Gary "SaquonNYG26" Belyalovsky Wins Online Event #5: $400 No-Limit Hold'em 8-Max for $121,854
Gary "SaquonNYG26" Belyalovsky came into today's event with a WSOP Circuit ring. With the event now over, he has added a WSOP bracelet to his collection.
Belyalovsky defeated Joseph "Kolebear" Hebert to take down $121,854 and his maiden bracelet in Online Event #5: $400 No-Limit Hold'em 8-Max at the 2023 World Series of Poker.
The 1,488-entrant field resulted in a prize pool of $882,360, with 240 players making the money and receiving at least $1,324. Notable players making the money included Ethan "rampunts" Yau ($2,118), Shaun "fortnite" Deeb (86th - $1,853), and Daniel "DNegs" Negreanu (178th - $1,412).
Players falling short of the money included Jamie "JamieGold" Gold, Phil "Lumestackin" Hellmuth, Justin "Jsaliba2" Saliba, and Joseph "blueberry" Cheong.
"It felt amazing to win the bracelet as it's been a dream of mine for a long time," Belyalovsky told PokerNews. "I finished second in an event last year, so it was satisfying to close this one out. The final table was very tough and I was lucky to be on the right side of some coolers."
$400 No-Limit Hold'em 8-Max Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gary "SaquonNYG26" Belyalovsky | United States | $121,854 |
| 2 | Joseph "Kolebear" Hebert | United States | $88,942 |
| 3 | Michael "miguelfiesta" Lech | United States | $65,383 |
| 4 | Tyler "bummer" Karmel | United States | $48,442 |
| 5 | Safiya "Player2021" Umerova | United States | $35,824 |
| 6 | Brad "MrMonkeyBear" Owen | United States | $26,736 |
| 7 | Pete "PeteChen" Chen | Taiwan | $20,030 |
| 8 | Derek "ifeedurfam" Bowers | United States | $15,177 |
The first elimination of the final table went to Hebert, the runner-up in the 2020 Main Event, whose pocket queens took out Derek "ifeedurfam" Bowers' pocket nines and eliminated Bowers in eighth place.
Pete "PeteChen" Chen was next to fall, as his king-queen high lost to a paired three from Tyler "bummer" Karmel.
Hebert then struck again, knocking out notable vlogger Brad "MrMonkeyBear" Owen with pocket kings against Owen's flopped top pair of eights.
Safiya "Player2021" Umerova went out in fifth when her queen-ten was unable to find a pair against Karmel's pocket sevens.
Karmel and Hebert were responsible for the first four eliminations and were then involved in the fifth. Karmel was all in with a straight draw that never came against a pair from Hebert, sending the former out in fourth.
Belyalovsky then eliminated Michael "miguelfiesta" Lech, whose pocket deuces could not hold up against Belyalovsky's flopped pair of nines.
That led to a 24-minute heads-up match between Belyalovsky and Hebert for the bracelet. Belyalovsky trailed before taking the lead with a pair of aces to gain a lead he would never relinquish. On the final hand, Hebert went all in with middle pair and a straight draw, but Belyalovsky's top pair held to end the heads-up match and give him the coveted gold bracelet.
"I want to give a shoutout to my friends, family, and most importantly, my wife, who always supports me," said Belyalovsky.
PokerNews' coverage of WSOP online bracelet events continues with Online Event #6: $500 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo on Sunday, June 18 at 3:30 p.m. PST.