After two days of gruelling competition and four epic heads-up victories each, just four players remain in Event #7: $25,000 Heads-Up Championship with their sights set on one World Series of Poker gold bracelet. A capped field of 64 players has generated a prizepool of $1,504,000 with the winner taking home an even $500,000 later today.
The final four participants include two former WSOP bracelet winners who will face off against each other in one semifinal. The fan-favorite Patrick Leonard was the first to punch his ticket into the semifinal after a victory over Mike Shi last night in the quarterfinals. Leonard has one WSOP title to his name, albeit in the tag team event, but will be looking to land himself among the greats to come out on top in this exclusive event that showcases the best of the best.
His opponent is no slouch, who boasts the greatest poker resume of the remaining players. Artur Martirosian has two WSOP titles in his career along with nearly $25 million in career tournament winnings and currently sits in first on Russia's all-time money list. Bringing his superb online game to the felt, Martirosian hasn't skipped a beat including a comeback victory against Chance Kornuth to cement his place in the semifinals.
Get your pen and paper out for the other matchup, which includes Belarusian Aliaksei Boika taking on up-and-comer David Chen in a surprising heads-up semifinal. Boika has recently made a name for himself on the high-stakes circuit, having had some success at the Triton Poker stops. Having already locked up his best WSOP finish, Boika will be looking to go one step further to get his hands on the coveted piece of jewelry.
Sitting across the table with possibly the least live tournament experience in the field is David Chen. With only his first recorded tournament score coming in 2024, Chen has quickly risen up the ranks thanks to a victory on the PokerGO Tour that has catapulted his career. Chen has had continued success on the PGT throughout the last 18 months but a WSOP victory in one of the elite events would be the cherry on top to elevate his poker resume.
Cards are scheduled to go in the air at about12:15 p.m. local time in the Horseshoe Events Center on the feature tables. Live stream coverage will be picked up by PokerGO at 1 p.m. which is when the PokerNews updates will commence. The winners of the semifinals will advance to the final, which will take place later today, while the losers will pocket $180,000 for their efforts.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 |
| 2 | $300,000 |
| 3-4 | $180,000 |
Players will enter the semifinals with a chip stack of 2,400,000 and the blinds will kick off at 6,000/12,000, leaving each player with 200 big blinds to start. The levels will continue to be 20 minutes in length, so the action is sure to be fast and furious throughout the matches.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be here to bring you all of the live updates on this final day en route to crowning a new WSOP Heads-Up champion later today.
