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Khoi Le Nguyen Wins $2.6m After High Roller Heroics
The Vietnamese player Khoi Le Nguyen won his first-ever WSOP gold bracelet in the $50,000-entry High Roller event at the World Series of Poker, earning $2.68 million in the process. Beating French player Alexandre Reard heads-up, the Vietnamese player also outlasted players such as Sergio Aido, Martin Zamani and Sam Soverel at a top-quality final table.
The $50,000-entry No Limit Hold’em High Roller Event #88 at the 56th annual WSOP welcomed a record-breaking field of 252 entries over the course of three days play. After 28 hours of action at the felt, the Vietnamese player Khoi Le Nguyen reigned supreme, winning $2.68 as the biggest top prize of his poker career, beating French pro Alexandre Reard heads-up for the title.
$50,000 NLHE High Roller Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Khoi Le Nguyen | Vietnam | $2,686,913 |
| 2nd | Alexandre Reard | France | $1,791,267 |
| 3rd | Sergio Aido | Spain | $1,242,660 |
| 4th | Jun Obara | Japan | $879,939 |
| 5th | Vinny Lingham | United States | $636,279 |
| 6th | Fahredin Mustafov | Bulgaria | $470,036 |
| 7th | Martin Zamani | United States | $354,901 |
| 8th | Matthew Wantman | United States | $274,023 |
| 9th | Sam Soverel | United States | $216,467 |
Soverel Among Early Exits
At the final table, Sam Soverel busted first in ninth place for $216,467. All-in pre-flop with pocket jacks, the popular American pro had terrible timing, running into Bulgarian player Fahredin Mustafov’s pocket queens. A board of K-7-6-K-T saw the at-risk PokerGO favorite crash out, as Mustafov climbed the ranks from a low starting position at the nine-handed final table.
Soon, eight became seven. All-in with ace-jack, Matthew Wantman fell to the same opponent as Mustafov’s pocket sixes held with ease through the T-7-3-3-Q board. Wantman’s result was worth $274,023 and soon the American had more company on the rail. Martin Zamani had led the final nine but crashed out in seventh for $354,901 when he ran king-queen into Vinny Lingham’s ace-queen.
Mustafov’s rollercoaster ride in the event came to an end in sixth place for a score of $470,036. The Bulgarian called off his stack incorrectly with ace-ten after the eventual winner Nguyen shoved pre-flop with ace-queen. A safe board of A-9-5-4-4 played out for the Vietnamese, who took second in chips as the field was reduced to five.
The chip leader at that stage was Alexandre Reard, the Frenchman having a huge pile of 31.6 million chips. That lead grew when his king-eight got there across the board of Q-J-8-J-5 as Vinny Lingham’s run ended in fifth place for $636,279 and Reard increased his control over the table.
Nguyen was the only player able to hold onto the chip leader’s coattails. After Nguyen shoved with king-ten four-handed, Jun Obara called with ace-seven. The Japanese player was correct to do so but couldn’t hold as a board of T-9-4-8-Q gave Nguyen a pair and sent Japan’s last representative to the rail to collect $879,939.
Three-handed play last a little time, during which Sergio Aido doubled up. The Spaniard couldn’t repeat the trick when he called off his stack with king-deuce, falling to Nguyen’s ace-nine as a cruel board of Q-Q-T-7-K paired Aido up on the river only to complete Nguyen’s nut flush with the same card. Aido went home with the first seven-figure score of the event as he banked $1,242,660.
Heads-up, Nguyen had grabbed a lead that gave him twice as many chips as Reard. The Frenchman took a marginal lead but on a board showing 9-4-3-2, Reard’s shove with five-four was called by Nguyen with four-three and a brick on the river gave Nguyen a 43 to 1 chip lead. Soon after, Nguyen’s queen-three beat Reard’s eight five as the high card played and Vietnam’s finest had the $2,686,913 top prize, with Alexandre Reard claiming $1,791,267 as runner-up.
The Champion Reacts
After an incredibly dominant late rally, the newly crowned bracelet winner Nguyen was on cloud nine.
“I feel amazing, obviously. I didn’t even plan to play this event,” said Nguyen after the event. “I won a tournament last week, coming back from half a big blind, so I had some money, but still not enough bankroll to play this event. I had a look at the numbers on the Vietnamese Hendon Mob chart, and I estimated that if this event had enough registration and I happen to win it, then I might be Vietnamese number one, so I thought, let’s just do it, whatever.”
That dream became a reality, with Nguyen now top of the pile in his home country. Nguyen realized in the aftermath that he now has some fessing up to do.
“My parents don’t even know I play poker,” he smiled. “I don’t think I can hide from that now; maybe they’ll get the news, and we will see how they react. I have been very lucky to run deep in mid-stakes events [this year]. I think I am a bit better than the average player pool, but I know I make a lot of mistakes, horrendous mistakes, but luck helps me out a bit.”
Asked what it felt like to win the $50,000 High Roller event, Nguyen admitted it sounded ‘crazy’.
“To compete with the best people and win, there is still some uncertainty. Even though I won, I feel like there is a lot of luck in my win rather than skill. Compared to the world class players, I am still far behind, but it's crazy to win my first $50,000 event and my first bracelet.”
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