Event #2: $25,000 High Roller Six Handed No-Limit Hold’em

In a tournament filled with some of the biggest stars in poker, it was a player who is quickly establishing a reputation as one of them who came out on top.

Alexandre Vuilleumier of Switzerland, who dedicated himself to tournaments just over a year ago, conquered a field of 207 of the toughest opponents in the game to win Event #2: $25,000 High Roller 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em, his first World Series of Poker bracelet, and $1,215,864 top prize.

"Obviously, the World Series is just fantastic," the newly-crowned champion said after defeating Chance Kornuth heads-up. "To win a bracelet is just the epitome of a poker career for sure."

Vuilleumier came into the WSOP on a bit of a hot streak. He was third at EPT London in November, which had been his best score before today. He won a $10,150 six-handed event in the Bahamas in February. And now he was the last man standing in one of the most talent-packed tournaments on the poker calendar. The last seven months have been a time when Vuilleumier established himself as one of the top players in the game.

"I wouldn't be as arrogant to say that, but for me, it is the year of my career for sure. I'm really happy with everything that's happened," he said. "I'm not one of the top players. Like in chess, you have to be here for years. I'm certainly growing and I'm excited to be part of these tournaments. I started playing tournaments in January 2022, so I certainly wouldn't make any bold assessments."

Chess is another game that Vuilleumier knows all too well. He's an International Master and has been rated as high as 2,400. His background in chess, with results dating back more than two decades, helped prepare him for the grueling nature of being a professional poker player.

"There are a lot of similarities. One of the best tricks that you learn in chess is to be able to concentrate for long periods. So after nine hours of concentration, I think I am still at 90 percent of my capabilities while everyone else is maybe at 60 percent, so that is certainly great," he said.

"And also backward analysis. We are able to think in the air, like abstractly in chess, and reconstruct the game. And in poker, it is important to jump from, okay, what did he do preflop and on the turn, and what does it mean? That mental gymnastics are certainly very akin to what is happening in chess."

Final Table results

Day 3 Action

Day 3 began at 1:30 p.m. local time with nine players chasing the prestigious WSOP gold bracelet. Jake Schindler and Elior Sion fell within the first few minutes of the day, bringing the field down to the unofficial final table of seven.

Vuilleumier was second in chips with 5,200,000, trailing only Frenchman Axel Hallay's 10,035,000. Sean Winter, one of the best players without a bracelet, put himself in a position to shed that distinction when he flopped quad nines to earn a massive double up off Chris Moore and knock Moore down to less than 1,000,000. A few hands later, Moore picked up jacks and was all in for 475,000 against Winter's ace-eight, but Winter spiked an ace on the river to set the official final table that gathered on the main feature table inside the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

Ren Lin doubled up set over set against Joey Weissman on the second hand of the final table. Vuilleumier then called Weissman's short-stack shove with jack-three and cracked kings after flopping trip threes, making the 2012 bracelet winner the first casualty of the final table.

Vuilleumier then began to take control of the tournament following a pivotal hand against Winter. Vuilleumier rivered two pair with king-queen and led out for 1,790,000. Winter then jammed his pair of queens and Vuilleumier called for 5,350,000 to take a massive chip lead with more than 16,000,000.

Winter was left with one big blind but doubled up repeatedly as the gregarious and joyful Lin finally succumbed in fifth place when Kornuth made quads with pocket kings. Hallay, who began the day as an overwhelming chip leader, was eliminated in fourth place after losing a race with sevens to Winter's king-ten, then calling off his last 855,000 with queen-three against Winter's dominating king-queen.

Now three-handed between the three-time bracelet winner Kornuth against Vuilleumier and Winter, two players still hoping to capture their first, Kornuth narrowed the gap a little when he avoided Vuilleumier's straight draw to double up to 9,630,000. Winter's hopes for a miraculous "chip and a chair" story were finally dashed when he and Vuilleumier both flopped top pair, Vuilleumier rivered two pair, and Winter called off his last 3,250,000.

Vuilleumier led 19,800,000 to Kornuth's 11,300,000 at the start of heads-up play, which was controlled by the Swiss pro. Kornuth was down to just 3,050,000 when he jammed king-three, Vuilleumier called with ace-queen, and the board gave Vuilleumier a straight on the turn to deny Kornuth his fourth bracelet and secure Vuilleumier the title.

Vuilleumier is proving himself to be a six-max savant, and it all goes back to his time grinding cash games. "I come from cash games, so we like to play post-flop and obviously in six-max there is more post-flop," he said.

He's now conquered one of the toughest six-max fields of the year. If he was overshadowed by some of the legendary names at the start of the tournament, he won't be overlooked anymore.

That concludes PokerNews' coverage of Event #2: $25,000 High Roller 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em. Stay tuned for more action throughout the 2023 WSOP.

Alexandre Vuilleumier limped in with    as Chance Kornuth looked down at    and decided to raise to 850,000.

