Welcome to the Day 3 finale of Event #38: $50,000 High Roller No-limit Hold’em 8-Handed at the 2021 World Series of Poker. Cards go in the air at 4 p.m. and the action will be streamed live on PokerGO.com at 5 p.m.
Michael Addamo has a commanding lead on this path to a third WSOP gold bracelet, and the two-time champion from Australia will look to close the deal after spending Day 2 crushing the field. Addamo has a big lead but he will have to deal with experienced WSOP champions Justin Bonomo, Erik Seidel, and Gal Yifrach. Chris Hunichen comes in on the short stack looking to spin it into his first bracelet after 56 career cashes at the WSOP.
Final Table Chip Counts
RANK
PLAYER
COUNTRY
CHIP COUNT/PLACE
1
Michael Addamo
Australia
11,475,000
2
Justin Bonomo
United States
4,975,000
3
Erik Seidel
United States
4,335,000
4
Gal Yifrach
United States
3,160,000
5
Chris Hunichen
United States
405,000
The final five players fought through a field of 81 that built a $3,877,875 prize pool of which $1,132,968 is waiting up top for today’s winner.
Blinds will continue in Level 18 at 60,000/120,000 with a big blind ante of 120,000. Levels are 60 minutes long and play will continue today until there is a winner.
Be sure to keep it here all day long for updates and reports on the action from the PokerNews live reporting team.
Erik Seidel limped in from the small blind. Michael Addamo raised to 480,000 from the big blind and Seidel went over the top with a shove for 4.8 million. Addamo called.
Erik Seidel:
Michael Addamo:
The board ran out and Addamo's flopped pair of kings was enough to send Seidel to the rail in fourth place.
Michael Addamo raised to 480,000 from the small blind and Justin Bonomo called from the big blind.
The flop was and both players checked.
The turn was and Addamo bet 1.1 million. Bonomo called to see a river .
Addamo went into the tank for more than a minute before continuing with a river bet of 3.4 million. Bonomo spent more than six minutes before calling with . The jacks and tens were good and Addamo's went into the muck.
Gal Yifrach limped in from the small blind and Michael Addamo raised to 520,000 from the big blind. Yifrach three-bet shoved for 3.8 million and Addamo called.
Gal Yifrach:
Michael Addamo:
The board ran out and the river spade completed a flush to knock Yifrach out of the tournament in third place.
In what would be the final hand of the tournament, Justin Bonomo raised to 450,000 on the button and Michael Addamo three-bet to 1.8 million. Bonomo shoved for 11.3 million and Addamo called after thinking for over a minute to put Bonomo at risk.
Michael Addamo:
Justin Bonomo:
The flop came — keeping Addamo out in front, but the turn vaulted Bonomo into the lead with trip tens.
A tournament-ending completed the board — giving Addamo Broadway and eliminating Bonomo in second place.
Michael Addamo took home his third World Series of Poker gold bracelet and a $1,132,968 first-place prize after topping an elite 81-player field and defeating Justin Bonomo heads-up in the 2021 WSOP Event #38: $50,000 High Roller.
Addamo is a regular in high-stakes tournaments and is no stranger to success – having already cashed for over $14 million prior to this victory according to The Hendon Mob. The year 2021 has been a career year for the Aussie native, having won three PokerGO Tour tournaments back in September for a combined $5.2 million in earnings alone. That includes winning a pair of Poker Masters tournaments to win the coveted purple jacket and then taking down the Super High Roller Bowl VI for $3.4 million.
Addamo also now joins a select club of three-time bracelet winners alongside Antonio Esfandiari, Joe McKeehen, and Bonomo himself, to name a few.
Addamo remained humble in victory — mostly attributing his resounding success in the past couple of months to luck.
"Obviously there's some skill involved, but winning this much is really attributed to luck in the end, so it's very fortunate. I play a strategy where I put a lot of big bets in. That's no secret. Sometimes you're going to be out in the first level and sometimes you're gonna build up a big stack."
On being regarded as one of the best tournament players by his peers, Addamo had this to say:
"It does put some pressure on me. If you sort of internalize and believe that, you can become complacent. I try to just stay humble and not to let it get to my head and keep working and studying."
Event #38: $50,000 High Roller Final Table Results
Place
Player
Country
Prize (USD)
1
Michael Addamo
Australia
$1,132,968
2
Justin Bonomo
United States
$700,228
3
Gal Yifrach
United States
$495,305
4
Erik Seidel
United States
$358,665
5
Chris Hunichen
United States
$266,031
6
Bin Weng
United States
$202,236
7
Sam Soverel
United States
$157,666
8
Mustapha Kanit
Italy
$126,141
9
Leonard Maue
Germany
$103,635
Final Table Action
Addamo entered Day 3 with a commanding chip lead over the remaining players and quickly continued to add to his stack by knocking out Chris Hunichen and Erik Seidel within the first level. After doubling Gal Yifrach up on two separate occasions, Addamo sent Yifrach to the rail in third place after his pocket eights held up against the ace-seven of Yifrach after getting all-in preflop.
Heads-up play began with Addamo enjoying a slight chip lead over Bonomo, but the tides quickly turned in Bonomo's favor after Addamo called Bonomo with ace-high and lost in a sizable pot.
It wouldn't take long after that, however, for Addamo to regain the chip lead after winning a series of smaller pots that would eventually culminate in Bonomo four-bet shoving with ten-nine and getting called by Addamo with king-jack. Addamo ended up rivering a straight in dramatic fashion after losing the lead on the turn to seal his victory.
Congratulations to Michael Addamo on winning the 2021 Event #38: $50,000 High Roller for $1,132,968!