The WSOP Super Main Event in The Bahamas was certainly an ambitious event, notably setting a $50 million guarantee, the largest in poker tournament history.
There was much consternation over reaching the guarantee, thanks largely to concurrent big events, including Pedro Marques winning the EPT Main Event, as well as the ongoing WPT World Championship.
Despite rumors of potentially creating the largest overlay of all-time, ultimately the event ended up being one to remember for poker fans with multiple big and exciting stories.
The $25,000 buy-in event ended up drawing 1,978 entries to create a tournament for all the crushers out there who came into The Bahamas to take their shot at glory. The player who ended up topping the entire field was 24-year-old Yinan Zhou of China, who won the $6 million grand prize after a very impressive final table performance.
Final Table Storylines
After three exciting days of play, the anticipation built and built as things were looking great for an amazing final table lineup with several big names still around.
Ren Lin and Chris Moneymaker were eliminated on the final table bubble in 11th and 10th, respectively, which was a bit disappointing as both of them would have made the final table even more lively and headline worthy. But that’s how poker tournaments work sometimes.
There were plenty of stories to choose from, even with those final table bubble eliminations. Here is a look at three of the most notable ones.
Addamo vs Yinan
Michael Addamo entered the final table as the chip leader, which appeared to be ominous for the rest of the field as the Australian high roller is known for obliterating opponents once he gets a big stack. Many expected Addamo to simply overwhelm the table and cruise to another massive score.
However Addamo ran into an unforeseen obstacle in the form of the aforementioned Yinan Zhou, who stole the show with his fearless play. There were several pots between the two, including a pair of key hands where Yinan took a large number of chips from Addamo’s stack.
On one occasion he made an audacious, yet successful bluff against Addamo, made all the more impressive because of the ICM risk with several shorter stacks still in play. That hand, which took place with seven players left, ended up being the turning point of the entire final table.
Shockingly, Addamo would be eliminated in 6th place, which can’t be considered anything else other than a disappointing finish for a final table chip leader of his caliber, especially on a stage like this.
Yinan, meanwhile, would end up taking the title after he outlasted Marcelo Aziz in a fantastic heads up battle with the Brazilian. Yinan also made sure to show his pride for his country as he yelled “Let’s go China!” in celebration a few times after winning big pots. He also made sure to mention it in the post-win interviews.
| Place | Player | Prize | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yinan Zhou | $6,000,000 | China |
| 2 | Marcelo Aziz | $4,600,000 | Brazil |
| 3 | Mustapha Kanit | $3,600,000 | Italy |
| 4 | Liv Boeree | $2,800,000 | United Kingdom |
| 5 | Christopher Nguyen | $2,100,000 | Austria |
| 6 | Michael Addamo | $1,650,000 | Australia |
| 7 | Justin Bonomo | $1,300,000 | United States |
| 8 | Vadzim Lipauka | $1,000,000 | Belarus |
| 9 | Georg Lehmann | $750,000 | Germany |
Liv Boeree’s Triumphant Return to Poker
Perhaps the most prominent story that emerged from the WSOP Paradise Super Main Event was the phenomenal return of Liv Boeree. The former British poker star was one of the most famous players in the world during her heyday and is one of the most successful women poker players of all-time. She has since moved on to other endeavors in recent years and rarely plays poker now
She made the decision to play this event in The Bahamas, which turned out to be an incredible decision as she finished in 4th place for a huge $2.8 million score, the largest cash in poker history for a woman. She also moved into 3rd place on the women’s all time money list.
Her run got a lot of attention from people outside of poker who know Boeree through her new pursuits. Elon Musk, notably, commented on her run on X, to shine a light on poker to a massive mainstream audience.
Justin Bonomo Controversy
While we like to keep most of the focus on poker here, there was certainly a big storyline that emerged that cannot be ignored. Justin Bonomo, the second-winningest player in poker history, also made a deep run to the final table. However, his run was overshadowed by rumblings off the felt.
Throughout the tournament, Bonomo wore a Palestinian keffiyeh in solidarity with victims of war in Gaza. It gained some attention throughout but was really thrust into the spotlight when the WSOP informed Bonomo that he could no longer wear it while at the streamed feature tables with two tables remaining.
Bonomo of course did not appreciate this ruling and took to X to bring attention to it, as he noted the fact that the WSOP had hosted a charity tournament for IDF widows earlier in the series.
There were widespread opinions and debates on the WSOP rulings. The majority of people on social media agreed that Bonomo should have been allowed to wear it, even those who may not have agreed with his stance. Regardless of your personal opinion, it stole the headlines for much of the end part of the tournament.
Bonomo would end up going out in 7th place for yet another big score to add to his illustrious career.