Event #14: €1,000 NLH Turbo Freezeout
Day 1 Completed
2024 WSOP Europe
Event #14: €1,000 NLH Turbo Freezeout
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1
2024 WSOP Europe
Buy-in
€1,000
Prize Pool
€150,000
Entries
152
Level
26
Blinds
30,000 / 60,000
Ante
60,000
Entries
152
Players Left
1
Level 26
: Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Making a World Series of Poker final table and being inches away from a WSOP Gold Bracelet is a dream shared by many poker players but realized by few. Zewei Ding found himself in that position today, but his dream nearly turned into a nightmare as soon as the final table began. Just one hand in, Ding faced what seemed like the ultimate cooler, with his pocket kings up against Dirk Schumacher’s pocket aces. However, a miraculous runout allowed Ding to come out on top, and from there, he dominated the final table, ultimately defeating Stepan Khachaturyan heads-up to take home the lion’s share of the €150,000 prize pool and his first WSOP gold bracelet.
“It’s really exciting for sure. It takes many years,” Ding shared, noting that his victory was also the first time he had ever cashed at King’s Resort.
Event #14: €1,000 NLH Turbo Freezeout Final Table Results
| Place | Prize | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zewei Ding | China | €35,351 |
| 2 | Stepan Khachaturyan | Armenia | €22,730 |
| 3 | Gal Naim | Israel | €15,134 |
| 4 | De Han Kim | South Koreea | €10,448 |
| 5 | Pel Nieuwenhuis | Netherlands | €7,489 |
| 6 | Marco Jansen | Germany | €5,581 |
| 7 | John Trast | Sweden | €4,332 |
| 8 | Erik van Hulst | Norway | €3,508 |
| 9 | Maximilian Huber | Austria | €2,969 |
| 10 | Dirk Schumacher | Germany | €2,632 |
Action of the Day
Given the fast structure of this event, with 20-minute levels, the action kicked off at a blistering pace from Level 1. It took just under seven hours for the field of 152 entrants to be narrowed down to 23 paid spots. Some notable players who joined the field but fell short of the money include Candido Cappiello, Tobias Peters, Alexandre Vuilleumier, and Vivian Saliba.
Marius Schneider and defending champion Bernd Gleissner shared the title of bubble boy, as both players were eliminated at separate tables during hand-for-hand play. Schneider had his pocket jacks cracked by Gal Naim’s pocket sevens, while Gleissner’s ace-four suited failed to hold up in a blind-on-blind confrontation against Pascal Pflock’s nine-five. Both Schneider and Gleissner split the min-cash, each taking home €1,142, while the 22 remaining players were guaranteed at least €2,284.
Rapid-fire eliminations followed the bursting of the money bubble, and it took about an hour to reach the unofficial ten-handed final table. Among those who made the money but fell short of the final table were Or Nezer (19th), Globetrotting Poker founder Maureen Bloechlinger (15th), and Pascal Pflock (11th). Pflock narrowly missed his second final table of the series, having previously reached the final table in Event #5: €550 NLHE Colossus, where he finished in seventh place for €34,650.
The Final Table
Stack sizes were fairly even at the start of the final table, with Marco Jansen holding the chip lead and several players close behind him. Dirk Schumacher became the first player to fall at the final table after a brutal beat, flopping top set with pocket aces, only to have Ding turn a straight with pocket kings in a pivotal hand that saw him overtake Jansen for the chip lead. Shortly afterward, Ding clashed with Jansen in a battle of big stacks. Ding got Jansen to fold the turn after committing half his stack to extend his lead over the rest of the field, while Jansen fell to the middle of the pack.
Following Schumacher’s elimination, the pace of play slowed considerably given the presence of a few short stacks and the increasing pay jumps. It took nearly an hour before Ding reduced the field by scoring a double knockout to send Maximilian Huber and Erik van Hulst to the rail in ninth and eighth place respectively.
Jansen never recovered from his previous clash with Ding and was the next to fall in sixth place after being whittled down to less than one big blind. He was followed out the door by Pel Nieuwenhuis in fifth and De Han Kim in fourth. Kim’s exit marked his second final table appearance of the series, improving on his ninth-place finish in Event #11: €1,100 NLH Turbo Bounty Hunter just a few days earlier.
Naim came into the final table as one of the short stacks but did an excellent job picking his spots and climbing up the pay ladder. His deep run came to an end in third place after running his ace-deuce into Ding’s ace-king and failing to improve. Following that hand, Ding held roughly a 7:1 chip lead over Khachaturyan going into heads-up play.
