Hand #61: Brandon Adams was next to move his entire stack of 6,375,000 into the middle on the button and Igor Kurganov re-shoved all in from the small blind. Keith Tilston folded his big blind and the cards were tabled.
Igor Kurganov:
Brandon Adams:
Kurganov was in a dominating position and the flop of didn't change much. The turn was the and Adams was down to just three outs. The completed the board to improve Kurganov to a straight and Adams was eliminated in fifth place.
Hand #76: Daniel Negreanu opened to 1,200,000 on the button and Igor Kurganov ripped all in for 9,500,000 in the small blind. Keith Tilston also pushed all in from the big blind and Negreanu let out a big yell. "Wow! I was snapping him. I still might call," but he opted to let his go to the muck.
Keith Tilston:
Igor Kurganov:
The flop came and Tilston was still in a commanding lead with his pair of kings. The on the turn left Kurganov drawing to just two outs. The river was the and Kurganov was ousted in fourth place.
Hand #95: Daniel Negreanu made it 1,600,000 on the button and Keith Tilston called from the small blind. Nick Schulman was all in for 1,325,000 in the big blind which created a small side pot.
The flop came and both players checked to the on the turn and the on the river. Negreanu held for two pair while Schulman showed . Negreanu scooped both pots to eliminate Schulman in third place.
The final two players are taking a quick break for a color up and to prepare for the heads-up match.
Hand #106; Keith Tilston limped on the button and Daniel Negreanu checked his big blind. The flop was . Negreanu checked and Tilston bet 1,000,000. Negreanu check-raised to 3,000,000.
Tilston called and the turn was the . Negreanu used a time extension and then checked. Tilston bet 4,500,000. Negreanu moved all in and Tilston checked his cards before calling.
Hand #119: Daniel Negreanu moved all in for 12,600,000 and Keith Tilston called.
Daniel Negreanu:
Keith Tilston:
"Just an ace," said Negreanu. "We need an ace to beat a queen," he told his rail.
The flop came . The assembled crowd were on their feet, craning their necks to see the on the turn. Negreanu needed to avoid six outs that would see his quest for a seventh bracelet thwarted, and there was an audible groan from the crowd as the hit on the river, pairing Tilston and Negreanu was eliminated.
"Tied the record for most second-places ever," said Negreanu. "Along with Phil Hellmuth."
Keith Tilston made his way through a 99-entry field in the 2019 World Series of Poker Event #83: $100,000 High Roller to win his first bracelet and a career-high cash of $2,792,406, denying Daniel Negreanu heads-up in front of a packed crowd.
After a sixth-place finish in the $50,000 High Roller for $275,874, Tilston came into the final day of play in the biggest buy-in event of the 2019 WSOP as the chip leader but the only player without a bracelet. That's all changed now.
Negreanu came into the final table as the short stack and doubled up on five separate occasions. In fact, he doubled through everyone at the table apart from eventual champion Tilston. He notched his second runner-up finish at his fourth final table of this year's WSOP, unofficially tying Phil Hellmuth's record for most second-place finishes with ten.
Final Table Results
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1st
Keith Tilston
United States
$2,792,406
2nd
Daniel Negreanu
Canada
$1,725,838
3rd
Nick Schulman
United States
$1,187,802
4th
Igor Kurganov
Russia
$840,183
5th
Brandon Adams
United States
$611,258
6th
Dominik Nitsche
Germany
$457,772
7th
Sergi Reixach
Spain
$353,202
8th
Christoph Vogelsang
Germany
$281,025
Heads Up
Tilston Emerges Victorious
Coming into the 2019 WSOP, Tilston had eight WSOP cashes stretching back to 2006 including two Main Event cashes in the last four years.
Tilston is no stranger to high-roller tournaments and the subtle reaction to winning his first-ever WSOP gold bracelet along with his largest career payday was no different. A hug from his mother who was on the rail cheering him on for much of the final table was about the most emotion Tilston gave away.
"It feels great to win one against this type of field," he said. "I've been running pretty well for the past year and things have just been going my way. I've been playing a bit more, usually see how I do to start the year and go from there."
Tilston had to overcome the fan-favorite Negreanu in order to win but he said that didn't bother him one bit.
