Frank Funaro Rides Momentum to Capture Second WSOP Bracelet in Event #57: $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold’em
Two WSOP gold bracelet winners collided in a heads-up match that lasted just eight hands, one of whom added another bracelet to their mantle.
Frank Funaro defeated Shota Nakanishi on Day 2 to take down Event #57: $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold’em, earning $612,997 and his second WSOP bracelet. Nakanishi fell short in second place but still earned himself $408,658 for his efforts.
$10,000 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frank Funaro | United States | $612,997 |
| 2 | Shota Nakanishi | Japan | $408,658 |
| 3 | Michael Rocco | United States | $282,983 |
| 4 | Oliver Weis | Germany | $199,342 |
| 5 | Aliaksei Boika | Belarus | $142,892 |
| 6 | Steve Buell | United States | $104,261 |
| 7 | Antoine Saout | France | $77,460 |
| 8 | Ludovic Geilich | United Kingdom | $58,616 |
| 9 | Aaron Johnson (MN) | United States | $45,195 |
Winner's Reaction
Frank Funaro was already an accomplished player before this tournament, having won an online bracelet in 2022 and finishing in fifth place at the 2022 WPT World Championship for $1,301,000. “But this is my best poker moment,” Funaro said moments after he took his new bracelet in his hands for the first time. “I feel like I've been close in a lot of these, and it feels really good to finally get one done,” he added.
Because of its structure, the $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty with its 20-minute levels required skill and a bit of luck to win. Funaro managed to take advantage of all components.
“I tried to embrace the madness and got really lucky,” he explained. “I was short, I rounded it up, and then I was short again. It was a swinging Super Turbo. The table was full of professionals; it wasn't the easiest final table. But luck was on my side. There were a lot of tough spots, and they all went my way. And I thought I played relatively well, all things considered. I'm very grateful.”
Funaro entered the final day sixth in chips of the remaining nine players. He managed to get things started by winning a massive flip to get himself back in the mix, then found plenty of dream double up spots after that, often having his opponents dominated preflop.
It’s difficult to run deep in a tournament of this magnitude as this event attracted plenty of household names including Phil Hellmuth who looked poised to defend his title. Hellmuth’s tournament run came to an end, exiting in 15th place for $28,463.
Funaro gave us a look ahead at what’s next for him this summer. “I’m going to the Millionaire Maker right now! Next week my girlfriend is coming, and my brother, so we'll do something next week.” Funaro overcome with emotions, does not plan on slowing down now and will look to add a third WSOP bracelet to his shelf, in the coming weeks.
Tournament's Action
Event #57: $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold’em attracted 486 entries totaling up to a prize pool of a whopping $4,519,800. Plenty of notables entered the field including Josh Arieh, David Peters, Erik Seidel, Julien Sitbon, Joe Cada and Nacho Barbero, all of whom fell short of the money.
The bubble burst on Day 1 with Steve Buell scoring a double knockout with pocket aces, eliminating Carl Noris and Juha Helppi. Then Day 1 saw some headliners make deep runs include Martin Jacobson (19th - $23,266), Alan Sternberg (22nd - $23,266), Dario Sammartino (28th - $19,407) and Daniel Sepiol (31st - $19,407)
Day 1 finished halfway through Level 29 with nine players making the final table. Day 1 play came to a halt with Aliaksei Boika earning two double ups in the span of five hands to catapult into the chip lead with 5,360,000 chips, 34 big blinds. Ludovic Geilich was responsible for doubling up Boika, and was left looking to navigate an eight big blind final table short stack. Oliver Weis and Antoine Saout rounded out the top three.
Day 2 resumed at 2 p.m. with the final table action being streamed. Aaron Johnson (MN) was the first to be eliminated from the final nine (9th - $45,195) after he lost a flip to Michael Rocco. He was followed by Ludovic Geilich (8th - $58,616) and by two-time WSOP Main Event finalist Antoine Saout, who ran twice into aces to finish in seventh place for $77,460.
Among multiples double-ups, Steve Buell was next to follow at the payout desk, losing with tens against Oliver Weis's ace-king (6th Place - $104,261). Aliaksei Boika wasn't more fortunate as when he was one card away from doubling up, Rocco was lucky enough to hit a straight flush on the river to send him to the rail in fifth place for $142,892.
But this straight flush didn't help much Rocco in his quest for the gold bracelet, because after Weis' elimination (4th - $199,342) in a three-way all-in situation, he was eliminated as well by Nakanishi. For the second time this summer, Rocco finished in third place of a WSOP event and won $282,983.
Once heads-up, Funaro had a big disadvantage in chips but still managed to come back in just a few hands to win his second WSOP bracelet.
This concludes the PokerNews coverage of this event. Stay tuned for continued coverage of the 2024 WSOP by following our live updates from all tournaments here.