Event #16: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship

Event #16: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship, began with 114 players. After 113 matches, only one emerged with an undefeated record. 32-year-old Justin Bonomo outlasted the field, going 7-0 to capture his second World Series of Poker gold bracelet and the first-place prize of $185,965. Already on a record-setting pace for tournament winnings in a calendar year, Bonomo's live winnings in 2018 now stand at an incredible $14.5 million and it is only a week into June and the 2018 World Series of Poker.

"I think I'm dreaming," said Bonomo. "I think that this is not real life and I think that's the secret. Just win in your dreams because there you can actually win every tournament."

Dreams or not, the reality is that Bonomo keeps on winning and the end isn't in sight.

Let's recap his road to victory, shall we?

With an odd bracket number of entries, the majority of the field was given half of their buy-in back and essentially played a $5,000 satellite in a "play-in" round. Bonomo drew fellow High Roller David Peters and told us after Day 2 that having to face against such a tough opponent, one that he is very familiar with, helped him to focus immediately. Bonomo scored the victory to earn a spot in the official bracket of 64 players where he faced off against David Laka. Bonomo flopped a pair with a flush draw, turned the flush, and Laka went all in after the river with just top pair. Bonomo called and won the match, earning a spot in the Round of 32.

There he faced fellow High Roller Jake Schindler. A long match wasn't in the cards, though, as Bonomo decimated Schindler's stack on the first hand. Bonomo flopped a set, rivered a full house, and had his hefty river bet paid off before closing it out two hands later to lock up a seat in the Round of 16 the following day.

Fellow bracelet winner Niall Farrell awaited him there, with the winner being guaranteed a min-cash. Despite it being early in the match with fairly even stacks, Farrell four-bet shoved for about 96 big blinds holding pocket threes and ran into Bonomo's pocket kings. No help came for Farrell, and Bonomo was the first to make the Round of 8. Mark McGovern was his opponent there and Bonomo held control for the majority of the match. With more than a 7:1 lead, Bonomo slightly trailed when the chips went in with ten-seven against McGovern's ace-six suited. McGovern flopped a flush draw to go along with his better hand, but Bonomo spiked a four-out turn to pull ahead. He maintained his lead through the river, and Bonomo was off to the semifinals the next day.

Martijn Gerrits and Bonomo played a fantastic match in the semifinals — one that lasted 93 hands. It was a back-and-forth battle for a while until Gerrits scored a significant double to take a sizable lead. It expanded to as much as about 8:1 in Gerrits' favor, but Bonomo scored a series of double-ups to retake the lead and closed it out shortly thereafter. Now he had to wait for the other semifinals match to play out, and it only took 18 hands for Jason McConnon to defeat Juan Pardo Dominguez to set the championship match.

McConnon held the lead after six hands, but after Bonomo seized it on Hand #7 he never relinquished it. He steadily chipped McConnon down until the chips went in on Hand #59. Down more than 7:1, McConnon committed his remaining chips with queen-nine and Bonomo looked him up with pocket fours. The pocket pair held and Bonomo won his second WSOP bracelet.

"In the final match, I simply caught much hotter cards than I did in the semifinal match. I didn't know who my opponent was before the start of the championship, but I looked him up online and he plays high stakes cash online. He's just the type of guy that knows all the spots inside and out. Definitely not someone that you want to face in a heads-up tournament."

Asked how it felt compared to his first bracelet, Bonomo gave an honest response.

"The first bracelet definitely felt a lot more special. I had four second-place finishes at that time without a first-place finish. Now, I don't really have to feel like I have to get any monkey off my back anymore or kill any kind of curse. The significance of this one just means that my insane winning streak isn't over. I just hope it continues."

There are no signs of Bonomo cooling off yet, and that's a scary thought for the rest of the poker community.

That wraps up our coverage of the $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em event. Keep your browser locked to PokerNews.com through the duration of the World Series of Poker!

Hand #53: Jason McConnon folded and Justin Bonomo received a walk.

Hand #54: Bonomo raised to 120,000 and McConnon folded.

Hand #55: McConnon moved all in for 721,000 and Bonomo folded.

Hand #56: Bonomo limped in and McConnon checked. The flop came     and McConnon check-called a bet worth 60,000. After the   turn both players checked to the   river. No betting action took place and McConnon tabled the    for top pair to win the pot.

Hand #57: A walk for Bonomo.

Hand #58: Justin Bonomo limped the button and Jason McConnon checked his option in the big blind.

The flop came down     and McConnon check-folded to Bonomo's bet of 60,000.

Justin Bonomo	5,619,000	0
Jason McConnon	781,000	0

Hand #43: Jason McConnon raised to 80,000 from the button and Justin Bonomo called from the big blind.

They checked down a board of       board where Bonomo showed    and McConnon tabled    and they chopped it up.

Hand #44: Bonomo opened to 85,000 from the button and McConnon called from the big blind.

They checked to the river of a       board where Bonomo bet 175,000. McConnon check-called.

Bonomo showed    for the board, but McConnon tabled    for a queen-high straight to win the pot.

