The Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas held the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event No.85: $1,500 Shootout. Yet, Faraz Jaka was the last player at the final table. He won $237,367 and his first gold bracelet after defeating Michael Finstein in heads-up action.
Only 987 players advanced to the tournament’s Day 2. Those who won the shootout reached the final table and increased their chances to bag the bracelet.
What Were the Table’s Prizes?
- Faraz Jaka from the U.S.-$237,367
- Michael Finstein from the U.S.-$146,686
- Olga Iermolcheva from Ukraine-$109,780
- Ao Chen from the U.S.-$82,954
- Yuri Dzivielevski from Brazil-$63,295
- Matteo Cavelier from France-$47,772
- Mo Zhou from China-$37,955
- Adam Friedman from the U.S.-$29,834
- Allan Mello from Brazil-$23,689
- Edward Mroczkowski from the U.S.-$19,003
How Things Unfolded on the Final Day
The remaining players set up a 10-final table whose action was slow in the first minutes. Yet, its pace gradually increased after 15 minutes when the day’s first flop appeared. Edward Mroczkowski got busted in 10th place when he lost a crucial set-over-set hand.
Even so, Aallan Mello, the day’s chip leader, lost several hands and exited the tournament in ninth place. Adam Friedman and Mo Zhou followed him shortly in eighth and seventh place, respectively.
Matteo Cavelier finished sixth after his jacks lost a vital hand to Jaka’s ace-queen. Yuri Dzivielevski was in great form since the day started, but the tables turned against him, and he finished fifth. Ao Chen’s run ended in fourth place, kicking off three-handed action between Olga Iermolcheva, Michael Finstein, and Jaka.
Iermolcheva got busted in third place, setting up a fierce battle of the blinds between Finstein and Jaka. Jaka called Finstein’s river jam to win a straight and sent him packing as the runner-up with $146,686.
Jaka’s Reaction After Winning
Jaka stated after the tournament that it felt great receiving his first WSOP gold bracelet. He had concentrated a lot on his goal and was still decompressing his victory.
The poker pro has finished third and second in many WPT and WSOP tournaments. He believes that the victory will inspire him to bag more bracelets in the future. His students traveled to Las Vegas to cheer him on, and he revealed that he has built a large community through coaching.
He praised his students for their remarkable representation. Jaka stated that, at times, he lacks answers to some questions that people ask him when he coaches them on how to play poker. But he tries to figure everything out soon.
He disclosed that he gets annoyed making a costly mistake that makes him leave an event shortly before it ends. Yet, his personality helps him improve his playing strategy when competing in the next event.
A medical scare that occurred before the WSOP kicked off almost made him miss the series. But he is currently recovering and hopes to extend his great run.
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