Ben Sulsky is Looking to Add a WSOP Bracelet to His Impressive Poker Trophy Case Here in the Semifinals of Event #14
Today four of poker's young guns will take their seats in the Amazon Room to compete for one of the WSOP's most coveted titles, as the $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship comes to a thrilling conclusion. A total of 162 players ponied up ten stacks of high society for the chance to take the heads-up crown, including defending champion Brian Hastings, who fell short in his quest for back to back heads-up bracelets.
The field was a star-studded affair, with the likes of Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Vanessa Selbst, Michael Mizrachi, Phil Galfond, Sam Trickett, and a host of prominent professionals sitting across from one another to compete in intense heads-up duels. Eventually the field was pared to 32, and on Day 2 of the event they played three more rounds to reduce the amount of runners to a final four.
Today's matchups can be found below, and each of our remaining four players had to overcome talented, tough pros to put themselves on the brink of poker's premier prize: the glittering gold WSOP bracelet.
Justin Bonomo defeated Jonathan Kantor, Warwick Mirzikinian, and Russell Rosenblum on his way to the final four, while his opponent today, Canadian pro Mark Radoja, only had to overcome the likes of Phil Hellmuth to earn his ticket to the semifinals.
Our other semifinalists also prevailed over a stacked bracket to advance, as Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky vanquished fellow online legend Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond and PokerStars Team Pro Randy Lew during the first two days of play. His final four opponent, Don Nguyen, bested Ali Eslami, Craig Bergeron, Sean Winter to reach this high water mark in his young poker career.
Semifinals
Player
vs.
Player
Ben Sulsky
-
Don Nguyen
Mark Radoja
-
Justin Bonomo
Play is set to resume here at the Rio at 2:00pm PST, so stick with PokerNews throughout the day for continuous coverage of this prestigious heads-up championship.
Hand #8: Ben Sulsky limped in on the button, Don Nguyen checked, and the flop fell . Nguyen led out for 20,000, Sulsky called, and the turn was the . Nguyen led out again - this time for 50,000 - and Sulsky again called.
The completed the board, Nguyen fired a third and final bullet worth 120,000, and Sulsky moved all in for effectively 489,000. Nguyen tanked for quite some time, then folded the face up.
Hand #9: Nguyen raised to 32,000 on the button, Sulsky pushed out a stack of green T25,000 chips, putting Nguyen all in for 369,000, and Nguyen called.
Nguyen:
Sulsky:
The board came , and Nguyen doubled to 738,000 chips plus two lammers. Sulsky has 542,000 chips and his two lammers.
Hand #18: Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky limped in on the button, Don Nguyen checked, and the flop came . Nguyen led out for 20,000, and Sulsky folded.
Hand #19: Nguyen moved all in on the button, and Sulsky folded.
Hand #20: Sulsky moved all in for 228,000 on the button, and Nguyen folded.
Hand #21: Nguyen folded on the button.
Hand #22: Sulsky limped in, then folded to a shove from Nguyen.
Hand #23: Nguyen moved all in for effectively 238,000, and Sulsky called.
Nguyen:
Sulsky:
Nguyen made a pair of queens when the dealer fanned , and held as the turn and river came , respectively. Sulsky tossed in one of his two lammers, and has a fresh stack of 640,000 chips to work with.
Hand #24: Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky limped in on the button, Don Nguyen checked, and Nguyen led out for 20,000 on a flop of . Sulsky called. Both players checked on the turn () and the river (), and Sulsky won the hand with .
Hand #25: Nguyen raised to 40,000, Sulsky defended, and the flop fell . Both players checked. The turn was the , Sulsky checked, and Nguyen fired out 35,000. Sulsky check-raised to 135,000, Nguyen re-raised to 235,000, and Sulsky called. The completed the board, and both players knuckled. Sulsky showed for two pair, and Nguyen mucked.
Hand #26: Sulsky raised to 50,000, Nguyen defended, and the flop fell . Nguyen continued for 60,000, Sulsky called, and the turn was the . Nguyen led out again - this time for 120,000 - and Sulsky moved all in for 845,000. Nguyen quickly called.
Nguyen:
Sulsky:
Sulsky could only smile at the sight of Nguyen's hand - a straight with a redraw to a diamond flush - and he was forced to cash in his last lammer when the completed the board.
Hand #27: Don Nguyen raised to 50,000 on the button, Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky defended, and the flop came . Sulsky check-called a bet of 40,000, and both players checked when the tured. The completed the board, Sulsky led out for 125,000, and Nguyen min-raised to 250,000. Sulsky called.
This time he was right, as Sulsky showed for trip kings.
Hand #28: Sulsky raised to 60,000 on the button, Nguyen called, and the flop came . Both players checked. The turn was the , Nguyen fired out 50,000, and Sulsky called. Both players checked again when the fell on the river, and Sulsky won with for ace-high.
