Sean Jazayeri Claims First Bracelet in Event #59: $1,000 Super Seniors No-Limit Hold'em for $368,025
Sean Jazayeri conquered a field of 3,362 to emerge victorious in Event #59: $1,000 Super Seniors No-Limit Hold'em at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas for a payday of $368,025 and his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet. Jazayeri defeated Yucel Eminoglu in an electrifying heads-up duel that saw the Turkish player claim the $238,748 runner-up prize.
Jazayeri's share of the $2,958,560 prizepool is his third cash of the 2024 WSOP which is also his largest-ever WSOP cash — and the second-biggest of his poker career.
Event #59: $1,000 Super Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sean Jazayeri | United States | $368,025 |
| 2 | Yucel Eminoglu | Turkey | $238,748 |
| 3 | Paul Runge | United States | $178,250 |
| 4 | Manelic Minaya | United States | $134,075 |
| 5 | Gary Fisher | United Kingdom | $101,606 |
| 6 | Felix Barriga | Chile | $77,584 |
| 7 | Michael Minetti | United States | $59,693 |
| 8 | Kevin Song | United States | $46,281 |
| 9 | Buck Bucceri | United States | $36,161 |
Winner's Reaction
"I feel great, it's always been on my bucket list. Hopefully I'll win a bracelet in an open event, too, but man, this is a dream come true," replied an elated Jazayeri when he was asked how he was feeling.
Jazayeri was then asked how he felt being the short stack throughout most of the day and if he preferred deep-stacked poker.
"No, I hate playing short stack but it's the easiest way to play. You either shove or you fold, and I was very lucky with a couple of hands like when I had ace-five against kings. Super, super lucky. Then I won a race with ace-queen against jacks, so it all worked out. Luck is a part of this game,".
"It was pretty standard, I mean in a few hands I got very lucky, in a few hands I got very unlucky. That's poker," Jazayeri responded with when asked how the initial days of the tournament went for him.
Jazayeri was asked how the Super Seniors event compares to playing an open event with no restrictions on who can enter.
"That's a good question. For one thing, there are less pros in them, and people tend to be a little less aggressive. You get some amateurs in the game so I would confess it's an easier field than most poker fields but still pretty tough to beat over three-thousand players,".
"I've already qualified for the Main Event so I'm going to play that on 5th July. Maybe there's some online tournaments in the next few days and of course the [bracelet] ceremony, other than that, I'm going to play the Main [Event]," were Jazayeri's final words on what's next for him at this year's WSOP.
Final Day's Action
The day started with eleven hopefuls looking to ladder up the payouts and get their hands on the bracelet but it was a short day for one as Philip Muller was eliminated in the opening level by Eminoglu.
When the unofficial final table got underway, Eminoglu held a sizable chip lead over the field with almost a third of the chips in play, and way over double the stack of Jazayeri who was second at the time.
Gregory Nichols fell to Jazayeri within minutes of the final table starting when his ace-jack couldn't improve against the eventual champion's pocket queens.
Buck Bucceri was sent to the rail in ninth and fan favorite Kevin Song followed in eighth when his king-ten was cracked by the king-seven of Manelic Minaya. Song already sits at the top of South Korea's all-time money list and extends his lead at the summit to nearly two-million dollars.
Michael Minetti then lost a flip with pocket fours to the ace-king of Paul Runge which ended his run in seventh.
A pivotal moment of the final table came next when Felix Barriga, who was second in chips at the table, clashed in a pot with the chip leader Eminoglu. Barriga limp-shoved from the small blind over Eminoglu's raise from the big blind and found himself flipping with king-queen against the Turkish player's pocket jacks. A jack on the flop sealed the pot to Eminoglu which saw him hold over half of the chips in play, while Barriga was eliminated in sixth.
Play wasn't five-handed for long as the UK's Gary Fisher was the next player to feel the force of Eminoglu's run-good after the two got the chips in preflop. Fisher held ace-jack and held the lead until the river card gave Eminoglu a straight with his queen-nine. Fisher's payday of $101,606 is a career-best score for the British player and saw him move up thirty-nine spots on his country's all-time money list.
Jazayeri was then on the brink of elimination after he committed his stack with ace-five and was way behind the pocket kings of Runge. As if by magic, two fives fell on the flop which improved Jazayeri to trips and brought him back into contention for the bracelet.
It was Minaya who fell just short of the podium places after he flopped top pair with king-eight but was way behind to the pocket kings of Runge, who had top set. Despite picking up both flush and straight draws on the turn, the river bricked out which meant Minaya was eliminated in fourth.
Runge had Jazayeri at risk during three-handed play but his ten-nine suited wasn't able to improve against the winner's ace-king. Not long after that, Runge was sent to the rail after he got the chips in on the flop with a straight draw and couldn't beat the flopped pair of Eminoglu.
Eminoglu held an over two-to-one chip lead going into heads-up play and extended that lead early on to an over three-to-one lead. With all of the momentum, it seemed certain that Eminoglu was just moments away from being crowned the victor but Jazayeri had other ideas and the comeback began.
Jazayeri was at risk with ace-four against the queen-ten of Eminoglu but but managed to survive as the Turkish player couldn't improve.
The roles had been fully reversed not long after as Jazayeri won pot after pot and eventually gained the chip lead for the first time when he check-shoved the river and forced a fold from his opponent.
An interesting play by Jazayeri followed after he rivered the second nut flush but just elected to call the river bet of his opponent instead of shoving.
Luckily for Jazayeri, that decision would not come back to haunt him as in the final hand of the tournament, Jazayeri had shoved with ace-ten and Eminoglu made the call holding ace-eight. The board ran clean for Jazayeri which meant he was crowned the winner, and Eminoglu had to settle for second. The journey home may be a bittersweet one for Eminoglu but the payday of $238,748 will certainly help ease the pain.
That concludes the coverage from PokerNews for this event but be sure to stay tuned throughout the rest of the 2024 WSOP for all of the latest updates from the floor.