Event #61: $500 No-Limit Holdem Freezeout | 2025 World Series of Poker

06-24-2025 12:39 UTC-8

Lucena Takes Out Junior

Myles Phago

Level 27 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

Action was folded to Paulino Junior, who moved all in from the cutoff for 900,000. Juan Lucena in the small blind went into the tank and announced that he was also all in. Omid Mortazavi in the big blind folded.

Paulino Junior: A♠J♣ All in
Juan Lucena: K♦10♦

A safe looking flop came for Junior of 3♦3♠5♣ and the 8♦ then peeled off on the turn to give Lucena additional outs. The 6♦ was one of them that came on the river and made Lucena a flush to send Junior to the cage.

Player	Chips	Progress
Juan Lucena	4,125,000 1,050,000	1,050,000

Omid Mortazavi	1,200,000 160,000	160,000
Paulino Junior	Busted

Tags: Juan Lucena Omid Mortazavi Paulino Junior

06-24-2025 12:35 UTC-8

Castellanos Spikes a Lady to Take Out Simon

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Myles Phago

Level 27 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

Mark Simon moved all in from early position for his last 135,000, and action was folded to Jonathon Castellanos in the small blind, who went into the tank before he announced that he was all in as well. Jean Pasqualini in the big blind folded.

Mark Simon: A♠9♣ All in
Jonathon Castellanos: Q♦8♦

The flop of 7♦4♦4♣ was nice for Simon, but fraught with danger. The turn brought the 9♥, and it was looking like he had secured a double-up, until the Q♣ fell on the river, giving Castellanos a pair of queens and the pot to send Simon to the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jonathon Castellanos	1,100,000 730,000	730,000
Jean Pasqualini	1,020,000 140,000	140,000
Mark Simon	Busted

Tags: Jean Pasqualini Jonathon Castellanos Mark Simon

06-24-2025 11:59 UTC-8

Full House for Kerrien Knocks Out Yang

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Erick Torres

Level 26 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Luther Yang shoved for his dwindling stack and was called by Clement Kerrien to send the two to a showdown with Yang at risk.

Luther Yang: Q♥6♠ All in
Clement Kerrien: A♥7♠

Yang had a fighting chance headed into the runout, but the flop was not favorable as it landed J♣A♦8♣. The A♣ turn put an end to any hope of a comeback, and the 8♥ river was the final blow to Yang.

Player	Chips	Progress
Clement Kerrien	1,450,000 1,115,000	1,115,000
Luther Yang	Busted

Tags: Clement Kerrien Luther Yang

06-24-2025 11:59 UTC-8

Back-to-Back Bust-Outs for Simon

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Sava Krink

Level 26 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

In the first hand, Brandon Rivard opened from under the gun to 275,000, leaving himself just 5,000 behind. Action folded around to David Simon on the button, who applied pressure with a three-bet to 490,000. After the blinds got out of the way, Rivard took his time, likely watching for the pay jump, before tossing in his last chip.

Brandon Rivard: K♣6♦ All in
David Simon: A♣Q♣

Rivard was hoping to find a miracle, but the board ran out J♥7♣8♥10♠7♠ and sent him to the rail.

In the very next hand, it was Simon back in action. He opened to 120,000 from the cutoff, and Huahuan Feng three-bet to 325,000 on the button. Simon responded with an all-in shove for around 2,200,000. Feng had about 1,200,000 behind and eventually made the call after checking his cards again.

Huahuan Feng: A♣Q♦ All in
David Simon: Q♥Q♠

Feng was dominated, and though the K♥4♦10♦ flop gave him a few extra outs, the K♦ turn and 3♠ river sealed his fate. Just like that, Simon scored back-to-back knockouts.

Player	Chips	Progress
David Simon	3,385,000 1,285,000	1,285,000

Brandon Rivard	Busted
Huahuan Feng	Busted

Tags: Brandon Rivard David Simon Huahuan Feng

06-24-2025 11:46 UTC-8

Ishikawa Knocks Out Ayala

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Erick Torres

Level 26 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Jesus Ayala was all in against Shinsuke Ishikawa as they clashed in a showdown.

Jesus Ayala: 9♣9♠ All in
Shinsuke Ishikawa: K♣J♣

Ayala stayed ahead on the board of 2♥2♦5♣, but the K♥ turn was bad news for Ayala as it improved Ishikawa to a pair of kings. The 6♣ river was the final card Ayala would see in the tournament as he was eliminated.

