As of today, at the 2023 World Series of Poker, 35 tournaments are in the books. Surprisingly, that is only slightly more than a third of the events that are on the roster for poker players from around the world. As the third Thursday of the series kicks off today, two men are celebrating their victories – including John Monnette becoming the latest entry into the WSOP Five-Timers Club – while another man who already won a bracelet at this year’s WSOP is in the hunt for a second.
Jans Arends Beats the Best in $100K High Roller
In what has been the biggest buy-in event of this year’s WSOP (so far), several notable names came to the felt for the $100,000 High Roller. Many of those, including Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, former World Champion Koray Aldemir, and defending World Champion Espen Jorstad, would leave before that final table began. Those that made it, including Adrian Mateos, Jeremy Ausmus, and Chance Kornuth, would come up short, however, as Dutch poker player Jans Arends bested them all to take more than two million dollars and the WSOP bracelet.
With six players arriving back at the final table on Wednesday to determine the champ, Arends was atop the standings. Kornuth would make the first significant move, taking out Biao Ding in sixth place to come into contention, but Mateos shocked the table by winning a battle with Ausmus. After Ausmus opened the betting to 650K from the cutoff, Mateos popped him from the big blind with a 1.9 million bet. Ausmus plunked his remaining stack in the center and Mateos did the same, and the race was on:
Mateos: A♥ Q♥
Ausmus: pocket sixes
The flop brought little drama, with an Ace hitting the window. Now looking for one of the two remaining sixes in the deck, Ausmus would instead see a Jack and a King finish off the board. Once the chips were counted, Mateos was determined to be the player all in; as Mateos scooped up the fifteen million chip pot, Ausmus was left with scraps and would depart in fifth soon afterward.
Now the new chip leader, Mateos attempted to play a power game, but Arends would catch Mateos with a very fortunate flop. Down to three-handed with Cary Katz, it was a “family pot” as a J-J-9 flop hit the felt. Everyone checked to see a deuce on the turn, at which point Mateos fired a bet. That was enough to see Katz muck his hand, but Arends just called to see a Queen come on the river.
Fans on the PokerGO broadcast saw what was going on. Arends had joined the party with a J-9, meaning he had flopped the world in a full house. Mateos, with his K-10, thought he was good on the river with his King-high straight and called a big reraise out of Arends of twelve million. Arends turned up his boat, Mateos mucked his cards, and Arends once again was in the driver’s seat.
After a break, Arends would finish off Mateos in third place and move to heads-up action against Katz holding 49.65 million chips to Katz’s paltry 6.15 million. Katz would earn one double-up before succumbing to Arends, giving the Dutch pro a massive win over a difficult field for his second WSOP bracelet.
1. Jans Arends, $2,576,729
2. Cary Katz, $1,592,539
3. Adrian Mateos, $1,142,147
4. Chance Kornuth, $833,854
5. Jeremy Ausmus, $619,919
6. Biao Ding, $469,464
7. Justin Bonomo, $362,279*
8. Ren Lin, $284,979*
(* – eliminated on Tuesday evening)
John Monnette Joins WSOP “Five-Timers” Club
Some might say it was “only” a $1500 Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball Triple Draw tournament, but for John Monnette, it was his wheelhouse and pathway to his fifth WSOP bracelet early on Thursday morning.
Monnette came back on Wednesday among the eighteen players that were left, and they had a long day of play. Benny Glaser led the way, with Monnette right behind him, but Christopher Chung, Carol Fuchs, Allen Kessler, Patrick Leonard, and Ryan Hughes were still in the running. Glaser would, unfortunately, come up short of the final table, finishing in eighth as the “bubble boy,” while Monnette would be looking up at Josh Damm when the seven-handed final table kicked off.
The official final table clocked in at just short of twelve hours, with the heads-up match between Chung and Monnette being an epic one of more than two hours. Monnette at one point was down to HALF of a big blind, but the cards are a cruel mistress. Chung could not put away Monnette, instead seeing Monnette claw back and eventually take the lead. Monnette would make an 8-6-5-3-2 on the final hand, with Chung not even showing down, as Monnette picked up a special victory.
1. John Monnette, $145,846
2. Christopher Chung, $90,150
3. Patrick Leonard, $60,915
4. Josh Damm, $42,030
5. James Williams, $29,625
6. Ryan Hughes, $21,342
7. Michael Rodrigues, $15,722
It is arguable with his fifth bracelet win, the third such player to do that this year, that Monnette has cemented himself in poker lore as one of the best players ever. Over his five victories, Monnette has won in mixed game events (2011), Stud (2012), two $10,000 Championship tournaments (Deuce to Seven Lowball Draw in 2017 and Limit Hold’em last year), and now Limit Deuce to Seven Triple Draw. Such varied skills are indicative of an excellent poker player and one that some might consider for such things as the Hall of Fame.
