Mark Radoja

Mark Radoja

Navigating a tough field in one of poker’s most testing formats, knock-out heads-up, Canadian pro Mark Radoja captured the WSOP bracelet and $331,190 in cash in the $10K Heads-Up No-Limit tournament that concluded last Sunday night at the Rio. The initial field of 162 featured the who-is-who’s of poker including Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Galfond, Vanessa Selbst, and many others. After the first day action the contingent was reduced to 32, which then proceeded to determine the final four to play on the third and final day for the championship.

The final four consisted of Ben Sulsky, Don Nguyen, Mark Radoja, and Justin Bonomo. Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky, an elite high-stakes cash player who earlier eliminated his online nemesis Phill “OMGClayAiken” Galfond and PokersStars Team Pro Randy Lew, was paired up against Don Nguyen, who bested Ali Eslami, Craig Bergeron, and Sean Winter. In the other match-up, Justin Bonomo, getting through Jonathan Kantor, Warwick Mirzikinian, and Russell Rosenblum in the earlier rounds, was facing Mark Radoja, who had to overcome Phil Hellmuth, among others, on his way to the semifinals.

For the semifinal matches, each player held a starting stack of 640,000 chips, also having a pair of lammers, also called bullets, which is an option to rebuy for the same amount.

In Nguyen-Sulsky match, Nguyen seized an early lead and forced his opponent to toss in his first lammer pushing his Q2 preflop on hand #23. Sulsky, who had around 250,000 remaining, called on KJ but had to reach into the reserve after a Q8567 board delivered a win for Nguyen. Only three hands later, he lost his stack again coming up empty-handed with an open-ended straight flush draw on the flop. Holding 64 on a 765 flop he called Nguyen’s bet for 60,000. When Q fell on the turn, Nguyen lead out again for 120,000 and Sulsky reraised all in for 845,000. Nguyen quickly called and showed a made straight with a flush redraw with his pocket 84. When a blank 3 fell on the river, Sulsky had to put up his last 640,000. Sulsky managed to work his way up to close to a million in chips over the next few hands, but eventually busted out on hand #42, five-betting all in on AJfor 945,000. Nguyen called on 82. Sulsky took commanding lead of the hand on a K97J board on the turn, but Nguyen spiked a straight on the river catching 10 and eliminating Ben in 3rd for $110,485 – his biggest ever cash at a WSOP event.

The other semifinal, between Radoja and Bonomo, was an alley fight that lasted for twice as long, with Bonomo eventually succumbing on hand #88. Having spent both of his lammers and bled most of the remaining chips, Bonomo jammed on J7 from the button, only to be snap-called by Radoja’s A10. Radoja seized a death grip pairing his Ace on a 3A6 flop, and clinched victory with K on the turn. Opponents shook hands and Justin Bonomo walked away with a third place finish and $110,485.

The final between Nguyen and Radoja lasted a grueling seven levels and 85 hands. Radoja came back from the brink of elimination conceding an almost 5:1 chip advantage to his opponent by hand #70. He played shortstack masterfully and quickly evened the stacks. He eventually took all the chips on the table and forced Nguyen to cash in his last lamer on hand 83. Two hands later, Nguyen shipped A3 preflop from the button and Radoja announced a call holding K9. The flop came J65, followed by 4on the turn. Radoja needed to pair one of his pocket cards on the river to take the hand, and screamed with joy when the dealer produced K. With this victory, Radoja captured his second WSOP bracelet and joined an elite group of players with multiple WSOP wins. Don Nguyen’s second place effort earned him $204,648.