The 2024 World Series of Poker Playground is currently taking place, and it’s an event that is filled with tournaments of many different sizes. While many of these tournaments have featured some small buy-ins, that wasn’t the case with Event #13.
Event #13 was a $3,300 High Roller event, and it was one that attracted some of the biggest names in the world of live poker. 178 players signed up to compete for the big payouts, and that forced the action to last more than 18 hours.
Francois Billard ended up on top of this massive event, to take home over $112,000 and his first WSOP Circuit ring. Billard came out of nowhere to win this event, especially for those following along with the chip count throughout the event.
There were a ton of big names in this event, and the action throughout the 18 hours was tremendous.
A Late Run
Billard really didn’t start to turn things on until there were only three players at the final table, and it was Kevin Rivest and Adil Morkos that were battling it out as well. Those two were leading the way throughout this tournament, but they saw Billard get hot and blow right past them.
Even though there was a big pot for this event, anyone that was on the wrong side of the stone bubble did not take home any cash. Everyone that made it through from that point was awarded at least $4,500 for their troubles.
Morkos was doing his best work at the beginning of Day 2 as he was knocking out players early and often. He headed to the final table with the chip lead, and that was something that he didn’t relinquish until later on in the night.
There were actually 10 players that made it to the final table, and action went on for two full hours before anyone went home. Jaime staples was the first to bow out at the final table and it was Billard that did the elimination himself.
Staples took home $12,000 by finishing in 10th place, but the payouts got bigger from there. It became clear that Billard was going to win this tournament after two big hands in which he was able to double up his chip lead.
A Look at the Leaderboard
Rivest was still able to win $77,000 by finishing in second place in this event, and that was a huge payout after paying just $3,300. Those payouts started to get much smaller, and Morkos had to settle for $52,500 after leading the way in this tournament for much of the action.
The only player from the United States to finish in the top-10 was Timothy Ulmer, and he managed to take home $40,000. Anoop Jugurnath rounded out the top-five at this event, and he walked away with $31,000 for finishing in this position.
