Ludovoic Geilich opened the action with a raise to 1,050,000 from the hijack. Action folded around to Aliaksei Boika in the big blind who raised to 1,250,000. Geilich called all in for his last 200,000 and players went off to a runout.
Ludovic Geilich: A?4?
Aliaksei Boika: K?Q?
The dealer put out 6?K?8?10?5? and Geilich was sent to the payout desk while Boika chipped up to over 7,000,000.
Earlier this year on an ordinary Monday afternoon, a bespectacled man walked into the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop on Las Vegas Blvd. Tucked under his arm was an uninteresting box that only he knew contained something rather interesting – a pair of gold watches dating back more than 40 years.
These were not your run-of-the-mill wristwear, but rather evidence of a unique and often overlooked time of poker history, a year when the World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet, now the game’s highest accolade, was replaced in favor of watches.
1982 WSOP watches
The man holding the box was David Sklansky, who in 1978 forever changed poker by advocating a mathematical approach to the game in his groundbreaking book The Theory of Poker. Nicknamed “The Mathematician,” he proved his prowess just four years later when he won two WSOP tournaments in five days.
First, he won the 1982 WSOP Event #7: $800 Mixed Doubles Limit Seven Card Stud, a tournament that paired one man with one woman, alongside Dani Kelly, and followed that up by taking down Event #12: $1,000 Limit 5-Card Draw High. A year later, the Binions reverted back to the beloved bracelets players know today, and Sklansky captured his third piece of WSOP hardware by winning Event #11: $1,000 Limit Omaha.
It was a remarkable accomplishment, and for more than four decades he’s kept safe the evidence of his victories, both of which still worked. So, why was Sklansky carrying his 1982 WSOP gold watches, two of only 15 ever awarded, into a pawn shop? Well, he was looking to sell them of course, but not to just any of the dozens of pawn shops spread across Las Vegas. Oh no, he was walking into arguably the most famous pawn shop in the world, the home to the wildly popular television show Pawn Stars, and he was there to do it with cameras rolling.
Michael Rocco opened the action with a raise to 320,000 from middle position. Action folded around to Shota Nakanishi who called in the big blind.
Rocco continued for 160,000 on a rainbow 6?10?5? flop before Nakanishi check-raised to 510,000. Rocco put in another flop raise to 860,000 before Nakanishi moved all in for 1,620,000 total. Rocco quickly mucked and Nakanishi took down a nice pot with top pair.
Event #57 of the 2024 World Series of Poker, the $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed), was scheduled to deliver a gold bracelet to a winner in a single day. However, a second day was needed to determine who the winner will be, so the nine remaining players out of a field of 486 entrants will return today at 2 p.m. local time for the streamed final table in Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas.
Among these nine players is Aliaksei Boika, who is leading the way with 5,360,000. He is closely followed by Oliver Weis (4,280,000) and by Antoine Saout (4,280,000). The Frenchman, who has already final-tabled the Main Event twice, will play his third WSOP final here in Las Vegas and try to win his first bracelet.
Event #57: $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) Final Table
Aaron Johnson saw the bracelet on the table just a few days ago as he ended up as the runner-up of Event #38: $1,500 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold'em. However, this time, things will be a bit different as he will be second-to-last in chips with 1,605,000, 10 big blinds. Only Ludovic Geilich has a shorter stack, with 1,250,000.
Michael Rocco
Remaining Payouts
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1
-
-
$612,997
2
-
-
$408,658
3
-
-
$282,983
4
-
-
$199,342
5
-
-
$142,892
6
-
-
$104,261
7
-
-
$77,460
8
-
-
$58,616
9
-
-
$45,195
Players will return at 2:00 p.m. to the Horseshoe Event Center for the live-streamed final table, which is scheduled to begin on PokerGO at 3:00 p.m. on a one-hour delay. They will return with blinds at 80,000/160,000 with a 160,000 big blind ante and blinds will remain 20 minutes in length.
Keep a tab open to PokerNews for all the action of this tournament and all others here at the 2024 WSOP at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas!
