Event #16: $25,000 High Roller (8-Handed)
Day 3 Completed
2023 World Series of Poker
Event #16: $25,000 High Roller (8-Handed)
Day: 3
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 3
2023 World Series of Poker
Buy-in
$25,000
Prize Pool
$7,073,500
Entries
301
Level
25
Blinds
200,000 / 400,000
Ante
400,000
Entries
13
Players Left
1
Level 25
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
You can officially remove a name from the "Best Without a Bracelet" list.
On Thursday night, Isaac Haxton reigned victorious in Event #16: $25,000 High Roller to capture his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet along with a first-place prize of $1,698,215. Haxton outlasted a field of 301 entries including a heads-up match with Ryan O'Donnell to finish things off.
It was a record-breaking field for the buy-in level at the WSOP and Haxton said after his victory that he felt honored to come out on top. "I've finished second and third many times for my biggest cashes so it's nice to finally win. A three hundred-player field for a $25k, yeah I guess it's gotta be up there with one of my biggest accomplishments."
While the man has been forced to settle for many second and third-place finishes in the past, 2023 has been the complete opposite as Haxton has now recorded six victories this year already, amassing over $7,000,000 in that time frame. In years past, many have talked about the "Year of Fedor Holz" or the "Year of Justin Bonomo", but Haxton is on pace to maybe have one of the best years ever recorded in poker history.
With his good friend Bonomo on his rail and at his side during the post-match interview, Haxton was asked about his future goals and if he has any aspirations of chasing down the No. 1 live-tournament winner of all time.
"No, not really," he laughed. "I don't really look at that stuff. I just really like playing poker and making money at it."
The win brought Haxton's lifetime winnings up to $37,509,332 according to The Hendon Mob, good for 14th place on the all-time money list.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Isaac Haxton | United States | $1,698,215 |
| 2nd | Ryan O'Donnell | United Kingdom | $1,049,577 |
| 3rd | Darren Elias | United States | $725,790 |
| 4th | Lewis Spencer | United Kingdom | $511,782 |
| 5th | Roman Hrabec | Czechia | $368,134 |
| 6th | Frank Funaro | United States | $270,238 |
| 7th | Brian Rast | United States | $202,532 |
| 8th | Joao Vieira | Portugal | $155,037 |
Day 3 Action
There were 13 players who returned to the felt for the third and final day of this tournament. It took a classic flip to get things going when Taylor von Kriegenbergh went hunting with ace-king against Haxton's pair of queens. A clean board for Haxton left Von Kriegenbergh heading to the exit. At the same time on the other table, Kristen Foxen also watched her short stack dissipate from the big blind and the field was down to 11 players.
In the next level, it was Jorge Consiglieri and Aleksejs Ponakovs who bowed out in succession which formed the unofficial final table. Haxton entered the final nine with a healthy chip lead and mostly had the cruise control button on while the short stacks jostled for position. There were multiple doubles that occurred before the next elimination of Michael Jozoff.
Many small pots ensued over the next hour and Joao Vieira raked in very few, if any at all, along the way. A failed bluff attempt from Brian Rast also left him short and they would end up colliding in the blinds. It was Rast who came out on top with a straight and Vieira's tournament was over in eighth place.
After a 60-minute dinner break, the final table moved into the Thunderdome and things didn't get any better for Rast. The five-time bracelet winner got his last 11 big blinds in the middle from the small blind but ran into a better hand from Lewis Spencer in the big blind. Rast was unable to improve and Spencer put himself on the top of the leaderboard.
The final six players all held the chip lead at one point or another on the final day, including Frank Funaro who clearly had the largest and loudest of any rails. Unfortunately for the American poker pro, it wasn't enough to propel him to his first live WSOP bracelet as Funaro bowed out in fifth place when he ran into the pocket aces of Spencer.
Everything was going the Brit's way but things took a turn for the worse in the next couple of orbits. First, it was a preflop double-up for O'Donnell, followed by a cooler that saw Haxton turn two pair and take another big chunk from Spencer's stack. Down to just a few big blinds, he then ran into Elias' pocket tens and the field was dwindled to just three players.
It was a wild rollercoaster ride for the final three players with multiple all-ins taking place in a short period of time. Elias entered as the chip leader but Haxton quickly doubled up to take that away. However, Elias fought back and delivered another blow to his fellow American. The haymakers weren't finished as Haxton immediately doubled up on the following hand.
Elias was starting to climb out of the hole but O'Donnell eventually landed the final punch. Elias held a dominating hand but O'Donnell found a straight on the river to send Elias home in third place and enter a heads-up match with Haxton. The battle started with some limps and some cautious play but Haxton started to crank up the dial.