"It was kind of surreal to be playing heads-up against Daniel. Any other time I would be rooting for him. Obviously, everyone here was in his corner," but Tilston kept his head down and did what he does best, play some solid poker. "I'm happy with how I played. I didn't really make any mistakes."
Negreanu's Near-Misses
This marked the eighth occasion since Negreanu's last bracelet win in 2013 where he finished in the podium spots, but after a summer where he notched 15 cashes, $1,725,838 should soften the blow.
Year
Place
Event
Payout
2019
2nd
$100,000 High Roller
$1,725,838
2019
2nd
$10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship
$151,700
2018
3rd
$1,500 Eight Game Mix
$59,788
2017
2nd
$10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship
$240,290
2017
3rd
$10,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold'em Championship
$29,939
2015
3rd
$10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship
$113,062
2014
2nd
$1,000,000 Big One for One Drop
$8,288,001
2014
2nd
$10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship
$156,674
Day 3 Recap
Once play got underway, there was action aplenty as start-of-day short stack Negreanu doubled twice in quick succession to move up to second in the chip counts. However, his ascent was short lived and no sooner had he acquired these chips, he bluffed them off to Igor Kurganov.
After both players checked a nine-high flop, Negreanu bet both turn and river with Kurganov calling it off with just a pair of eights. Negreanu held just ace-high and fell back down the counts once more.
This helped Kurganov move into the second spot on the leaderboard behind Tilston. However, a quick spurt from Nick Schulman saw him overtake the pair and he led by the first break of the day.
With no eliminations up until this point, two eliminations came in quick succession when play resumed. First, Dominik Nitsche was sent to the rail after Kurganov rivered a three-outer. Kurganov then added the elimination of Brandon Adams on the very next hand, with Adams getting king-nine against ace-nine and bricking to bring play to four-handed.
Igor Kurganov was eliminated in fourth place
Kurganov had held a commanding chip lead late on Day 2, only to see it chipped away and eventually surpassed by Tilston. This time Negreanu called a halt to his lead, doubling for a third time at the final table with ace-eight against king-queen.
Kurganov was then sent to the rail in fourth place at the hands of Tilston, who returned to the top of the pile.
Negreanu grabbed himself a fourth double and then a fifth, both through Schulman, who was left with less than two big blinds and was eliminated in third place.
Nick Schulman eliminated in third place
Stacks were almost level heading into heads-up play with Negreanu holding a slight advantage. Negreanu increased his lead over the early period of play, reducing Tilston to around 20 big blinds. But the American would double, calling a shove from his opponent with trip kings against Negreanu's pair of aces.
However, back came Negreanu who opened up a gap once more between the two opponents.
Tilston Wins Flush Over Flush
The pivotal hand came in a limped pot at 400,000/800,000 when Negreanu called a 1,000,000 bet from Tilston on a jack-high flop containing two spades. The turn was a third spade, pairing the board, and Negreanu called another bet worth 3,000,000.
The river put four spades on the board and Negreanu called a third time for 6,500,000. Tilston held the ten of spades, pipping Negreanu's nine of spades to take down the pot.
Tilston rivers a Jack to Eliminate Negreanu
Four hands later, Negreanu was all in and ahead with ace-deuce against queen-jack. Negreanu looked set for a sixth double up until the jack hit the river, deflating the packed rail and handing Tilston his first-ever bracelet.
Thanks for keeping up to date with the coverage of the $100,000 High Roller. The PokerNews live updates continue until the end of the WSOP, with the Main Event resuming tomorrow evening with nine players remaining!
![[user339872]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
didn't change much. The turn was the 
and Adams was down to just three outs. The 
completed the board to improve Kurganov to a straight and Adams was eliminated in fifth place.
go to the muck.
and Tilston was still in a commanding lead with his pair of kings. The 
on the turn left Kurganov drawing to just two outs. The river was the 
on the turn and the 
on the river. Negreanu held 
for two pair while Schulman showed 
. Negreanu scooped both pots to eliminate Schulman in third place.
on the turn. Negreanu needed to avoid six outs that would see his quest for a seventh bracelet thwarted, and there was an audible groan from the crowd as the 
hit on the river, pairing Tilston and Negreanu was eliminated.
