Mike Shi raised on the button to 40,000 and Patrick Leonard reraised to 105,000 from the big blind. Shi called.
The flop came 9♠3♣2♣ and Leonard continued for 45,000. Shi once again made the call.
The K♦ turn saw Leonard bet again, this time 60,000. Shi stuck around and the two went off to the river.
The A♠ fell on the river and Leonard bet 100,000. Shi called pretty quickly. Leonard revealed K♠J♠ and that had Shi's K♣7♣ outkicked.
The dealer counted down Shi's stack and he was left with just 7,000 chips. "No offense to you, but if I don't win now I'm never playing poker again", Leonard declared.
Shi was forced all in from the big blind in the very next hand.
Leonard: 10♠5♦
Shi: Q♦7♥
The board ran out with the 10♦4♦3♠K♠A♣ and we don't have to hold Patrick Leonard to that declaration.
Artur Martirosian raised to 50,000 on the button and Chance Kornuth three-bet to 175,000. Martirosian made the call and the two were off to a flop with 350,000 in the middle.
The flop was Q♣8♣5♦ and Kornuth checked. Martirosian fired out 105,000, which was called.
The two players then checked the K♣ turn, and the river put a fourth club on the board in the form of the 5♣. Kornuth bet 75,000 and Martirosian called. Chance showed 8♠8♦ for a flopped set, and that won him the pot.
Despite this setback, Martirosian has made up some ground on Kornuth.
Chance Kornuth and Artur Martirosian are entangled in a tough battle as they spar back and forth in their heads-up match.
Martirosian fell behind in the match but has clawed back to close to even.
Kornuth raised to 65,000 in their most recent hand, which was called by Martirosian.
The flop of 10♥8♠8♦ led to a check from Martirosian before Kornuth fired out 35,000. Martirosian responded with a raise to 140,000, ending the hand as Kornuth's cards hit the muck.
The curtains have drawn on Day 2 of Event #7: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship. Action took place in the Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas, where 16 players returned having navigated their way through rounds one and two the previous day.
Play resumed a little before 1 p.m. local time, and plenty of onlookers had gathered at the rail to watch some of the game's elite battle it out. Players were scheduled to play two matches, knowing that a win in round three would secure a minimum cash of $86,000. However, they each had one eye on a bigger slice of the $1,532,800 prize pool.
As play concluded for the day, four players survived, each only two more victories away from a $500,000 payday and a coveted WSOP gold bracelet.
Semifinal Matches
Player 1
Player 2
Artur Martirosian
vs.
Patrick Leonard
David Chen
vs.
Aliaksei Boika
Full Bracket
Day 2 Action
Four-time WSOP bracelet winner, Chance Kornuth, was the first to progress to the quarter-finals, beating Killian Desnos. Desnos entertained on Day 1 and continued similarly today. Blind raises and a devil-may-care playing style stumped opponents in the previous rounds, but Kornuth didn’t take long to figure it out and dispatched Desnos in timely fashion.
There was also a blockbuster match-up between heads-up specialist Kevin Rabichow and two-time bracelet winner Artur Martirosian. Martirosian, who made it to the final four of this very event at the 2024 WSOP, got himself one step closer to the title after winning a crucial pot and shortly after eliminating Rabichow.
Another eye-catching collision saw Patrick Leonard take on Martin Zamani. Leonard put a big dent in Zamani’s stack early on and ended the match soon after to progress.
Next to emerge victorious was Boika in a topsy-turvy match versus Castro.Flopped quads drew the players back level before they exchanged double-ups. Boika then gained some momentum, and when Castro committed to a river bluff, Boika made the call and ended the match.
The fourth and final match to finish up this evening was the showdown between Eychenne and Chen. Early aggression gave Chen momentum, and he never looked back. In the end, though, it was a cooler that decided the winner. Top pair versus a set.
Quarterfinal Results
Winner
Defeated
Artur Martirosian
Chance Kornuth
Patrick Leonard
Mike Shi
David Chen
Thomas Eychenne
Aliaksei Boika
Harvey Castro
Action will resume for Day 3 Sunday at 12:15 p.m. local time in the Horseshoe Event Center. Play will also be streamed on the PokerGO YouTube channel.
Martirosian is seeking his third World Series of Poker bracelet, while Leonard is chasing his second. Chen and Boika are looking to secure their first.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
1
$500,000
2
$300,000
3-4
$180,000
Be sure to follow PokerNews throughout the remainder of the 2025 WSOP to stay up to date with all future event coverage.