After Haxton rivered top pair in the largest pot of their heads-up match, he took a three-to-one chip lead and never looked back. Both players picked up an ace shortly after and all of the chips went in the middle with Haxton holding a dominating advantage. It wasn't clean as O'Donnell flopped a pair of tens but Haxton managed to come from behind once again with a pair of jacks on the river.
What's next for one of the best players to ever play the game? "Well I'm gonna go try to win the $50k tomorrow," Haxton said afterward as he'll get right back on the wagon with many more high-roller events on the horizon this summer. Haxton, along with many other great players, will be back in action on Friday when Event #23: $50,000 High Roller gets underway at 12:00 p.m. PDT.
Keep it locked here as the PokerNews live reporting team will have plenty of more action coming your way throughout the summer, highlighting more history at the World Series of Poker.
Level 25
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
Ryan O'Donnell called on the button and in the big blind, Isaac Haxton moved all in for 11,300,000 effective which saw O'Donnell snap call.
Ryan O'Donnell: A?10?
Isaac Haxton: A?J?
The flop of 10?3?3? put O'Donnell in the lead as his rail watched intently. The turn of Q? gave Haxton some more outs in the form of a king and the river peeled off a J? to give Haxton jacks and threes to best O'Donnell's tens and threes. Haxton shook hands with O'Donnell who finished with a career best score of $1,049,577.
Stay tuned for a full recap of the tournament.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
45,150,000
12,750,000
|
12,750,000 |
|
||
|
Busted | |
Level 25
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
Isaac Haxton limped in on the button with Q?10? and Ryan O'Donnell raised to 2,000,000 with 9?2? in the big blind. Haxton called and the flop of 9?5?4? hit the felt. O'Donnell led out with a bet of 1,500,000 and Haxton called.
The turn brought the 7? and O'Donnell slowed down with a check. Haxton counted out a bet of 3,000,000 and O'Donnell stuck around for the Q? on the river. O'Donnell checked again and Haxton announced all in, putting O'Donnell to the test for his last 12,800,000. O'Donnell used three of his time banks but eventually decided to lay his hand down.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
32,400,000
7,300,000
|
7,300,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
12,800,000
-7,300,000
|
-7,300,000 |
Level 25
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
Ryan O'Donnell called on the button and in the big blind Isaac Haxton checked.
The flop of 10?7?9? saw action check through to the 4? turn where Haxton bet 1,200,000 which O'Donnell called.
On the K? bet, Haxton bet 2,900,000 and O'Donnell snap called. Haxton turned over J?9? for a pair of nines and O'Donnell turned over A?10? for a pair of tens to take a bite out of Haxton's chip lead.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
25,100,000
-600,000
|
-600,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
20,100,000
600,000
|
600,000 |
Level 25
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
Isaac Haxton raised to 1,000,000 on the button and Ryan O'Donnell moved all in for 10,250,000 total. Darren Elias moved all in from the big blind for 7,200,000 total and Haxton folded and the hands were turned up.
Darren Elias: A?J?
Ryan O'Donnell: K?J?
The board ran out 10?7?Q?Q?A? and O'Donnell's rail screamed with excitement as O'Donnell's hand made a straight and Elias exited the tournament in third place.
The players are now heads up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
25,700,000
700,000
|
700,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
19,500,000
10,500,000
|
10,500,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
||
Level 25
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
Ryan O'Donnell raised to 800,000 on the button and in the small blind, Darren Elias moved all in for 4,450,000 which saw only O'Donnell call.
Darren Elias: A?J?
Ryan O'Donnell: A?7?
The board ran out K?J?5?4?Q? and O'Donnell's ace-seven was unable to improve against the ace-jack and Elias doubled up once more.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
9,700,000
5,200,000
|
5,200,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
9,000,000
-4,400,000
|
-4,400,000 |
Level 25
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
Ryan O'Donnell shoved all in from the small blind and Darren Elias instantly called off his stack of 1,625,000 in the big blind.
Darren Elias: A?K?
Ryan O'Donnell: K?7?
Elias was in a dominating position and the flop of 8?6?6? left him well in front. The 3? on the turn changed nothing and the 6? hit the river to give Elias a double up to get back into contention.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
13,400,000
-2,400,000
|
-2,400,000 |
|
|
4,500,000
-600,000
|
-600,000 |
|
|
||
Level 25
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
Isaac Haxton limped in from the small blind with 10?3? and Ryan O'Donnell checked his big blind with 8?7?. The flop came K?10?7? and both players checked to the 5? on the turn after making a pair.
Haxton led out with a bet of 800,000 and O'Donnell called to see the J? on the river. Both players knuckled the table and Haxton won the pot with a pair of tens.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
25,000,000
1,500,000
|
1,500,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
15,800,000
1,800,000
|
1,800,000 |
Level 25
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante