Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship
Day 3 Completed
2024 World Series of Poker
Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship
Day: 3
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 3
2024 World Series of Poker
Buy-in
$25,000
Prize Pool
$1,504,000
Entries
64
Level
63
Blinds
60,000 / 120,000
Ante
0
Entries
4
Players Left
1
Level 63
: Blinds 60,000/120,000, 0 ante
For poker players, there's taking a shot, and then there's taking a shot — and that's exactly what Darius Samual did after risking half his bankroll to compete in the $25k Heads-Up Championship. The gamble paid off in spades, as Samual emerged victorious in the event by besting six opponents in a row to earn his first WSOP gold bracelet along with the $500,000 first-place prize here inside the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
Samual's victory was all the more impressive considering he had to overcome a slew of poker juggernauts, including fan-favorite John Smith, Russian poker phenom Artur Martirosian, and Faraz Jaka, who has multiple poker titles to his name across various series.
"The match with John Smith I think was [my favorite]," Samual explained. "His small ball style was a lot of fun and it lasted a long time."
Samual, who said he only started playing "big tournaments" within the past six months, explained he doesn't specialize in any particular format of poker but was eager to take a shot.
"I don't have an exact area, I just play for fun and making some money," Samual said. "I basically put 50 percent of my bankroll on one tournament. I really wanted to go for it and this payout is like 95 percent of my poker money now. I took a shot! I think I was the only one who didn't care about the bracelet, I only cared about the money."
Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship Final Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Darius Samual | United Kingdom | $500,000 |
| 2nd | Faraz Jaka | United States | $300,000 |
| 3rd | Nikolai Mamut | United Kingdom | $180,000 |
| 4th | Artur Martirosian | Russian Federation | $180,000 |
| 5th | John Smith | United States | $86,000 |
| 6th | Marko Grujic | Serbia | $86,000 |
| 7th | Owen Messere | United Kingdom | $86,000 |
| 8th | Patrick Kennedy | United Kingdom | $86,000 |
Semifinal Action
Artur Martirosian was arguably the man to beat today as he already had two WSOP bracelets to his name — one of which was from a $10,000 heads-up championship event online last year. Martirosian started the match off strong, using well-timed aggression and benefitting from an ill-timed bluff from Samual to pull out to an early lead.
Martirosian managed to build a 2:1 chip lead over Samual within the first few levels of play, but Samual's fortunes began to change once they were sent to the feature table. Shortly after being seated, Martirosian ran a multi-street bluff with ace-jack after flopping a gutshot draw, but Samual hung tough after flopping a pair of queens to flatten Matirosian's lead. Not long after, Samual took over the chip lead after flopping a pair of aces and getting three streets of value from Martirosian.
After a bit of back-and-forth, the final hand occurred after Martirosian got all in preflop with ace-ten against Samual's ace-king in a bit of a preflop cooler. The flop came king-high and ran out clean for Samual to earn his spot in the finals.
Across the room, Jaka got off to a bit of a rough start against Mamut after getting creative with ten-six suited, but he quickly rebounded by making a nice call facing a river three-bet bluff from Mamut. It was all Jaka from that point on, with several large pots ending in a fold by Mamut as the cards did not seem to go his way.
Mamut did manage to find a much-needed double-up after spiking two pair on the river against Jaka's single pair, but the momentum was short-lived. Several hands later, Mamut shoved preflop with king-queen and ran into Jaka's ace-jack. The board ran out clean for Jaka, which set the stage for the final match.
Heads-up Finale
Samual jumped out to an early lead by making several strong hands against Jaka, who was largely card-dead and unable to connect with any flops. The pain continued for Jaka for several levels, including a hand where he semi-bluff raised with a pair and a straight draw and was forced to fold facing a shove from Samual.
Not long after, the rest of Jaka's chips went into the middle in a classic preflop race, with Jaka holding ace-king and Samual holding pocket queens. Jaka flopped two pair and held, and just like that he was back to even.