The heads-up duel between Ding and Khachaturyan lasted only five hands. The two traded a few small pots before Khachaturyan pushed his chips in at the wrong time, running into Ding’s pocket kings while holding five-three offsuit. Ding ended the final table the same way he had started it—winning with pocket kings at showdown to take the final pot of the night, along with the WSOP gold bracelet and the top prize of €35,351.
That concludes our coverage for this event but be sure to stay tuned to the ongoing PokerNews coverage of the 2024 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event.
Level 26
: Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Congratulations to China's Zewei Ding, who has topped the 152-entry field in Event #14: €1,000 NLH Turbo Freezeout.
Ding picked up kings on the first hand of the final table to jump into the chip lead and woke up the cowboys on the final hand of the night, to defeat Stepan Khachaturyan in heads-up play for €35,351 and his first WSOP Bracelet.
The event recap will follow shortly.
Event #14: €1,000 NLH Turbo Freezeout Final Table Results
| Place | Prize | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zewei Ding | China | €35,351 |
| 2 | Stephan Khachaturyan | Armenia | €22,730 |
| 3 | Gal Naim | Israel | €15,134 |
| 4 | De Han Kim | South Koreea | €10,448 |
| 5 | Pel Nieuwenhuis | Netherlands | €7,489 |
| 6 | Marco Jansen | Germany | €5,581 |
| 7 | John Trast | Sweden | €4,332 |
| 8 | Erik van Hulst | Norway | €3,508 |
| 9 | Maximilian Huber | Austria | €2,969 |
| 10 | Dirk Schumacher | Germany | €2,632 |
Level 26
: Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Zewei Ding limped in from the small blind and Stepan Khachaturyan checked his option. The latter check-folded to a bet of 60,000 on the Q♥9♠Q♦ flop.
The following hand, Khachaturyan folded from the button.
On the next deal, Ding called and Khachaturyan checked. Khachaturyan jammed for around 300,000 on the 9♣3♥2♦ flop and folded out Ding.
Khachaturyan then moved all in for 530,000 from the button and Ding returned his cards to the dealer.
On the fifth hand of heads-up, Ding called from the button and snap-called when Khachaturyan jammed. Khachaturyan immediately showed frustration as the cards were tabled.
Stepan Khachaturyan: 5♣3♠
Zewei Ding: K♥K♦
Ding sprung his trap, and he had one hand on the bracelet after the K♠7♠5♦ flop gave him a set of kings. His victory was confirmed on the 10♣ turn ahead of the 3♦ river completing the board.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
4,560,000
460,000
|
460,000 |
|
||
|
Busted | |
Level 26
: Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Zewei Ding opened to 150,000 from the button and Gal Naim three-bet shoved for around 1,000,000 from the big blind. Ding called with a covering stack to put his opponent at risk.
Gal Naim: A♦2♣
Zewei Ding : A♥K♠
Naim found no help against Ding's dominating ace when the board ran out Q♣5♦5♣3♠J♥ and he was sent to the rail while Ding entered heads up play with a massive chip lead over Stepan Khachaturyan.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,100,000
1,200,000
|
1,200,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
560,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
Busted | |
Level 26
: Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Three-handed play has mainly been raise and takes, although Zewei Ding and Stepan Khachaturyan did go to a flop.
Ding made it 160,000 from the small blind and Khachaturyan called from the big blind. The latter folded to a bet of 120,000 on the 9♦3♠2♦ flop.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,900,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,150,000
400,000
|
400,000 |
|
|
540,000
-460,000
|
-460,000 |
Level: 26
Blinds: 30,000/60,000
Ante: 60,000
Level 25
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
The three remaining players are on a 10-minute break.
Level 25
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
De Han Kim jammed for 400,000 from the cutoff and Zewei Ding called from the big blind.
De Han Kim: A♠4♣
Zewei Ding: A♦5♥
Kim was dominated until he paired up on the K♦7♣4♦ flop. However, the 6♦ turn gave Ding an open-ender as well as a flush draw. The 8♦ river completed both of those draw and Kim was flushed out in fourth.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,800,000
1,000,000
|
1,000,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,000,000
-150,000
|
-150,000 |
|
|
750,000
-150,000
|
-150,000 |
|
Busted | |
Level 25
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
Pel Nieuwenhuis jammed for 185,000 from the cutoff and was called by Stepan Khachaturyan from the small blind.
Pel Nieuwenhuis: K♣3♦
Stepan Khachaturyan: 9♠9♣
Khachaturyan was excited with the J♣9♦3♥ flop as he became the even bigger favorite. He sealed the checkmark on the 8♠ turn of the K♠ river, giving his opponent a no-good two-pair.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,150,000
240,000
|
240,000 |
|
Busted |