Hand #45: McConnon opened to 85,000 from the button, Bonomo three-bet to 280,000 from the big blind and McConnon called.

The flop came down    , Bonomo continued for 180,000 and McConnon called. The turn was the  , Bonomo bet 550,000 and McConnon called. The   river completed the board, Bonomo bet effectively 1,136,000, and McConnon quickly folded.

Justin Bonomo	5,264,000	750,000
Jason McConnon	1,136,000	-750,000

Hand #37: Jason McConnon raised to 65,000 and Justin Bonomo folded.

Hand #38: Bonomo raised to 70,000 and McConnon three-bet to 250,000, which prompted a fold from Bonomo.

Hand #38: McConnon made it 65,000 to go and Bonomo three-bet to 260,000. That ended the hand right there, as McConnon quickly folded.

Hand #39: A walk for McConnon.

Hand #40: McConnon raised to 65,000 and Bonomo called. The flop came     and both players checked. On the   turn, Bonomo checked and McConnon made it 80,000 to claim the pot right there.

Hand #41: Another walk for McConnon.

Justin Bonomo	4,514,000	-130,000
Jason McConnon	1,886,000	130,000

Hand #27: Jason McConnon folded and Justin Bonomo received a walk.

Hand #28: Bonomo raised to 65,000 and McConnon folded.

Hand #29: McConnon raised to 70,000 and Bonomo called. The flop fell     and both players checked. After the   turn, both players checked once more and the   river paired the board. Bonomo made it 210,000 to go and McConnon folded.

Hand #30: Bonomo made it 70,000 to go and McConnon came along to see the     flop. The action went check, check, and the   on the turn resulted in a check by McConnon, Bonomo checked behind. The   on the river, McConnon checked and Bonomo bet 110,000 to claim the pot uncontested.

Hand #31: Bonomo received a walk.

Justin Bonomo	4,179,000	200,000
Jason McConnon	2,221,000	-200,000

Hand #23: Jason McConnon raised to 60,000 from the button and Justin Bonomo called from the big blind.

They checked to the turn of a      board where Bonomo bet 40,000. McConnon called, the   river completed the board and Bonomo bet 150,000. McConnon called after a few moments.

Bonomo tabled    for kings and sixes and McConnon mucked.

Hand #24: Bonomo opened to 52,000 from the button and McConnon defended his big blind.

They checked to the turn of      board where McConnon check-folded to a bet of 30,000 from Bonomo.

Hand #25: McConnon raised to 50,000 from the button and Bonomo released his hand.

Hand #26: McConnon received a walk.

Justin Bonomo	3,979,000	266,000
Jason McConnon	2,421,000	-266,000

Hand #13: Jason McConnon raised to 60,000 from the button and Justin Bonomo called from the big blind.

The flop came down    , and Bonomo check-folded to a bet of 80,000 from McConnon.

Hand #14: Bonomo raised to 55,000 from the button and McConnon defended his big blind.

They checked to the turn of a      board where McConnon bet 75,000. Bonomo called, the   river completed the board, and McConnon bet 175,000. Bonomo quickly called.

McConnon held just   , while Bonomo tabled    for a pair of jacks to win the pot.

Hand #15: McConnon raised to 60,000 from the button and Bonomo defended his big blind.

They checked to the turn of a      board where Bonomo bet 40,000. McConnon called to see the   river where Bonomo bet 65,000. McConnon called after a few moments.

Bonomo tabled    for a pair of eights, McConnon mucked, and Bonomo won the pot.

Hand #16: McConnon received a walk.

Hand #17: McConnon raised to 60,000 from the button and Bonomo called from the big blind.

The flop came     and Bonomo check-folded to a bet of 40,000 from McConnon.

Justin Bonomo	3,769,000	338,000
Jason McConnon	2,631,000	-338,000

Hand #8: Justin Bonomo folded and Jason McConnon received a walk.

Hand #9: McConnon raised to 50,000 and Bonomo folded.

Hand #10: Bonomo raised to 47,000 and McConnon called, the flop came     and both players checked. On the   turn, the action went check, check, and the   fell on the river. McConnon bet 32,000 and Bonomo called, then mucked when the Brit showed the   .

Hand #11: McConnon raised to 50,000 and Bonomo folded.

Hand #12: Bonomo raised to 47,000 and McConnon folded

Justin Bonomo	3,431,000	-109,000
Jason McConnon	2,969,000	109,000

Hand #1: Jason McConnon raised to 50,000 and Justin Bonomo folded.

Hand #2: A walk for McConnon.

Hand #3: McConnon raised it up to 50,000 and Bonomo three-bet to 210,000, McConnon folded.

Hand #4: Bonomo raised to 48,000 and McConnon came along to see a flop of    , which both players checked. After the   turn, the action went check, check, and the   appeared on the river. McConnon checked and Bonomo made it 40,000 to go. McConnon check-raised to 220,000 and Bonomo folded.

Hand #5: A raise to 50,000 by McConnon shut down all further action.

Jason McConnon	3,288,000	88,000
Justin Bonomo	3,112,000	-88,000