Isaac Haxton excited his supporters on Thursday when he won the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event No.16: $25,000 High Roller. He received his maiden gold bracelet and a $1,698,215 first-place prize.
The event attracted 301 entrants and Haxton beat Ryan O'Donnell in its last heads-up battle. The former said after the win that he has finished third or second in many events. Yet, he has defied the odds this year as he has won six recorded tournaments so far receiving more than $7,000,000 in total.
Justin Bonomo was part of Haxton's rail and accompanied him in a post-match interview. The pro stated that enjoys cashing in various poker events. His recent victory increased his lifetime poker earnings to $37,509,332 and is 14th in the all-time money list.
The Top Eight Players' Scores
- Isaac Haxton from the U.S.-$1,698,215
- Ryan O'Donnell from the UK-$1,049,577
- Darren Elias from the U.S.-$725,790
- Lewis Spencer from the UK-$511,782
- Roman Hrabec from Czech-$368,134
- Frank Funaro from the U.S.-$270,238
- Brian Rast from the U.S.-$202,532
- Joao Vieira from Portugal-$155,037
The Final Day's Highlights
Only 13 players advanced to Day 3. But, tables turned after Taylor von Kriegnbergh used ace-king to face Haxton's pair of queens and left the event in 13th place. Kristen Foxen followed him shortly in the 12th position after losing most of her chips.
Jorge Consiglieri and Aleksejs Ponakovs got busted in the 11th and 10th place respectively. Haxton was the chip leader at that time. Two doubles occurred and sent Michael Jozoff packing in ninth place and setting up an eight-handed final table.
Joao Vieira won several small pots and Brian Rast lost a few blinds after making an unsuccessful bluff. The latter dominated using a straight and busted the former in the eighth position. His exit kicked off a one-hour dinner break for the remaining seven players.
Rast put 11 big blinds from a small blind in the middle clashing with Lewis Spencer's better hand in the big blind. The former failed to improve and exited the tournament in seventh place as the latter got the stack lead.
Frank Funaro's run ended in sixth place after Spencer's pocket aces dominated him. Hrabec followed him in fifth place with $368,134.
Spencer clashed with Elias' pocket tens and left the table in fourth place. The three finalists made several all-in moves as Elias briefly had the stack lead before Haxton doubled up and overtook him.
O'Donnell landed a straight on the river when Elias had the dominating hand and busted him in the third position. Haxton got a 3:1 chip lead over O'Donnell a few minutes after their heads-up action began.
The latter made a pair of tens flop and the former landed a pair of jacks on the river to reduce the chip gap. Haxton dominated O'Donnell and eliminated him in second place.
