Michael Christ "Gets Lucky" On His Way to Winning Event #27: $1,500 Big O

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Jun 12, 2024 3 min read

The third and final day of Event #27: $1,500 Big O at the 2024 World Series of Poker has concluded. After three long days the winner of his first gold bracelet and the top prize worth $306,884 is Michael Christ.

There were 1555 entries into this tournament creating a prize pool of $2,075,925 and 234 players making the money. There were 20 players left in the field to start Day 3, with Christ beating Matthew Beinner heads up.

Event #27: $1,500 Big O Final Table Payouts

Winner's Reaction

After the win, PokerNews asked Christ about the journey he had been on over the last three days.

"Absolutely exhausting," he said. "I try to keep my poker sessions between six to eight hours, so I'm literally pooped right now.

"It's super surreal, that excitement hasn't really hit me yet. But never in a million years did I think it would be me as the last one standing."

Christ said that he never let himself look at the finishing line throughout the tournament.

"I chipped up to a goal number every single break. I never worry about my results, so winning the tournament was never my goal, just play each hand individually to the best of my ability".

When Christ was asked about his plans for the rest of the series he said "I was thinking about the 10K Big O, but I told my wife if I won a bracelet, I would catch an early flight and meet up with her and the boys, so we'll see"

Day 3 Action

Legend of the game Sammy Farha was one of the 20 players to make it to Day 3 and hopes were high for another deep WSOP run. But Farha’s great run ended when he was eliminated in 11th place.

At the start of the day, Christ found himself third in chips, but found himself at risk in a hand versus fellow big stack Tomoki Matsuda.

Two full houses clashed on the turn, but the river improved Christ and allowed him to score a monster double, taking over the chip lead.

"I knew he had the nuts," Christ told PokerNews after the tournament. "Either having ace-six or Ace-deuce-three type of hand for the low.

"I thought by going all-in I could possibly get him off the low hand, but he didn't, and I got lucky".

Christ said after the hand and numerous times throughout the tournament that his "mantra" is "play bad and get lucky".

Christ used that momentum of this massive double, and held the final table chip lead before eliminating five of the seven opponents at the final table on the way to winning his first gold bracelet and $306,884 in prize money.

• Tags Damjan Radanov Dylan Lindsey Eduardo Lezcano John Bunch Matthew Beinner Matthew Bretzfield Michael Christ Sammy Farha Tomoki Matsuda World Series of Poker WSOP24
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• Related Players Sam FarhaJohn BunchDamjan RadanovEduardo LezcanoDylan LindseyMatthew Bretzfield