Justin Bonomo working away with the title within the last $25,000 buy-in excessive curler occasion held on the 2023 Poker Masters, till he wasn’t. After scoring each elimination on the best way right down to heads-up, he went from holding greater than a 4:1 chip result in trailing by almost the identical margin within the blink of an eye fixed.
Bonomo, who poker’s second-highest-earning match participant with greater than $64 million in profession cashes to his title previous to this occasion, discovered a formidable hero name to shortly right course.
The hand in query started with Daniel Rezaei limping on the button with J8 and Bonomo elevating from the massive blind with A8. Rezaei referred to as and the flop got here down 974. Bonomo made a continuation wager of 300,000 right into a pot of 480,000 and Rezaei referred to as together with his gutshot straight draw and one overcard. The flip introduced the 7 to pair the board and Bonomo checked. Rezaei wager 325,000 into the pot of 1,405,000 and Bonomo referred to as, leaving himself with simply over one million chips remaining whereas the pot had ballooned to 1,730,000. The 5 accomplished the board and Bonomo checked once more. Rezaei moved all-in with simply shy of two.8 million in his stack and after loads of consideration, Bonomo referred to as for his match life with ace excessive.
Check out a replay of the hand by way of PokerGO beneath:
There’s a cause why he is second on the all-time cash record.
This name by @JustinBonomo for his match life is worthy! pic.twitter.com/YRF3oI4PpD
— PokerGO (@PokerGO) September 25, 2023
That big double-up put Bonomo again on prime, and from there he was in a position to shut out the victory, incomes $333,000 for the win. His profession earnigns now sit at $64,439,800, leaving him simply $844,456 behind all-time cash chief Bryn Kenney.
This was Bonomo’s second title and ninth final-table end of the 12 months. He earned 336 Card Player Player of the Year factors because the champion, sufficient to climb into 52nd place within the 2023 POY race standings introduced by Global Poker.
This victory additionally noticed Bonomo take house 200 PokerGO Tour factors. This was his second final-table end of the sequence, having beforehand positioned third in occasion no. 6 for $114,000 and 114 PGT factors. His win on this match was sufficient to maneuver him into seventh place within the race for the Poker Masters Purple Jacket.
This occasion attracted 37 entries, making a $925,000 prize pool that was paid out among the many prime six finishers. The second and last day started with Bonomo within the lead and 6 remaining, with Isaac Haxton having been eradicated on the finish of day 1 to burst the bubble.
Bonomo scored the primary knockout when he moved all-in with fives filled with eights. Three-time World Poker Tour champion Chino Rheem referred to as all-in with A-2 for fives filled with deuces, with three fives, an eight, and a deuce on board. Rheem earned $46,250 because the sixth-place finisher. This was his fourth final-table exhibiting of the sequence. He took down occasion no. 4 for $218,400 after which backed that up with a fourth-place end in occasion no. 6 and one other sixth-place end in occasion no. 8. All advised, Rheem has cashed for $434,640 throughout the sequence, accumulating 386 PGT factors alongside the best way. He now sits in second place within the series-long factors race, trailing solely two-time winner Vladas Tamasauskas heading into the ultimate occasion of the pageant.
Event no. 6 champion Orpen Kisacikoglu was the subsequent to fall. He misplaced a giant chunk of his stack with pocket aces towards the A-Q of Daniel Rezaei, who dedicated the vast majority of his stack preflop after which referred to as off the remaining after selecting up a broadway gutshot on the flop. Rezai hit his straight on the river to double into third chip place, whereas Kisacikoglu was left with simply over eight huge blinds. He quickly obtained all-in with Okay-J suited, solely to search out himself in tough form towards the pocket kings of Bonomo. The pocket pair held up this time round to ship Kisacikoglu house in fifth place ($74,000). He now sits in tenth place within the sequence standings.
A pair of preflop coolers resulted within the subsequent two knockouts. The first noticed bracelet winner Andrew Lichtenberger get all in with pocket jacks towards the pocket queens of a surging Bonomo. Lichtenberger was unable to search out any assist from the board and was eradicated in fourth place. He earned $101,750 for his efforts, growing his profession match earnings to over $16 million. The occasion no. 5 winner now occupies the fourth-place spot within the race for the Purple Jacket.
The subsequent cooler was a battle of the blinds, with Bonomo elevating from the small blind with pocket kings. Stephen Chidwick three-bet out of the massive blind with pocket queens and shortly referred to as off when Bonomo four-bet shoved. A ten-high runout stored the bigger pair forward and Chidwick was despatched to the rail in third place ($148,000). The rating elevated his profession earnings to $52.6 million, good for third on the all-time cash record. This was his twentieth final-table end of the 12 months, with 5 titles received and greater than $6.6 million in POY earnings accrued. The bracelet winner and two-time POY now sits in sixth place on this 12 months’s standings.
Heads-up play obtained off to an action-packed begin, as beforehand mentioned. Rezaei doubled up within the first hand with pocket sixes besting pocket fours. He then doubled once more, this time with pocket sevens holding towards the A-2 of Bonomo. After the hero name noticed Bonomo regain the chip benefit, the 2 proceeded to battle it out for roughly one other half an hour.
In the ultimate hand Bonomo limped on the button with AQ. Rezaei checked with Q2 within the huge blind and the flop got here down Okay32. Rezai checked together with his pair and flush draw and Bonomo checked behind. The A on the flip gave Bonomo the lead as soon as once more. Rezaei checked and Bonomo wager 200,000 into the pot of 240,000. Rezai referred to as and the Q on the river gave each gamers two pair. Rezaei checked together with his queens and deuces and Bonomo moved all-in with aces and queens. Rezai referred to as and was proven the dangerous information. He earned $222,000 because the runner-up, the third-largest recorded rating of his profession.
Here is a have a look at the payouts and rankings factors awarded on the last desk:
Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points | PGT Points |
1 | Justin Bonomo | $333,000 | 336 | 200 |
2 | Daniel Rezaei | $222,000 | 280 | 133 |
3 | Stephen Chidwick | $148,000 | 224 | 89 |
4 | Andrew Lichtenberger | $101,750 | 168 | 61 |
5 | Orpen Kisacikoglu | $74,000 | 140 | 44 |
6 | Chino Rheem | $46,250 | 112 | 28 |
Photo credit: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.