. Event #52: The $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout had a staggering 2,320 entries, with many likely sharing that sentiment. In the end, Samuel Rosborough reigned supreme and received a $410,426 first prize sliced out of the $3,077,145 total prize pool to go with his impressive new bracelet. Rosborough waded through a field that was a mix of weathered pros and casual enthusiasts alike.
The young Texan went on to deprive Asher Conniff of his second bracelet as he completed his quest to win his own, prevailing in heads-up play. Conniff was quick to congratulate the young buck, as the entire field seemed to develop a camaraderie from the final two tables on.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samuel Rosborough | United States | $410,426 |
| 2 | Asher Conniff | United States | $273,545 |
| 3 | Michael Rossitto | Italy | $200,173 |
| 4 | Tanupat Punjarojanakul | United States | $147,952 |
| 5 | Eric Berman | United States | $110,463 |
| 6 | Bryan Piccioli | United States | $83,318 |
| 7 | Carlos Kinil | Mexico | $63,494 |
| 8 | Charlie Cuff | United Kingdom | $48,892 |
| 9 | Julio Belluscio | Argentina | $38,047 |
Winner's Reaction
Rosborough, based out of Houston, went from playing turbos on a cruise ship just a few years ago to claiming poker’s most prestigious prize. The young grinder says most of his time is spent playing cash games, but after this run, he might have been bitten by the tournament bug.
Previously, Rosborough’s biggest score was $31,974, so to say this new high score has a significant impact on Rosborough’s career as a poker player.
Despite not having much time to process the magnitude of his win, the newest 2025 World Series of Poker champion here at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas said we will likely see him play a few more events he hadn’t planned on playing, particularly the $10,000 Main Event.
When asked about how he felt about winning his first bracelet, Rosborough said this:
“It was pretty surreal there at the end just realizing – oh, my gosh, this happened, right? I have a lot of gratitude right now for my friends and the people who’ve helped me with poker and life.”
Day 3 Action
With only three players returning from the 29 that entered Day 3, action was a constant dance of raise and three-bets as all the stacks were quite similar in depth to start the day.
That dance came to a head when Rosborough saw a massive flip go his way blind versus blind where his pocket twos prevailed over the A♥K♥ of Michael Rossitto. This put Rosborough well in the lead with a 2:1 chip advantage going into heads-up.
PokerNews asked the eventual winner how he felt as the cards ran out, Rosborough said, “Michael’s an incredible player, so sometimes, you know, when you’re going up against great players, the only way to beat them is to win flips.”, he went on to admit that he’d never sweat a run out more in his life.
Heads up play saw Conniff make a set early on and get value. He then took a slight lead playing a series of small pots preflop and post-flop that didn’t go to showdown. Eventually, a big confrontation came to a head preflop when Conniff jammed his pocket eights only to run headlong into the kings of Rosborough.
Conniff did his best to remain in contention, but in the end, his A♥Q♥ got run down when Rosborough eighty-sixed him from the tournament with a rivered flush.
That concludes coverage of the $1,500 Freezeout, but stay tuned in to PokerNews to see who else will raise their arms in triumph as the 2025 WSOP rages on.
