The curtains have closed on Occasion #26: $25,000 Excessive Curler 8-Handed No-Restrict Maintain’em right here on the 2025 World Collection of Poker within the Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas, and also you’d be forgiven for not recognising the identify of this yr’s champion – Chang Lee.
Not solely had Lee by no means gained a WSOP bracelet earlier than, however he hadn’t even performed a WSOP occasion earlier than. Moreover, Lee has solely ever performed one event earlier than this in his life.
Occasion #26: $25,000 Excessive Curler Closing Desk Outcomes
1Chang LeeSouth Korea$1,949,044
2Andrew OstapchenkoUnited States$894,265
3Elijah BergUnited States$894,265
4Mathew FranklandUnited Kingdom$626,823
5Masato YokosawaJapan$447,613
6Joe McKeehenUnited States$325,757
7Orpen KisacikogluTurkey$241,701
8Byron KavermanUnited States$182,902
The high-stakes money sport participant has been battling in a number of the greatest money video games going, however this $25,000 Excessive Curler was focused. He needed to play on this particular occasion, and he was right here to win it.
Let’s get some context. The $25,000 Excessive Curler had a record-breaking area, bursting on the seams with a who’s who of poker elite. 392 entries producing a prize pool of $9,212,000, lasting 25 hour-long ranges throughout three days.
So, focused or not, you may’t simply examine some solvers, flip as much as a WSOP Excessive Curler and win, are you able to? Effectively, in accordance with Lee, that’s precisely what he did.
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Lee’s Path to Success
It’s truthful to say Lee didn’t have the smoothest of preparations coming into this occasion.
“I used to be fairly drained and [had a] sore head”, he instructed me, alluding to his jetlag. “4 days in the past, I got here to the USA to register for this WSOP sport. I needed to win this event, I actually studied the GTO”. “I used to be tremendous drained as a result of it’s 15 hours from South Korea, [and] I wanted to vary in L.A”.
“The primary day of this event, I obtained tremendous coolered thrice – high set aces two occasions, lose to runner runner straight”, finally resulting in him being eradicated. He determined to rebuy, although, selecting to take action on the very finish of Day 1, which gave him a contemporary stack to return to Day 2.
He quickly discovered his rhythm. Climbing the leaderboard on Day 2 and ending the day eleventh within the chip counts. Lee’s aggressive type was beginning to bear fruit.
Lee continued to play aggressively all through Day 3, and when discussing this, he suggested that this was his technique. “I had a variety of chips and the opposite gamers had been so tight, they didn’t open as a lot, so I assumed if I guess huge bets to them, they might fold”.
He didn’t hesitate to drag the set off when bluffing both. Granted, he was caught a few occasions, however when he obtained one by means of in opposition to Mathew Frankland deep into Day 3, he didn’t hesitate to point out it.
In fact, to win any poker event, you want your fair proportion of fine luck, and Lee was no completely different. With simply 16 gamers remaining, he was all in and in danger with pocket queens versus an opponent’s pocket kings. If Lee hadn’t discovered the working straight, he would have been eradicated in sixteenth place.
Lee by no means appeared again from right here, remaining among the many chip leaders as others fell round him, advising that he was “affected person to play [good] poker so as to get the bracelet”.
Closing Desk Motion
Chin Wei Lim was the ultimate desk’s first casualty, falling by the hands of Byron Kaverman. Frankland then outflopped Kaverman to ship the American to the rail in eighth earlier than Orpen Kisacikoglu‘s three-bet all-in with ace-seven was referred to as by Andrew Ostapchenko holding the dominating ace-king.
Sixth place went to Joe McKeehen, whose king-queen could not get there in opposition to Lee’s suited ace-jack. A battle of the blinds resulted in Ostapchenko eliminating Masato Yokosawa in fifth, with Frankland bowing out in fourth for $626,823, a brand new career-best for the British star.
The event progressed to heads-up following Elijah Berg‘s exit at Ostapchenko’s palms. Lee defeated Ostapchenko heads-up after his king-four improved to 2 pair, with Ostapchenko turning high pair high kicker along with his ace-king.
Will We See Lee Once more within the 2025 WSOP?
To be determined. “Let me give it some thought. I have to verify the stream and see if my play was good or not, and I have to resolve which sport is extra worthwhile for me, money video games or tournaments.”
That concludes the PokerNews protection for this occasion, however keep tuned for our persevering with protection of the 2025 WSOP.
On this Collection
1 Who Received $64K and the First 2025 WSOP Bracelet?2 David Shmuel Wins First WSOP Bracelet in Omaha Hello-Lo for $205,333!3 Furth Wins Second WSOP Bracelet; Denies Kabrhel in $5,000 Pot-Restrict Omaha4 GTO Research Sees Antonio Galiana Win Second WSOP Bracelet in $5,000 No-Restrict Maintain’em5 Persistence Pays Off: Dan Heimiller Wins $1,500 Seven Card Stud for Third WSOP Bracelet6 Artur Martirosian Wins WSOP $25,000 Heads Up Championship ($500,000)7 Benny Glaser Provides to His Legacy With Bracelet No. 6 in Occasion #8: $1,500 Sellers Alternative8 Michael Wilklow: As soon as a Thriller, Now a Millionaire (and WSOP Bracelet Winner)9 Kenneth Kim Storms Again to Win His First WSOP Bracelet10 Father-Son WSOP Bracelet Duo Made as Yosef Fox Wins $10,000 Thriller Bounty11 5 Bracelets in 5 Years: Brad Ruben Wins the $1,500 No-Restrict 2-7 Lowball Draw ($138,080)12 Ryan Bambrick Denies Daniel Negreanu to Declare Second WSOP Bracelet13 Christopher Staats Denies David Jackson in WSOP $1,500 6-Handed NLH for $414,95014 Corey Thompson Practically Wins Two WSOP On-line Bracelets Proper Off the Bat15 Cristian Gutierrez Wins $600 PLO Deepstack For His First Bracelet and $193,78016 Lou Garza Mounts Memorable Heads-Up Comeback to Clinch Second WSOP Bracelet17 Benny Glaser Goes Again-to-Again (Once more) for seventh Bracelet in $1,500 Blended18 Zachary Zaret Overcomes Stacked Closing Desk to Win First Bracelet19 Michael Lavin Steamrolls the Competitors on Method to a Second WSOP Bracelet20 Ryan Hoenig Goes Wire-to-Wire to Win Occasion #18: $10,000 Sellers Alternative Championship21 Bohlman’s Breakthrough: Blended Recreation Vet Wins 2nd Bracelet in $2,000 NLH ($436,044)22 Blaz Zerjav Wins Maiden WSOP Bracelet in $25,000 6-Handed Excessive Curler23 Aloisio Dourado Claims Redemption with First WSOP Bracelet in Document-Breaking Badugi Occasion24 Blended Recreation Maestro Xixiang Luo Luggage $290,400 and Third WSOP Bracelet25 Nick Guagenti Crushes Chino Rheem’s Triple Crown Bid in $10K Stud Victory26 Newbie’s Luck? Certainly Not. Chang Lee Wins $25,000 Excessive Curler ($1,949,044)
