Doug Polk and Chance Kornuth Headlining Round 3 in $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship
The first two rounds of Event #8: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship have been completed with just 16 players returning to the felt for the money round tomorrow, June 3rd, as they pursue the top prize of $507,020. Many players call this event the most-skilled tournament on the schedule and the fans turned up to watch the action as the rail was packed throughout the day at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, home of the World Series of Poker.
The field was capped at 64 players and the tournament had no trouble reaching that mark for the first time in years. In fact, there was an alternate line to start the day as many big names were on the sidelines hoping to get a seat.
When the bracket-style draw was conducted to kick things off just prior to 12:00 noon local time, the matchup that jumped out right away was John Smith, the heads-up legend, taking on one of the greatest of all time in Phil Ivey. It was no surprise that it also turned out to be the last match to finish in the opening round with Smith coming out on top, much to the delight of his family and friends on the rail.
While that matchup dragged on for more than four hours, Chance Kornuth made quick work of his first two opponents, Jeremiah Williams and Keir Sullivan, wrapping up both matches before Smith could even finish one. Kornuth will have the tough task of taking on Landon Tice in the money match tomorrow. Unfortunately for Smith, his run fell short in the second round when he was eliminated by Chris Brewer.
Some other marquee matchups included Sean Winter taking on 2022 WSOP Main Event champion Espen Jorstad in the first round with Winter coming out on top. The American high-roller also went on to defeat Aleksejs Ponakovs in the second round and will take on Kevin Rabichow in the Round of 16.
Another heads-up specialist returned to the felt in what he thought should be called the "Doug Invitational" since it was made specifically for him. Doug Polk has made a splash in the poker world over the last few months and he's back at the WSOP doing what he does best...playing poker. Polk maneuvered his way through the first two rounds and will be taking on Reiji Kono in Round 3 tomorrow.
Many of the fans were lined up on the rail to watch the famous Daniel Negreanu battle in the first two rounds and some even stayed for pictures afterward. Negreanu was victorious in the opening round after getting through Bin Weng who was been red-hot on the poker circuit as of late. Negreanu was faced with the challenge of playing Roberto Perez in the second round and dug himself an early hole that he wasn't able to get out of.
The last match of the day belonged to Jonathan Jaffe and Anthony Zinno. It could have been one of the first matches to wrap up when Zinno was all in with pocket kings against the pocket aces of Jaffe. However, a seven-high straight on the board meant the players would chop the pot and continue on for a few more hours. It worked out for Zinno, the four-time bracelet winner, who managed to work his way past Jaffe en route to the third round.
2023 Heads-Up Championship Bracket
The money matches are slated to begin tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. local time with the Round of 16. All of the winners in that round will earn themselves at least a min-cash of $74,648 with the quarterfinals scheduled for 5:00 p.m. local time that evening. All the semi-finalists will earn $192,513 with the runner-up taking home $313,362 and the winner pocketing $507,020 and the WSOP gold bracelet.
Two more rounds are on the schedule tomorrow with the semifinals and finals slated for Sunday, June 4th on the PokerGO live stream. The PokerNews live reporting team will be here to capture all of the action as it unfolds on the tournament floor.