Samual wouldn't be denied, however, and he quickly re-established the lead after pulling off a savage triple-barrel bluff with queen-high. With escalating blinds forcing the action, Jaka decided to make a stand with ace-six suited facing a preflop three-bet shove from Samaul, who held king-queen. Despite getting it in as a slight favorite, Samual flopped two pair and Jaka was unable to catch up, securing Samual's victory.
That a wrap for PokerNews event coverage. Be sure to check out our live-reporting hub for continuing coverage of the 2024 World Series of Poker and other events around the globe.
Level 63
: Blinds 60,000/120,000, 0 ante
Level 63
: Blinds 60,000/120,000, 0 ante
Faraz Jaka raised to 240,000, but then had a decision to make when Darius Samual re-raised to put Jaka all-in for his remaining 3,630,000.
Jaka decided to make a stand with a call, which put his tournament life at risk.
Faraz Jaka: A?6? 
Darius Samual: K?Q?
Jaka’s Ace held the momentary lead before the flop, but it changed when the dealer fanned K?A?Q? on the board, putting Samual ahead with bottom two pair.
The 7? on the turn didn’t help Jaka, and the 3? on the river ended Jaka’s run at a second WSOP bracelet.
Jaka earned $300,000 for his effort.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
||
Level: 63
Blinds: 60,000/120,000
Ante: 0
Level 62
: Blinds 50,000/100,000, 0 ante
Faraz Jaka raised on the button to 200,000 with J?8?, and Darius Samual called in the big blind with A?5?
The flop came 5?2?6?, giving Samual the advantage with middle pair. Both players elect to check this flop, to see a turn.
The turn was the 7?, giving Jaka an open-ended straight draw. Once Samual bet out 150,000, Jaka applied pressure and raised it up to 600,000, which was enough to get Samual and the better hand to fold.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
5,515,000
-200,000
|
-200,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
4,085,000
200,000
|
200,000 |
|
|
||
Level 62
: Blinds 50,000/100,000, 0 ante
Darius Samuel looked down at Q?7? and raised the action to 200,000, which Faraz Jaka called with K?Q? as his hole cards.
The dealer placed 10?6?4? on the board, which both players completely missed. Jaka’s king kept him in the lead, but he checked his action and watched as Samuel bet 125,000. Jaka called.
The 10? appeared on the turn, and Jaka once again checked. Samual responded by sizing up to a 450,000 bet despite having nothing but queen-high. Jaka pondered the action, but then called to bloat the pot to 1,550,000.
Action heated up on the river when the dealer placed 5? on the board.
Jaka checked, an action that opened the door to Samual to make a move on the pot. Samaul used the opportunity to fire a third time, and this time it was an all-in bet.
Jaka promptly folded, and Samual added to his chip lead.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
5,715,000
175,000
|
175,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
3,885,000
-175,000
|
-175,000 |
|
|
||
Level: 62
Blinds: 50,000/100,000
Ante: 0
Level 61
: Blinds 40,000/80,000, 0 ante
Darius Samual raised on the button to 200,000 with A?3? before being three-bet by Faraz Jaka to 700,000 with Q?J?. After thinking things over, Samual elected to four-bet all in for Faraz's remaining 4,060,000 chips. However, the price was too much for Jaka, as he laid his hand down.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
5,540,000
530,000
|
530,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
4,060,000
-530,000
|
-530,000 |
|
|
||
Level 61
: Blinds 40,000/80,000, 0 ante
Darius Samual opened to 175,000 on the button and was three-bet by Faraz Jaka to 525,000.
Samual then shoved to put Jaka all in for his last 2,295,000 and Jaka called.
Faraz Jaka: A?K?
Darius Samual: Q?Q?
The A?5?K? flop vaulted Jaka into the lead with two-pair and left Samual drawing slim.
The 4? turn and 6? river bricked out for Jaka, who gained new life in the match after doubling up to nearly even.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
5,010,000
-2,495,000
|
-2,495,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
4,590,000
2,495,000
|
2,495,000 |
|
|
||