Player	Chips	Progress
Shunsuke Ishikawa	900,000 275,000	275,000
Jesus Ayala	Busted

Tags: Jesus Ayala Shinsuke Ishikawa

06-24-2025 11:40 UTC-8

Korochenskiy Keeps Climbing

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Nick Becker

Level 26 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Stephen Friedrich open-shoved in the hijack for 465,000 and Anatoly Korochenskiy called on the button with the covering stack.

Stephen Friedrich: A♦2♠ All in
Anatoly Korochenskiy: A♠K♥

"I need a deuce," said Friedrich as the dealer put out the 10♦A♥K♣ flop, improving Korochenskiy to two pair.

The 3♣ turn and 3♦ river offered no help to Friedrich and he was sent to the payout desk.

Player	Chips	Progress
Anatoly Korochenskiy	3,000,000 1,125,000	1,125,000
Stephen Friedrich	Busted

Tags: Anatoly Korochenskiy Stephen Friedrich

06-24-2025 11:37 UTC-8

Latest Departures

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Sava Krink

Level 26 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Steven Madara	Busted
Kevin Kim	Busted
Stephen Friedrich	Busted
Jhonathan Meneses	Busted
Shane Foglietta	Busted
Luca Campagnoli	Busted
Timothy Heng	Busted
Pavel Blatny	Busted
Nathan Russler	Busted
Gregory Gius	Busted
Zachary Hall	Busted
Gabriel Schroeder	Busted

Elvenjohn Espinar	Busted
Georges Sultanem	Busted
Gabriel Wood	Busted
Peter Placey	Busted
Lucie Brun	Busted
Matic Hren	Busted
Feng Qian	Busted
Axel Santoni	Busted
Mark Berman	Busted
Kenneth Baker	Busted
Gang Hong	Busted
William Meeks	Busted
Zhou Lin	Busted

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06-24-2025 11:22 UTC-8

Zidek Wins the Flip, Lewandowski Hits the Rail

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Sava Krink

Level 25 : Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

Rourke Jackson opened the action with a raise to 100,000 from the hijack before Patrik Zidek moved all in for around 640,000 in the cutoff. Action folded to Ryan Lewandowski in the big blind, who gave it some thought before calling off his stack of roughly 430,000. Jackson quickly got out of the way, and the cards went on their backs.

Ryan Lewandowski: A♦Q♠ All in
Patrik Zidek: J♦J♥

The 2♦6♣2♥8♥7♦ runout didn’t improve Lewandowski’s overcards, and he made his way to the exit as Zidek scooped the pot and added to his stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
Patrik Zidek	1,245,000 35,000	35,000
Rourke Jackson	585,000 205,000	205,000
Ryan Lewandowski	Busted

Tags: Patrik Zidek Rourke Jackson Ryan Lewandowski

06-24-2025 11:16 UTC-8

Morse Out

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Sava Krink

Level 25 : Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

Action folded to Russell Morse on the button, who decided to go all in for his last 330,000. Brian Biggs was sitting in the small blind, triple-checked his cards, and needed some time to think about his move. He apologized to the table, as it had taken a little longer. In the end, he made the call, and it went to a showdown after the big blind went out of the way.

Russell Morse: 9♠7♦ All in
Brian Biggs: 4♠4♣

Morse needed some help from the board, but it ran out 8♥2♣2♥3♥8♦, offering no help and sending Morse to the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Brian Biggs	1,030,000 270,000	270,000
Russell Morse	Busted

Tags: Brian Biggs Russell Morse

06-24-2025 11:02 UTC-8

More Departures

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Sava Krink

Level 25 : Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Huawei Liu	Busted
Steven Krueger	Busted
Lorenzo Negri	Busted
Jason Li	Busted
Bryan Obregon	Busted
Stefan Vogt	Busted
Kyle Kneisl	Busted
Anshu Wang	Busted
Guoliang Wei	Busted

Randy Levin	Busted
Robert Lowe	Busted
Ashmead Ali	Busted
James Khoury	Busted
Rex Clinkscales	Busted
Noel Eicher	Busted

Jacob Stone	Busted
Martin Timm	Busted
Albert Ng	Busted
Zong Zhang	Busted
Phillip Tyrrell	Busted
Leonel Castellanos	Busted
Jian Fu	Busted
James Callanan	Busted
Martijn Kiers	Busted
Kevin Ayow	Busted

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