Event #92: $1,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em

The Main Event may be over, and the 2023 World Series of Poker is winding down, but as the final card fell in Daniel Weinman's Main Event victory, there were still a few bracelets left to be won. Tonight, Kang Hyun Lee took home the most coveted prize in all of poker and the $236,741 first-place prize money in Event #92: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout.

Claiming his first gold bracelet was no easy feat, as there was some serious competition at the final table that he had to make his way through. Vanessa Kade, Kane Kalas, Eric Mizrachi, and Asher Conniff all tried to stand in his way, but in the end, Lee stood alone atop the 1,710 entry field to take home one of the last bracelets that will be won this summer.

Final Table Payouts

Final Day Action

The final day started with 126 players returning and scheduled to play down to a winner before night's end. As the day wore on, some big names who came into the day with chips but fell short of their ultimate goal included Angela Jordison (118th - $2,134), Phil Laak (117th - $2,134), Giuseppe Pantaleo (91st - $2,522), Jason DeWitt (49th - $4,816), Mustapha Kanit (45th - $4,817), Cole Ferraro (21st - $9,259) and Day 1 chip leader Ian Steinman (11th - $15,778), who fell just short of his second final table of the series while notching his 15th cash of the summer.

The unofficial final table of ten was cut to nine when Quoc Le got his chips in dominated and found no improvement on the flop, turn or river. Next to fall was Eider Cruz when he got his tens in versus the kings of Ivan Millian and couldn't find any help.

As the action started to pick up at the final table, Kade fell when she ran into the aces of Millian. Just an orbit or so later, Ricardo Nakamura busted when he committed his short stack only to get called and finish second best.

Conniff hit the rail next when he three-bet jammed his short stack with a pair but got called down by a better pair. Five-handed play became a marathon, lasting three hours, but Kalas finally fell in fifth when his dominating hand fell to Millian who hit a flush on the river.

After the five-handed play ended, four-handed play only lasted about 30 minutes before Abdul Almagableh crashed out after he couldn't win a flip.

Millian fell in third place soon after when hegot short and called an all in bet blind versus the eventual champion and actually woke up with a premium holding, but he couldn't hold to double up and extend his run any further.

Heads up play started with only about 40 blinds between Mizrachi and Lee, and with Mizrachi holding less than 10 of them, the all-ins happened quickly. After a few hands that didn't see a flop, Mizrachi was committed to the pot in the big blind and called off with a dominated hand, and when the board produced no improvement, Lee was crowned champion.

Winner's Reaction

Lee is a very gracious champion, and after shipping the bracelet, he said, "It feels amazing! Just being a poker enthusiast my whole life, to finally get the most coveted award in the game, it just feels surreal."

Lee is from Edmonton, Canada, which he says is largely a pot-limit Omaha community with a lot of tournaments in the Western area where there is a huge love for the game, so to say he's done his local community proud is an understatement.

When asked what the boost in his bankroll means to his future plans, he said, "Yeah, I think I'm going to play a lot more events and probably head out to the WSOP Paradise that they just introduced this year."

He said that his immediate plans were to head for a couple of drinks to celebrate and then close off the summer by getting some rest and hopping into the final bracelet event of that summer tomorrow morning.

That brings coverage of this event to a close but stay tuned to PokerNews for the exciting conclusion of the rest of all remaining tournaments at the 2023 World Series of Poker!

In the first hand, Kang Hyun Lee shoved in the small blind and picked up the blinds and antes from Eric Mizrachi who folded.

The following hand, Lee shoved on the button, and Mizrachi and Ivan Millian folded.

Kang Hyun Lee	19,500,000	1,000,000
Eric Mizrachi	9,200,000	-1,200,000
Ivan Millian	4,600,000	-200,000

Kang Hyun Lee shoved in the small blind, putting Eric Mizrachi at risk for his last 3,000,000. The latter went deep into the tank and ended up sending his last chips in the middle.

Eric Mizrachi:   
Kang Hyun Lee:   

Mizrahi's hand was dominated, but he managed to find a board       to give him a straight on the turn and the welcomed double up.

Kang Hyun Lee	18,500,000	-5,500,000
Eric Mizrachi	7,500,000	3,700,000

Eric Mizrachi opened on the button to 1,400,000 and Ivan Millian folded but Kang Hyun Lee ended up calling.

The flop revealed     and Lee check-called a continuation bet from Mizrachi worth 1,500,000. The duo quickly checked when the   paired the board on the turn.

The   showed up on the river and Lee tanked before shoving, putting Mizrachi at risk for his last 2,200,000. The latter went deep into the tank, and jokingly asked "How are you feeling? Are you feeling ok?" to Lee.

After another minute of thinking, Mizrachi let it go.

Kang Hyun Lee	18,300,000	4,500,000
Ivan Millian	12,600,000	-2,000,000
Eric Mizrachi	2,200,000	-4,300,000

Eric Mizrachi limped the small blind and Ivan Millian checked his option in the big blind to see the     flop.

Mizrachi opted to lead out for 600,000. Millian paused briefly before tossing out a raise to 1,500,000.

Mizrachi didn't waste much time in folding as Millian Adds to his chip lead.

Ivan Millian	14,600,000	800,000
Eric Mizrachi	6,500,000	-700,000

Eric Mizrachi moved all in from under the gun for 3,150,000 and was called by Millian on the button.

Eric Mizrachi:   
Ivan Millian:   

A flip for Mizrachi's tournament life, and he suffered a blow on the flop of     as Millian paired his king. But the   on the turn was the jackpot card for Mizrachi as the set gave him a double up after the   completed the board.

Ivan Millian	13,500,000	-1,600,000
Eric Mizrachi	7,550,000	4,350,000
Kang Hyun Lee	7,100,000	100,000
Abdul Almagableh	4,600,000	1,400,000

Ivan Millian raised to 1,200,000 on the button and Kang Hyun Lee folded his big blind but Kane Kalas announced all in in the big blind for a stack around 3,500,000. Millian snap-called for the following showdown:

Kane Kalas:   
Ivan Millian:   

Kalas had the best hand and good hopes for a double up but the board brought       to give a flush to Millian and send Kalas out in 5th place for a $59,429 payday.

Ivan Millian	15,100,000	2,350,000
Kang Hyun Lee	7,050,000	-1,350,000
Kane Kalas	0	-4,075,000