Pair of Former WSOP Player of the Year Winners Battle Heads-Up for 4th Gold Bracelet

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Dec 15, 2024 5 min read

Event #10: $10,000 Paradise Pot-Limit Omaha at the 2024 World Series of Poker Paradise officially concluded Saturday night. The one-day event, held with a turbo-style structure and 20-minute levels, featured plenty of action right from the start at Atlantis Paradise Island Bahamas.

The event attracted 200 entrants and created a prize pool of $2,000,000. Thirty players made the money, with a minimum cash of $20,860, but all eyes were on the grand prize of $393,250. That top prize was claimed by 2015 WSOP Player of the Year Mike Gorodinsky, who triumphed over 2022 WSOP POY Daniel Zack in heads-up play.

Gorodinsky cemented his legacy even further with his fourth WSOP bracelet, and in turn, denied Zack his fourth bracelet. With the victory, Gorodinsky solidifies his place among poker’s elite, bringing his career tournament earnings to just shy of $5 million.

Gorodinsky steadily built his stack throughout the day, but once at the final table, he began to steamroll his opponents, eliminating four of the final six players. Reflecting on the victory, he shared, "It's a PLO tournament, I play a lot, so I'm familiar with the fact that rushes happen fast, and the rush happened in my favor this time, which was cool."

When asked about the turbo structure, he jokingly remarked, "For me, I like it. The faster, the better. I like it when the worse players have a better chance, so here I am at the top."

$10,000 Paradise Pot-Limit Omaha Final Table Results

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Early Day Action

Several stars from the poker world showed up for this PLO turbo event, including a familiar face who hasn’t been seen much lately – Vanessa Selbst. Unfortunately for Selbst, her run ended just prior to late registration closing after seeing her aces cracked. She ultimately decided not to reenter the tournament.

Phil Hellmuth was aiming for his 18th WSOP gold bracelet but struggled to gain momentum and was sent to the exit shortly after late registration ended. Other notable players who failed to reach the money included Isaac Haxton, Sean Winter, Jason Mercier, Fedor Holz, Shaun Deeb, and Stephen Chidwick, who had just won his second WSOP bracelet in the $50,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship the previous day.

As the money bubble approached, Ren Lin, one of the short stacks in the room, found himself in an all-in encounter with Daniel Negreanu. After making a four-bet that put Lin all-in, Negreanu revealed pocket aces. Lin then tabled his favorite hand, queens — referred to by him as “Lady Gaga.” He joked with Negreanu, saying, “I have Lady Gaga, you have no outs.” It turned out to be a bit of foreshadowing, as Lin flopped a set of queens and then turned another to make quads, leaving Negreanu drawing dead. As Lin scooped the pot, he couldn't contain his laughter, saying, “Lady Gaga always coming.” Lin was able to cruise into the money after that hand but was ultimately eliminated in 21st place.

On the stone bubble, Josh Arieh four-bet all-in from the big blind with pocket aces facing Rui Neves. The board was safe for Arieh until the river, which gave Neves a wheel and Arieh quickly exited the tournament area leaving the 30 remaining players in the money.

After the bubble burst, the knockouts came fast and furious with players like Alex Foxen, Jeff Gross, and Scott Seiver each earning a min-cash. Close behind them were Chris Brewer, Eric Wasserson, and Danny Tang, who each cashed for $25,380.

Despite losing the earlier-mentioned hand to Lin, Negreanu was still in the mix. He managed to nurse a shorter stack up until play was set to head to the final table with eight players. After Henri Puustinen was knocked out in ninth place, the remaining players were ready to compete for the title. However, Negreanu, at the other table, found himself all-in holding pocket aces and looking poised for a double-up. Negreanu was instead eliminated when eventual champion Gorodinsky made a straight on the river to crack Negreanu’s aces and send him to the rail just before the final table began.

Final Table

Coming into the final seven, Biao Ding held a slight chip lead over Neves, with Gorodinsky a bit further behind in third. However, once Armin Ghojehvand was the first elimination at the final table, Gordinksy closed the gap of the chip leaders by knocking out Mike Watson in sixth.

With five players remaining, Gorodinsky found himself all-in and at risk against Ding. However, the situation seemed to be anticlimactic, as both players held pocket aces, setting the stage for a potential chop. But Gorodinsky also had a ten in his hand, and once the board ran out, he flopped a ten and hit another on the river, doubling up and taking the chip lead.

Gorodinsky continued to build momentum, sending Neves to the rail in fifth after cracking his aces. Shortly after, Gorodinsky took the rest of Ding’s chips, eliminating him in fourth place and further extending his chip lead.

It was runner-up Zack's turn to score a knockout, and he did that after Roman Hrabec's middle pair and straight draw bricked out, setting up a heads-up match between Zack and Gorodinsky.

Heads Up 'Grudge' Match

The heads-up match between Gorodinsky and Zack featured a few interesting nuances. Both players were former WSOP Player of the Year winners — Gorodinsky in 2015 and Zack in 2022 — and each was chasing their fourth WSOP bracelet. Gorodinsky entered heads-up play with a 2-1 chip lead over Zack, and it took just a few hands for him to claim the title. The final hand saw Zack river a set of aces but that same card gave Gordoinsky a wheel to secure the victory.

After the win, Gorodinsky joked that, with both he and Zack holding three WSOP bracelets, they had agreed that whoever won their fourth would be the better player — and since he “polished him off pretty quickly,” he concluded, “that decides that.”

Gorodinsky mentioned that he has pretty much played everything he wanted to in The Bahamas, and his plan now is to "finish off the Super Main Event, my family just left today so after the main maybe take a day in the sun and fly home to them".

• Tags WSOPP24 WSOP Paradise Roman Hrabec Ren Lin Mike Gorodinsky Daniel Zack
• Related Players Mike GorodinskyRen LinDaniel ZackRoman Hrabec