Hand #17 Radoja raised his button to 40,000, and called a three-bet to 120,000 made by Bonomo. On the flop of , Bonomo led out for a single white T100,000 tournament chip, and watched Radoja raise to 215,000. Bonomo quickly dropped enough white chips for a reraise to 900,000, setting Radoja all-in if he elected to call, but the Canadian pro released his hand.
Hand #18 Bonomo limped in for 20,000, and called Radoja's raise to 51,000 to see a flop of hit the table. After Radoja led out for 41,000, Bonomo shipped his stack into the middle, forcing Radoja to muck once again.
Hand #19 Radoja raised his button to 40,000, but surrendered when Bonomo set him all-in for third consecutive hand.
Hand #20 Bonomo limped in, Radoja checked his option, and the flop was checked down, as was the turn and river. Radoja played the board with his , and Bonomo's was good enough to take the small pot.
Hand #21 Radoja limped in, and folded to Bonomo's all-in raise.
Hand #38: Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky raised to 75,000 on the button, and Don Nguyen folded.
Hand #39: Nguyen raised to 60,000 on the button, Sulsky called, and both players checked it down as the board came . Both players showed eight-four, Sulsky and Nguyen , and they chopped the pot.
Hand #40: Sulsky limped in on the button, Nguyen checked, and the flop came . Nguyen check-folded to a bet of 40,000.
Mark Radoja Has Climbed Back Into the Match With a Crucial Double-Up
Hand #43 With his stack being steadily eroded by Bonomo's aggressive play, Radoja made his stand with an all-in move before the flop. Bonomo made the call and revealed , but he would need to catch to overcome Radoja's .
Flop:
Turn:
River:
The board ran out clean for Radoja's hand, and with a pair of sevens he doubled back into contention.
Hand #41: Don Nguyen raised to 60,000 on the button, Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky three-bet to 145,000, Nguyen pushed out what looked like 800,000 in chips, and Sulsky moved all in for 935,000.
"Let's go!" Sulsky exclaimed.
Nguyen called, and the cards went on their backs.
Nguyen:
Sulsky:
The flop changed little, and the turned, giving Sulsky a pair of jacks. Nguyen could still win with a ten on the river for a straight, and low and behold the spiked on the felt to end Sulsky's run in the Heads-Up Championship.
He will go home with $110,485, his largest WSOP cash to date, while Nguyen will play the winner of the Justin Bonomo/Mark Radoja match in the finals and is now guaranteed at least $204,648.
Mark Radoja is Experiencing the Swings of Heads-Up Play
Hand #61 Radoja moved all-in on the button, risking his last 241,000 with . Bonomo called him down with and was in the lead with queen-high, but Radoja found help on the flop. A turn and river of and respectively changed nothing, and Radoja's pair of jacks were good enough for the double.
Hand #62 Bonomo limped in on the button, and Radoja checked his option, bringing a flop of to the felt. Radoja checked to Bonomo, who responded with a bet of 30,000. After calling that bet, Radoja checked the on the turn, and Bonomo again fired away, this time for 60,000. Radoja cut out enough chips for a raise, making it 147,000 to go, and Bonomo moved all-in over the top. Radoja quickly called, tabling the for trips on the turn, which put him out in front of Bonomo's . The on the river gave Radoja second double up on consecutive hands.
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. Nguyen led out for 20,000, Sulsky called, and the turn was the 
. Nguyen led out again - this time for 50,000 - and Sulsky again called.
completed the board, Nguyen fired a third and final bullet worth 120,000, and Sulsky moved all in for effectively 489,000. Nguyen tanked for quite some time, then folded the 
face up.
, and Nguyen doubled to 738,000 chips plus two lammers. Sulsky has 542,000 chips and his two lammers.
. Nguyen led out for 20,000, and Sulsky folded.
, and held as the turn and river came 
, 
. Sulsky called. Both players checked on the turn (
), and Sulsky won the hand with 
, Sulsky checked, and Nguyen fired out 35,000. Sulsky check-raised to 135,000, Nguyen re-raised to 235,000, and Sulsky called. The 
completed the board, and both players knuckled. Sulsky showed 
. Nguyen continued for 60,000, Sulsky called, and the turn was the 
completed the board.
. Sulsky check-called a bet of 40,000, and both players checked when the 
for trip kings.
, Bonomo led out for a single white T100,000 tournament chip, and watched Radoja raise to 215,000. Bonomo quickly dropped enough white chips for a reraise to 900,000, setting Radoja all-in if he elected to call, but the Canadian pro released his hand.
hit the table. After Radoja led out for 41,000, Bonomo shipped his stack into the middle, forcing Radoja to muck once again.
flop was checked down, as was the 
.
on the turn, and Bonomo again fired away, this time for 60,000. Radoja cut out enough chips for a raise, making it 147,000 to go, and Bonomo moved all-in over the top. Radoja quickly called, tabling the