Vuilleumier called as they saw a     flop. Kornuth, left with six-high, slowed down and checked, then quickly folded to a bet of 650,000.

Kornuth has now dropped down to just over 10 big blinds as Vuilleumier now has a nearly 10-1 chip lead.

Alexandre Vuilleumier	28,250,000	1,600,000
Chance Kornuth	2,800,000	-1,600,000

Both players have been swapping chips, with neither making a dent in each other's stack. Alexandre Vuilleumier has just under a two-to-one chip lead, but play is still deep.

Alexandre Vuilleumier	19,625,000	-175,000
Chance Kornuth	11,425,000	125,000

Chance Kornuth opened to 850,000 from the small blind with    and Sean Winter defended his big blind with   .

Kornuth bet 600,000 on the     flop, and Winter called. Kornuth then improved to top pair on the   turn and fired a second barrel of 1,450,000 which folded out Winter.

Alexandre Vuilleumier	13,825,000	-2,100,000
Chance Kornuth	12,175,000	3,145,000
Sean Winter	5,050,000	-1,055,000

Alexandre Vuilleumier limped in with    before Chance Kornuth raised to 660,000 holding   . Vuilleumier called to see the     flop.

He checked over to Kornuth, who continued for 200,000. Vuilleumier called as the   fell on the turn.

Vuilleumier now led out for 500,000 and Kornuth raised to 1,600,000 with his pair of aces. Vuilleumier then moved all in with a straight draw and Kornuth leaned back in his chair and waited for a count before calling off his last 2,260,000.

The river brought the   and Vuilleumier missed his draw as Kornuth doubled up.

Alexandre Vuilleumier	13,800,000	-4,390,000
Chance Kornuth	9,630,000	2,715,000

Sean Winter raised to 975,000 from the cutoff, leaving 1,130,000 behind. Axel Hally then jammed for 3,355,000 from the button. Action folded back to Winter who called for his tournament life.

Sean Winter:   
Axel Hallay:   

Winter was at risk once more, but he found another way to survive again as he paired up on the       runout. Winter now has a stack of 4,700,000, which is quite the spin up from the 300,000 he had just moments ago.

Alexandre Vuilleumier	18,190,000	1,400,000
Chance Kornuth	6,915,000	-1,300,000
Sean Winter	4,700,000	2,600,000
Axel Hallay	1,260,000	-2,695,000

Sean Winter limped in, leaving himself just 100,000 behind, then called all in when Axel Hallay on the button raised to 300,000.

Sean Winter:   
Axel Hallay:   

The     flop was a disaster for Winter as Hallay made top pair. Winter was already tapping the felt and getting up from his seat as the   on the turn gave him a small glimmer of hope to avoid elimination.

The   fell on the river and Winter made his miracle runner-runner straight to stay alive.

The next hand, Winter raised to 700,000 from under the gun, then called off his last 400,000 when Chance Kornuth reraised.

Sean Winter:   
Chance Kornuth:   

Winter was ahead this time and took an almost insurmountable lead in the hand as the     flop gave him top set. The   fell on the turn and Kornuth now picked up a straight draw.

"It was nice playing with you. Lady Gaga," Kornuth said as Winter walked over to shake his hand.

"I forgot you could win," Winter said in disbelief.

The river, though, came the   and Winter doubled up yet again.

Chance Kornuth	5,310,000	-1,595,000
Axel Hallay	4,355,000	-300,000
Sean Winter	2,600,000	2,300,000

Chance Kornuth limped in with    and Ren Lin checked with   .

"Seven-three miss everything," Lin said as the flop came    .

"Can you beat seven-three," Kornuth asked after checking over to Lin.

"You have seven-high, right? I think I have the best hand right now," Lin replied as he bet 160,000. Kornuth called with king-high to see the   turn.

Both players laughed at the sight of the seven and Kornuth checked again. Lin fired out another 375,000 and Kornuth called yet again.

The river came the   and Lin put in a third stab at the pot, this time for 950,000. Kornuth went through several time banks before he grabbed a stack of chips and slammed them in the middle.

"You really called me with king-high? I know you have king-high," Lin said as he ran over to Kornuth and began patting him on the back after the incredible hero-call.

Chance Kornuth	6,810,000	1,810,000
Ren Lin	2,510,000	-1,805,000

Sean Winter opened to 320,000 from the cutoff with    and was called Alexandre Vuilleumier from the small blind who had   . Chance Kornuth also called from the big blind with   .

Vuilleumier had the nut straight following the the     flop and action checked to Winter, who bet 680,000. Vuilleumier raised to 1,700,000 and both players quickly folded.

Sean Winter	8,595,000	-1,000,000
Alexandre Vuilleumier	7,595,000	1,160,000
Axel Hallay	5,555,000	-80,000
Chance Kornuth	5,000,000	-830,000
Ren Lin	4,315,000	750,000