Koray Aldemir Wins $10,000 8-Game to Bag Second WSOP Bracelet

The German rose to prominence four years ago when he took down the biggest event of the year. In the years after he built up status as a capable player, increasing his career earnings record to $23 million.

But then he vanished last summer, with no recorded cashes until this weekend where he showed the world that he really is a multiple bracelet standard player.

Aldemir banked $287,800 for his victory but will have been more pleased to have picked up that gold bracelet.

Brazil’s Felipe Ramos and Brit Philip Sternheimer pushed Aldemir the hardest, both collecting a six-figure prize.

Mixed games events are getting more and more publicity these days and one can only hope that we see more of these tournaments laid on at the lower end of the buy-in range to help encourage growth.

NL Hold’em and PLO have dominated too much of the schedules for too long.

115 entries for a five-figure buy-in event shows that the best players still love to mix up the games when possible, and here we saw a prize pool of $1,115,500 to fight over.

Chris Klodnicki led the field of 13 who returned for the final day’s action, fully focused on sewing up that elusive third bracelet.

When the final table got underway the American held a substantial lead in front of Sternheimer  and Ramos.

But it was Aldemir who began his charge to the front, first doubling through Sternheimer and then knocking out Josh Arieh in seventh in a hand of Seven-Card Stud.

In the meantime, Klodnicki failed to get any momentum, exiting the event in fourth place in a round of 2-7 Triple Draw after clashing with Ramos.

Ramos then dealt with Sternheimer to enter heads-up with a three-to-one advantage, but by three in the morning Aldemir had reeled in his opponent to begin his challenge for the win. All the chips were soon in the possession of the German and Ramos had to settle for $188,900 as runner-up.

WSOP Paradise Event #12: $10,000 8-Game Mix 6-Handed Final Table Results

Martin Kabrhel Gets a Taste of His Own Medicine in $25,000 Super Main Event

Who would have guessed that Martin Kabrhel would find himself involved in a spot of controversy over tanking in a high-stakes event? Yeah, most of us, only this time it wasn’t him doing the tanking.

Italian high-stakes star Mustapha Kanit had opened K♥ 10♥ in the small blind and was facing a jam for his tournament life from Kabrhel in the big blind.

The controversial Czech had K♦ 4♣ and was causing a stir by accusing Kanit of not paying in one  timebank chip less than he had used.

Kabrhel and one of the floor staff were conversing in what was thought to be their native language, leading to more confusion. When another member of staff arrived to calm everyone down Kabrhel refused to let the matter lie, leaving Kanit on the verge of rage.

It took tournament director Andy Tillman to come over and instill some order and get the action clock restarted with Kanit shouting “Let’s dance, Martin. Let’s f**king dance, Martin,” when he saw his opponent’s hole cards.

The board ran out K♠ A♥ 3♦ 6♠ 7♠ and Kanit began shouting “I’m dancing, Martin. You see how I dance? How many timebanks?”

But Kabrhel had to have the last word, insisting “He owes one more time bank.”

At the time of writing, the record $60,000,000 guaranteed prize pool has been met half way through Day 1d.

Late registration will continue until three levels into play tomorrow afternoon local time where another 227 entries will see the tournament become the largest ever non-WSOP prize pool in poker history.

Currently, that accolade is held by the 2019 Triton Million on $65,660,000, some way behind the WSOP 2024 Main Event which pulled in $94,041,600.

Mark Patrickson

Professional Poker Journalist

Mark Patrickson is a poker journalist with over ten years of experience. He writes for VIP-Grinders.com, sharing his deep knowledge of poker. He creates interesting content about poker strategy, trends, and news for poker fans worldwide. [more]