Badziakouski Wins First WSOP Bracelet and $1,462,043

Belarus’ Mikita Badziakouski walked away with his first bracelet and $1,462,043 in prize money after triumphing in the $50,000 High Roller at the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas. Amazingly, this is Badziakouski’s eighth-largest live poker tournament score, which shows how much of an incredible poker player he is.

Some 113 players bought into the event despite its $50,000 buy-in. The entrants created a $5,409,875 prize pool which the top 17 finishers shared. Cary Katz was the unfortunate soul who burst the money bubble. Katz’s Qc-Jc lost to Stephen Chidwick’s 5h-5c.

Thomas Winters finished in 17th and was the first player to collect a payout, namely $84,486. Shaun Deeb, Antonios Rouggeris, Barry Hutter, and Ranganath Kanchi followed Winters to the cashier. The eliminations of Christoph Vogelsang, Ole Schemion, and Elio Fox set the final table.

Badziakouski Seventh at the Final Table; Villamarin Leads

The final table lost a player almost immediately after play began. Ryan Leng opened to 500,000, leaving himself 200,000 behind, at the 50,000/100,000/100,000a level. Ren Lin called, and the dealer fanned the Ah-Jh-Td flop. Leng moved all-in and was called. Leng showed 5h-5d, Lin the Kc-Kh, and won courtesy of the Ac turn and Ks river.

Portugal’s Joao Vieira came unstuck in eighth place for $167,153. Vieira’s last 1.5 big blinds went into the middle with Ah-4h, which ultimately lost to Carlos Villamarin’s Jc-5s.

Villamarin crashed out in seventh despite winning that pot. Chidwick raised and called when Villamarin three-bet jammed with Ah-Jh. Chidwick had his opponent crushed with As-Ac. The 9h-8s-9d-3s-9s board sent Villamarin to the rail.

Badziakouski won a huge pot from Chidwick to claim the chip lead with six players remaining. Those six became five when Ali Imsirovic got his last four big blinds into the middle with Ad-Qd against the 8s-7c of Lin. Lin spiked a seven on the Jd-7s-5d-2c-Tc board, busting Imsirovic.

Chidwick joined the long list of elite players watching from the sidelines. Down to a solitary big blind, Chidwick’s 5d-2h was against Jason Koon’s Qs-5c. Neither player improved on the Ks-Kd-Jh-4h-6d runout, and Chidwick busted.

Belarusian Has One Hand on the Bracelet

Badziakouski had 20 million chips when play was four-handed, more than his three remaining opponents combined. He improved his position by sending Koon to the showers in fourth-place.

It was a classic coinflip that ended Koon’s participation: Ad-Kc for Koon and Qh-Qs for Badziakouski. An eight-high board was no help to Koon, although the $489,585 he won will help numb the pain.

Heads-up was set when Daniel Negreanu ran into the unstoppable Badziakouski. Badziakouski attacked the blinds with an all-in bet, doing so with As-6h. Negreanu called with Jh-5h, and lost despite flopped a jack on the Qd-Jd-8d-3s-Ad board.

That hand gave Badziakouski a four-to-one lead over Lin, but Lin fought back, took the chip lead, and looked set to win. However, Badziakouski is a fearless opponent, and he put his foot firmly on the gas.

The final hand happened during the 300,000/600,000/600,000a level. Lin ripped in his last 4,000,000 with Kd-7s, and was called by As-5h. The five community cards fell 8h-9d-2h-8s-9c, ending Lin in second place.

Lin scooped $903,610 for his bridesmaid finish, by far his largest score. Lin previously finished third in a $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em event earlier in the series, which came with $186,803.

Event #85: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Mikita Badziakouski	Belarus	$1,462,043
2	Ren Lin	United States	$903,610
3	Daniel Negreanu	Canada	$661,041
4	Jason Koon	United States	$489,585
5	Stephen Chidwick	United Kingdom	$367,153
6	Ali Imsirovic	Bosnia & Herzegovina	$278,840
7	Carlos Villamarin	United States	$214,496
8	Joao Vieira	Portugal	$167,152
10	Ryan Leng	United States	$131,982

Brad Johnson

You name the game, and you can bet your bottom dollar that Brad has either played it or placed a wager on it! Brad calls himself a natural gambler, and someone who gains as much enjoyment from writing about the crazy game of poker as he does playing it.

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