Event #29: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em

A businessman and a Dutch poker professional went heads up for the title, and it was the pro who emerged victorious.

Jans Arends defeated Cary Katz on Day 3 to take down the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #29: $100,000 High Roller. Arends secured a $2,576,729 top prize and his second career gold bracelet. Katz, the President of PokerGO affectionately known as "El Jefe," collected $1,592,000 as the runner-up.

Arends' win is accentuated by the competition he faced among the final six players at the featured table, which began with four WSOP bracelet winners. Not only did he have to go through Katz, he overcame a star-studded cast with Adrian Mateos, Jeremy Ausmus, Chance Kornuth and Biao Ding.

And then there was the field, which boasted a pair of Poker Hall of Famers in Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu. Other notable participants included Justin Bonomo, Koray Aldemir, Espen Jorstad, Brian Rast and Seth Davies, among others.

2023 WSOP Event 29 Final Table Results

Arends, however, got hot when it mattered down the stretch.

A good starting hand matters in poker, of course, but Arends knew when to take down pots with aggression, showing a willingness to check-raise in spots. The style helped him build momentum.

"First of all, I enjoy the game a lot, especially when I'm running hot and this year has been absolutely crazy," Arends told PokerNews after winning the tournament. "I've never run this hot in my life."

He went on to ride a hot streak to his second career WSOP bracelet.

Event #29 saw 93 total entrants, which surpassed last year's entry pool of 62 participants, to generate a prize pool worth $8,997,750.

Winner's Reaction

Arends, who hails from the Netherlands, isn't new to winning a WSOP bracelet. He secured his first bracelet during an online event in 2022.

The second time around securing gold, though, provided a much different feeling.

"It's completely different live," Arends said. "Live is more pressure, there's people around, there's cameras, live-streamed final table. There's added pressure. The first one was just an online tourney and basically, all that people saw in the end was who won. So, this is very different. Way more special, I would say."

Wednesday's win also represented Arends' biggest cash, and he almost doubled his $2,900,000 career earnings before taking down this tournament.

But the financial gain isn't the sole reason why Arends chooses to compete with world-class poker players.

"I always enjoy the game," he said. "I love the challenge, I love to compete, I love to try to improve, so that's the first reason. Then, obviously, the money side of it is nice as well. I think if there was no money to be won, I probably wouldn't be playing as much, but those two things. I don't really care about this legacy stuff or a number of bracelets or total cashes or something like that. That's not what I'm doing it for."

Arends entered Day 3 as the chip leader, but then saw Mateos, who was to his immediate left, emerge to seize the chip lead with close to 28,000,000. Mateos gained momentum when he doubled up through Ausmus early on Day 3, much to Arends' dismay.

"I play against him a lot online and he's an absolute sicko," Arends said of Mateos with a chuckle. "When he doubled up, I was crying inside because I'm not going to lie – I was rooting for Jeremy Ausmus there. First of all, he was one seat over. Having Adrian to your direct left with a bunch of chips is just not a very fun thing."

The situation changed when Arends and Mateos got involved in a massive 19,025,000 pot minutes before the first break, and Arends' flopped full house beat Mateos' straight.

It was at that moment Arends, who once again assumed the chip lead, knew winning the tournament became a real possibility.

"After the hand against Adrian, I was like, 'OK, Adrian is short, Cary Katz has like 25, 30 bigs (blinds) and he's not going to want to play any hands,' this is a dream spot to finish it off," Arends said. "At that point, I really started to believe it."

The faith paid off in a handsome way for Arends, who plans to spend the rest of the summer in Las Vegas.

He's eying more bracelet-qualifying tournaments, including Event #35: $10,000 Secret Bounty and the Main Event. But first, he wants to quickly celebrate Wednesday's win.

"I could also use some rest, but I think what's next is I'll drink one or two beers," Arends said with a smile. "And then I'll go play the 10K."

This concludes coverage of Event #29 of the 2023 WSOP, but make sure to continue to follow PokerNews for live updates of your favorite events throughout the summer.

Jans Arends limped in on the button and Cary Katz announced all in for 7,450,000 from the big blind. Arends snap-called and the cards were tabled with all of the chips on the line.

Cary Katz:   
Jans Arends:   

The dealer fanned the flop of     to give both players a pair but Arends was out front with the aces. The   on the turn was a brick and the   on the river improved Arends to two pair. Katz was eliminated in second place and Arends was awarded his first live WSOP bracelet.

Jans Arends	55,800,000	10,300,000
Cary Katz	0	-10,300,000

There have been no post-flop interactions between the two players as of late but Jans Arends has been raking in the majority of the pots with some preflop aggression. Cary Katz has dwindled down to just seven big blinds and will need to get his chips in the middle very soon.

Jans Arends	52,400,000	2,750,000
Cary Katz	3,400,000	-2,750,000

Jans Arends raised to 1,200,000 in the small blind and Adrian Mateos shipped all in for 6,450,000 in the big blind. Arends quickly called and the cards were on their backs.

Adrian Mateos:   
Jans Arends:   

The flop came     to give Arends a set of nines and Mateos was left drawing slim. The   on the turn paired Mateos but it was not enough as he was left drawing dead to the   on the river.

Jans Arends	44,600,000	4,350,000
Cary Katz	11,200,000	-1,500,000
Adrian Mateos	0	-3,100,000

Adrian Mateos returned from the first break with 7,400,000 and he didn't hesitate to put it in play.

Mateos raised 1,000,000 on the button with   , and was called by Jans Arends, who was in the big blind with   .

The dealer placed     on the flop, giving Arends trip deuces and Mateos a flush draw. Arends checked, prompting Mateos to bet 650,000. Arends then check-raised to 1,500,000, which Mateos called.

The turn showed   and Arends bet 1,800,000, which Mateos called. The river   had Arends move all in, and Mateos mucked his busted flush-draw hand.

The hand cost Mateos more than half his stack.

Jans Arends	40,250,000	4,550,000
Adrian Mateos	3,100,000	-4,300,000

The remaining three players are on their first 15-minute break of Day 3.

Adrian Mateos raised to 800,000 on the button with    and was called by Cary Katz in the small blind with    and Jans Arends in the big blind with   .

The flop fell     and the action checked to Mateos who bet 700,000. Katz called and Arends raised to 2,200,000 with the best hand. Mateos got out of the way and Katz eventually followed suit as well.

Adrian Mateos	26,000,000	-1,500,000
Jans Arends	16,675,000	650,000
Cary Katz	12,925,000	-1,500,000

The action folded to Chance Kornuth on the button who ripped all in for 5,600,000. Cary Katz asked for a count from the big blind and then called to put Kornuth at risk.

Chance Kornuth:   
Cary Katz:   

The flop came     and Kornuth picked up some additional outs with a straight draw. However, the   on the turn took those extra outs away and the   on the river made a flush for Katz. Kornuth was eliminated in fourth place and the field quickly dwindled to just three players.

Cary Katz	14,925,000	4,825,000
Chance Kornuth	0	-6,600,000

Cary Katz raised 600,000 in early position and action folded to Jeremy Ausmus, who moved all in for his remaining chips. Katz had Ausmus covered and called.

Jeremy Ausmus:   
Cary Katz:   

The dealer fanned     on the flop, giving Ausmus the lead but leaving the door open for Katz's outs. The   on the turn gave Katz additional outs with a flush draw, but   on the river gave Ausmus the double up.

Cary Katz	10,100,000	-1,875,000
Jeremy Ausmus	1,500,000	1,075,000