Level 41
: Blinds 1,000,000/2,000,000, 2,000,000 ante
Richard Smith
Once again, Richard Smith moved all in from the button for 16,300,000 chips. Christian Cheng folded in the small blind, but Jason Johnson in the big blind quickly called and stood up while revealing his hand.
Richard Smith: Q♥9♠
Jason Johnson: K♠K♥
The dealer fanned a flop of Q♣5♠A♦, which gave a pair of queens to Smith. However, he still needed another queen or a nine to avoid elimination. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't find the cards he wanted on the turn 5♥ and the river 6♣.
Level 43
: Blinds 1,500,000/3,000,000, 3,000,000 ante
Jason Johnson
From the button, Jason Johnson moved all in for 30,600,000 chips and received a call from Qiang Xu.
Jason Johnson: A♦K♦
Qiang Xu: 6♣6♠
A coin flip would decide the outcome of the tournament. The dealer revealed J♣8♦4♣ on the flop, the 5♣ on the turn, and finally the 7♦ on the river, giving Xu a straight.
The Chinese player is the winner of this $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack and wins his first WSOP bracelet. For his second-place finish, Jason Johnson takes home a prize of $209,547.
Stay tuned for the recap of Event 42 of the 2023 World Series of Poker!
Level 43
: Blinds 1,500,000/3,000,000, 3,000,000 ante
Qiang Xu
It took only two days to crown Chinese player Qiang Xu in Event #42: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack, despite 3,773 entrants being a new record for this tournament. Xu took home his first WSOP bracelet and a cash prize of $339,033.
"It's a dream coming true," said Xu a few minutes after his victory. "My goal coming from China was to win a bracelet, and now, I've got it!"
The event gathered 3,773 entrants, breaking last year's record of 2,812 runners. Some 566 players cashed in this year's event for a $1,282 min-cash.
Xu was in action early on Day 2 and stayed near the top of the chip counts for a long time. "I ran very good from start to finish," recognized Xu, who had a massive chip lead at three tables left and two tables left.
"I tried to use my stack to pressure at this point," he explained. "Then I changed my strategy a bit to be more stable. That's what I did at the final table when my stack decreased. Afterward, I tried not to hurry up and to find the right moment to catch up."
He managed to win a crucial flip in the four-handed play to stay alive. In the heads-up, Xu defeated American player Jason Johnson after a few hands to be crowned as a WSOP champion.
Qiang Xu
Event #42: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack Final Table Results
Rank
Player
Country
Prize (USD)
1
Qiang Xu
China
$339,033
2
Jason Johnson
United States
$209,547
3
John Ciccarelli
United States
$157,776
4
Christian Cheng
Taiwan
$119,629
5
Richard Smith
United States
$91,347
6
Charles Johnson
United States
$70,247
7
Dorian Melchers
France
$54,408
8
Oren Rosen
Israel
$42,445
Among the 566 players who took home some money, 238 came back on June 19 for the final day. The action was fast, as were the eliminations, which didn't slow down until the final table early in the evening.
The 2021 WSOP Main Event champion Koray Aldemir fell in 12th place for $21,052, narrowly missing out on another WSOP final table. Donna Stutts joined the rail before the dinner break, busting in ninth place and leaving only eight players in contention for the title.
Final Table Action
Short stacks Oren Rosen and Dorian Melchers were the first to fall. Charles Johnson lost his chips to his namesake Jason Johnson with ace-five suited against pocket sevens. Jason Johnson took the lead and five-handed play lasted for a while.
Eventually, Richard Smith was the next to exit the tournament with queen-nine off against pocket kings held by Jason Johnson.
Xu and Christian Cheng played a huge pot before Cheng lost a flip and finished fourth some hands later. John Ciccarelli was next to end his deep run, with an impressive third place worth $157,776.
The heads-up battle between Xu and Johnson was quite fast as Xu doubled immediately to take the lead. Xu and Johnson played a huge flip with pocket sixes against ace-king suited. Xu made a straight with his pocket pair to eliminate Johnson and secure the victory.
Qiang Xu
Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews live reporting team for live updates from the floor throughout the rest of the 2023 World Series Of Poker at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
