Bonomo Reclaims All-Time Money Leaderboard Top Spot

Justin Bonomo reclaimed the number one spot in poker’s all-time money listings this weekend. The man from Fairfax, Virginia, won a $100,000 and a $10,000 buy-in event at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic at The Bellagio, Las Vegas.

Bonomo was one of only 19 entrants in the $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em event. The star-studded yet compact crowd created a $1,900,000 prize pool that the top three finishers shared.

Recent bracelet winner Jason Koon held a large chip lead going into the final table with Bonomo languishing in eighth.

Slovenia’s Rok Gostisa was the final table’s first casualty. Gostisa pinned his hopes on 9d-8d but did not count on Bonomo calling with As-Qs. The five community cards fell 4c-3s-2s-6h-2h, and Gostisa busted.

Sean Winter sent the dangerous Ali Imsirovic home in eighth. Winter min-raised to 24,000 with 7c-7h, and Imsirovic called in the big blind with Qh-Jh. Imsirovic led for 18,000 on the 7s-6h-5s flop, and for 36,000 on the Qc turn. Winter raised the turn to 126,000 and snap-called when Imsirovic hammed for 350,000. The 6s completed the board and confirmed Imsirovic’s demise.

Bonomo Puts His Foot on the Gas

Seventh place went to David Peters, who busted at the hands of Dan Smith. Peters opened to 40,000 and called off his last 350,000 when Smith set him all-in. Smith flipped over Qc-Jc and came from behind to beat the dominating As-Qd courtesy of the 8c-3d-3c-8d-Tc board.

The money bubble neared when Bonomo sent Winter to the showers. Bonomo was now the big stack after beating Bryn Kenney’s Qs-Qc with Ad-Ac. He grew richer when his Ad-Kd held against Winter’s Kh-Jh with the board running out ten-high.

Bonomo then resigned Kenney to a fifth-place finish. Again, he found ace-king, and his Ad-Kh prevailed against Kenney’s Kc-Qh. Kenney was number one in the all-time money listings going into this event.

$304,000 Money Bubble Bursts

It was Bonomo who sent Chris Brewer home in fourth in a very expensive money bubble. Brewer was all-in for his last 660,000 chips with Ac-Jc, and Bonomo was there with Qc-Qs. The Ts-6s-2s flop left Brewer in a world of trouble, with the Qh turn leaving him drawing to a single king. The 2h river bust Brewer in fourth, and locked up at least $304,000 for the surviving players.

Smith was the first of the trio to collect some prize money. He three-bet shoved with Ax-2x and found himself against Bonomo’s 7x-7x. Neither player improved by the river, meaning Smith collected the $304,000 third place prize money.

That was the last of the action in this event because Bonomo and Koon struck a deal for the remaining prize pool. Bonomo held a 3,800,000 to 2,895,000 lead over Koon, and the pair opted to make an ICM deal. That deal saw Koon finish second and bank $667,800, leaving the champion to net $928,200.

$100K Champion Wins Again

The prize money won catapulted Bonomo over Kenney in the all-time money listings. He extended that lead by winning a $10,000 event at the Bellagio a couple of days after this win.

A larger field of 32 players bought into the $10,000 event, and Bonomo outlasted them all. Only five players received a slice of the $320,000 pie. Nick Schulman bowed out in fifth place for a $25,600 addition to his bankroll.

German superstar Dominik Nitsche collected $32,000 for finishing fourth, with Rok Gostisa receiving $51,200 when he busted in third.

Bonomo only needed one hand when heads-up against Dan Shak. He raised with As-Js, and called when Shak moved all-in with Ah-9h. Both players hit an ace on the flop, but Shak could not find a nine on the turn nor river.

The $128,000 Bonomo won here propelled his lifetime winnings to $57,175,262. he is $139,879 ahead of New York’s Bryn Kenney, a slender lead when you consider the stakes these guys play for.

Another eight high-stakes events are scheduled, so expect Kenney to attempt reclaiming top spot.

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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