Han Feng is the champion of the 2024 World Series of Poker Circuit Hard Rock Tulsa $1,700 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event. The Houston, Texas resident overcame a tough field of 472 entries, securing his first WSOPC gold ring and the $144,413 top prize. This was his largest live score, surpassing the $119,048 he earned as the runner-up in a $1,100 buy-in event last year at the Venetian DeepStack Championship Poker Series. He now has more than $439,000 in live earnings to his name.
“It’s hard to explain, I just knew I was gonna win,” Feng told WSOP reporters after locking up the victory. “I willed it into existence in a way. I was down to single-digit blinds multiple times in this tournament, but I got really fortunate in a couple of spots and I spun it a bunch.”
The top 71 finishers made the money in this event, with top 12 spots getting five figure scores. The final day began with Bryce Laymance leading the final eight players. Ring winner Eric Bunch was the first to fall (8th – $16,605) and Hector Aguilar-Gutierrez followed him soon (7th – $21,241). Two-time ring winner Schuyler Thornton ran his A-6 into the A-Q of Harvey Castro to finish sixth ($27,550).
Three-time World Poker Tour champion and bracelet winner Brian Altman pitted his A-K against the pocket kings of Jared Ward. Altman flopped the top two pair, but it was no good against Ward’s set of kings. Altman earned $36,227 for his fifth place finish. Ward then eliminated Castro (4th – $48,284).
Laymance finished in third place, losing the majority of his stack when his K-J lost against the A-K of Ward. The next hand saw Ward finish off Laymance (3rd – $65,217) to enter heads-up play with Feng.
The lead exchanged several times during the final duel for the title but eventually, it was Feng who pulled ahead. On the final hand, Ward moved all-in with 7c 3d against Kd 9h of Feng. The board ran out Qs 9s 6h 4c 10h, giving Feng a winning pair of nines to seal the pot as well as the title.
Final Table Payouts (USD)
| 1 | Han Feng | $144,413 |
| 2 | Jared Ward | $89,255 |
| 3 | Bryce Laymance | $65,217 |
| 4 | Harvey Castro | $48,284 |
| 5 | Brian Altman | $36,227 |
| 6 | Schuyler Thornton | $27,550 |
| 7 | Hector Aguilar-Gutierrez | $21,241 |
| 8 | Eric Bunch | $16,605 |
| 9 | Travis Riggs | $13,165 |
Tim Krauskopf Wins PokerAtlas Tour Main Event At Resorts World Las Vegas
The 2024 PokerAtlas Tour stop at Resorts World Las Vegas paid out more than $865,000 in total prize money paid out across the ten-events from March 7-18, 2024. The festival ended with the completion of the $300k guaranteed $800 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event. The tournament drew in an impressive 459 entries, building $321,300 in the final prize pool. In the end, Tim Krauskopf emerged victorious, securing the coveted title and $45,968 in top prize money.
“It’s wonderful, the trophy is one of the big parts of it,” Krauskopf told PokerAtlas reporters after his victory. “It’s hard to take too much credit for it. You play a big stack, and then you play a little bit [of the] bully. You limp in, because you can afford the limp, and then if you hit you can really do some damage, and inflict some pain. And then once you get a couple they’re afraid of your bets. So I was able to get a couple of bluffs through too.”
Hailing from Chicago, Krauskopf usually plays cash games at the $3-$5 and $5-$10 levels. His foray into the tournament space ended up quite fruitful, as he was awarded $45,968 as the chip leader at the time of a five-way deal that brought this event to a close.
This event played out over the course of five days, with four starting flights and a final day to play down to a champion. Just 38 players returned for the final day, with Krauskopf leading the pack. The final table was set after the elimination of two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner David Jackson in 10th place.
Armen Minasyan’s A-K was beaten by the K-Q of Graham Mathews to narrow the field to eight. Krauskopf then busted Jimmy Svardhagen (8th) to further grow his stack. Eliminations continued, with Brian Kim (7th) and David Wade (6th) becoming the next players to fall out.
The final five then struck a deal that brought the event to an end. The payouts they agreed to are given below.
Final Table Payouts (USD)
| 1 | Tim Krauskopf | $45,968 |
| 2 | Danny Chen | $35,833 |
| 3 | Ross Miller | $33,844 |
| 4 | Thanh Duong | $28,990 |
| 5 | David Wade | $25,465 |
| 6 | Graham Mathews | $11,630 |
| 7 | Brian Kim | $9,770 |
| 8 | Jimmy Svardhagen | $8,030 |
| 9 | Armen Minasyan | $6,430 |
Grosvenor Poker Ambassador Ludovic Geilich Wins GUKPT Main Event
Ludovic Geilich, the latest ambassador to join Grosvenor Poker and the popular Scottish grinder, has kicked off his ambassadorship role in style after taking down the £1,100 GUKPT Blackpool Main Event for £56,150. The win came over the weekend and marked Geilich’s second major title on the tour. It follows his High Roller victory at 888poker LIVE Coventry that earned him $49,611 in top prize money.
On his successful string of results, he said, “I think when you start to get a stack going and your confidence builds, that helps a lot, and you just turn the focus switch on full max. [Also] I just start drinking a lot of coffee, which helps me stay alert and sharp!”
Talking about his new ambassadorial role and the GUKPT, he said, “It’s good to be on board with Grosvenor; the sponsorship is great! Everyone who follows the tour is very close-knit and we all chat away like one big family. The banter is class, and everyone just gets along very well, which is great to see.”
The Main Event drew 207 entries, which resulted in a £250,000 prize pool. The top 25 finishers made money, including GUKPT Main Event winner Timothy Chung, Chris Maguire, £1,500 High Roller champ Endrit Geci, and the ‘Mad Turk’ Yucel Eminoglu. Glen Gaines was the final table bubble, bowing out in tenth place after his big slick was beaten by the queen-ten held by Keith Johnson.
Geilich scored the first knockout on the final table, ousting Michael Clarke, who was followed by Matthew Davenport, Paul Rigg, Peter Visnyovszki and Kevin Houghton, who was busted by Gordon with his pocket tens remaining best against Kevin Houghton’s ace-jack. Gordon continued his hot run and eliminated Keith Johnson who got his 16 big blind stack in with ace-queen, which lost to Gordon’s pocket queens.
Geilich had the chip lead ahead of the heads-up with a stack of 125 big blinds. Gordon was also deep, with 75 of his own. On the final hand, Gorden opened with 5h 5d and Geilich defended with Kc 9s. The flop 8h 7d 6s kept Gordon ahead. The turn 3s saw Geilich with a continuation bet and Gordon called. The river was the 10h, giving Geilich the straight. He fired out a third barrel of 185,000 before Gordon moved in for 950,000. Geilich thought a little before making the tournament-winning call.
£1,100 GUKPT Blackpool Main Event Final Table Payouts
1 Ludovic Geilich £56,150
2 Callum Gordon £42,080
3 Andrew Hulme £29,500
4 Keith Johnson £19,620
5 Kevin Houghton £13,870
6 Peter Visnyovszki £10,380
7 Paul Rigg £8,380
8 Matthew Davenport £7,120
9 Michael Clarke £6,250
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