James Chen opened the action to 12,000 from early position and was three-bet by his neighbor, Chris Hunichen to 42,000.
Chen called and the two players saw a flop of 9♠9♦2♦, to which Chen check-called a bet of 30,000 from Hunichen. The dealer turned the A♦ and again, Chen check-called a bet from Hunichen, this time for 120,000.
The 2♥ on the river double-paired the board and after Chen checked to Hunichen a third time, Hunichen sized up to a bet of 400,000. After some deliberation in the form of a single time-bank, Chen's hand hit the muck.
Steven Veneziano opened to 12,000 on the button and James Chen three-bet to 52,000 out of the small blind. Veneziano called and they went heads-up to a flop of A♠J♣5♦. Chen led out with a bet of 25,000 and Veneziano still called.
The 5♥ paired the board on the turn and Chen checked this time. Veneziano tossed in a bet of 80,000 and Chen just called to see the K♥ on the river. Chen led out with a large bet of 250,000 on the river. Veneziano gave it some thought but opted to send his cards to the muck.
Alex Kulev opened the action in late position with a raise to 12,000 and was called by Dan Smith in the small blind and Chris Hunichen in the big blind.
Both players check-called a bet by Kulev on the 4♠9♥K♠ flop, which lead to Smith leading out for 45,000 on the J♣ turn. Things get interesting as Hunichen raised Smith's lead bet to 110,000 and Kulev re-raised both players to 450,000.
After some deliberation and one of Hunichen's time banks, both players decided to fold, sending the pot over to Kulev.
Rejoice, high-roller fans! Some of the best high-stakes tournament players in the world are getting set to take the stage for the highest buy-in event of the summer at the 2023 World Series of Poker, Event #40: $250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold’Em, inside the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas Ballroom at 2 p.m. local time.
With multiple events already smashing records at this year’s WSOP, the expectation here is no different. The field size nearly doubled from 2021 to 2022, with Adrian Mateos besting a field of 33 hopefuls in 2021, including U.K. pro Ben Heath heads-up, to capture his fourth gold bracelet.
Last years field of 56 runners created a total prize pool of $13,944,000, with the largest piece going to eventual winner, Alex Foxen. Foxen entered heads-up play against American businessman and high-stakes recreational player Brandon Steven with a 9:1 chip lead and it wouldn't take long for Foxen to finish Steven off after a come-from-behind last hand that saw Foxen river two higher pair to the flopped two-pair of Steven. Foxen took home $4,563,700 and his first gold bracelet for the effort.
2022 saw a stacked final table including ten-time bracelet winner Phil Ivey finishing in seventh place, four-time bracelet winner and former champion of this event, Spanish poker pro Adrian Mateos bowing out in fourth, and bracelet winners, Daniel Zack , Sam Soverel and Martin Kabrhel rounding out the final nine. The expectation will be similar this year.
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1
Alex Foxen
USA
$4,563,700
2
Brandon Steven
USA
$2,820,581
3
Chris Hunichen
USA
$1,931,718
4
Adrian Mateos
Spain
$1,367,206
5
Sam Soverel
USA
$1,001,142
6
Martin Kabrhel
Czech Republic
$759,362
7
Phil Ivey
USA
$597,381
8
Dan Zack
USA
$488,095
9
Henrik Hecklen
Denmark
$414,815
Each player will begin the day with 1,500,000 in starting chips and blinds will start at 3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 big blind ante. Each level will be 60 minutes in length and the schedule calls for eight total levels of play on Day 1, with a 15-minute break after every two levels.
Late registration will be open throughout the day and will stay open until the start of Day 2, with the rules allowing for each player to re-enter one time, if they happen to need it. There will be a 30-second shot clock in play and each player will receive six 30-second time banks at the start of each day. For all of those that bag up chips at the end of the night, they will return at 1 p.m. tomorrow with the champion being crowned on Day 3.
As always, keep it tuned right here for up-to-the-minute live coverage from PokerNews of this championship event.
