Event #64: $600 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack

It wasn't easy for Christopher Moen, but he managed to grind it out over the course of two days and was crowned a champion for his efforts at the 2024 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. To do so, Moen defeated Thomas Kuess in a quick heads-up battle on Day 2 to take down Event 64: $600 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack. In fact, the heads-up showdown only lasted ten hands before Moen emerged as the winner.

Moen won a $289,323 prize and, of course, a WSOP bracelet, the first of his poker career, while Kuess collected $192,809 for his runner-up finish.

Final Table Results

"That was impressive, wasn't it?" the Sioux Falls native joked with PokerNews after the fact, "I mean, I really hit that string of cards, and then I really took off," he said, referring to his late-night heater.

"And, of course, I had to get lucky. I wouldn't even be here if I hadn't spiked one with pocket tens against queens earlier in the day. It's just how it is."

With Moen, it wasn't only luck that was on his side; he was applying maximum pressure to his opponents to stay in the lead and worked it to great success. This combo of luck and skill is what it takes to be a champion, and that is exactly what happened here tonight as he took home his biggest score to date. Moen says he plays poker a lot but still has a full-time job back in South Dakota driving a charter bus and really only came out to Vegas to play a few events with his nephew, who was on his rail despite the fact he was being blinded out in another tournament.

"I had to take time off from work to be here, and I honestly haven't been able to play anything else since I've been here, but I cant really be too mad about that!" Moen laughed when asked what the rest of his WSOP schedule looked like, but also said he had no real plans for his winnings and it was still sinking in.

Action on the Day

After the frenzy of Day 1 of this event, Day 2 was no different. Players put all of their chips into the middle with zero regard for their safety. By the time the first break rolled around, more than half of the field was already lost in desperate attempts to double up or bust.

The action really only slowed down as they approached the final three tables, and even then, they were down to 27 in no time. That's when the surviving players bagged up and migrated over to the Horseshoe Event Center, aka 'The Thunderdome', to join the chaos comprising several coinciding final tables, all with their own massive rails. But before they knew it, they dwindled down to the final two tables, and then Francis Beauregard was eliminated in 11th by John Ricksen to send the surviving members to the final table, with Ricksen leading the charge.

Final Table

Once at the final table, however, it quickly became the Moen show as he and Ricksen chopped to bust out Vance Isono in ninth, followed by Guilherme De Castro in eighth as his ace-jack was no match for Moen's ace-king. Moen then continued to amass chips and next busted out Daniel Hirose in seventh when he caught a pair of eights on the turn with ace-eight against the ace-ten of Hirose.

Right after that is when things started to go downhill for Ricksen as he first doubled up August Smrek, who held aces against his king-jack and then he doubled up Cody Chung who held ace-king against his jack-ten. After these two rough hands, Ricksen was very short and in survival mode when he got very lucky. A huge hand unfolded between Cal Nailn and Moen when Nailn four-bet jammed with king-three suited and Moen called off with ace-ten offsuit for heaps of chips. Moen drilled a ten on the turn, and the river was a brick to eliminate Nailn in sixth place, earning Ricksen a big pay jump.

Ricksen then proceeded to get it all in on the very next hand against Moen with seven-nine suited, but Moen's ace-three triumphed and knocked him out in fifth place. Moen then continued the steamroll by knocking out Smrek, who held ace-jack, but Moen's queen-eight found a pair to send him out in fourth. Kuess then gained some momentum when he doubled through Moen by spiking a straight on the river, and that gave him enough chips to knock out Cody Chung in third when his queen-three bested his ace-eight by making a pair of eights.

Moen and Kuess then entered their heads-up battle, with Moen holding a little over a 2:1 chip advantage over Kuess, but it wasn't long til it was all over.

After checking through the flop in a raised pot, Kuess moved all in and was snap-called by Moen. Kuess flipped over nine-ten for a flopped pair of tens, but Moen had him drawing stone-dead as he had already made two pair with kings and tens. The river ace was just a formality, and the pot was shipped to Moen, declaring him a new owner of a WSOP gold bracelet and giving him a handsome payday of $289,323.

That concludes the coverage of Event # 64: $600 No-Limit Deeptack here at the 2024 World Series of Poker, but keep an eye on PokerNews for all of the updates!

Thomas Kuess raised from the small blind to 5,500,000, and Christopher Moen called from the big blind.

After seeing the     flop, the action went to Kuess, who raised to 5,000,000. Moen re-raised to 15,000,000, and Kuess responded with jam for their entire 41,050,000 stack.

Moen took some time but made the fold, and Kuess scooped the pot.

Christopher Moen	91,000,000	-10,000,000
Thomas Kuess	67,000,000	21,000,000

Cody Chung moved all in preflop and was called by Thomas Kuess to put him at risk of elimination.

Cody Chung:   
Thomas Kuess:   

Chung was ahead of Kuess with his ace-high, but the flop of     put Kuess in the lead with his pair of queens. The turn   gave Chung some extra outs with a flush draw, but the river   was a brick that sent him to the rail for a third-place finish.

Christopher Moen	101,000,000	-9,000,000
Thomas Kuess	46,000,000	17,000,000
Cody Chung	0	-16,200,000

After securing a $19,000 pay jump, short-stacked John Ricksen got the last of his chips into the middle preflop and was called by Christopher Moen to put him at risk.

John Ricksen:   
Christopher Moen:   

Ricksen needed some help to stay alive, but the runout of       did not do it and he was sent out in fifth place.

Christopher Moen	81,000,000	4,000,000
John Ricksen	0	-7,000,000

John Ricksen raised from the button to 3,500,000 and August Smrek moved all in from the small blind for 11,600,000. Ricksen took some time before making the call and the players flipped their cards.

August Smrek:   
John Ricksen:   

Smrek was sitting with pocket aces and looking to hold to stay in the tournement.

The     flop missed for both, but the   turn brought in a sweat for Smrek, as Ricksen was looking at an open-ended straight draw.

The flush came in on the   river, and Smrek sealed the double.

August Smrek	26,400,000	10,200,000
John Ricksen	21,000,000	-14,150,000

Guilherme De Castro made it 6,000,000 to go and then Christopher Moen moved all, which forced folds from the rest of the table. When it got back to De Castro he quickly called to put himself at risk and the cards were tabled.

Guilherme De Castro:   
Christopher Moen:   

De Castro would need to improve to stay alive against Moen, but the runout of       failed to do so and he was sent to the payout desk in eighth place.

Christopher Moen	38,000,000	16,700,000
Guilherme de Castro	0	-24,625,000

Kevin Madar moved all in from under the gun for around 5,500,000. Cal Nailn was the only caller from the hijack with around 15,500,000 behind.

Kevin Madar:   
Cal Nailn:   

The flop came low with the dealer placing the    , this continued on the   and   runout and Madar was eliminated in 10th place.

Cal Nailn	24,000,000	16,700,000
Kevin Madar	0	-4,300,000

Players take a short 15-minute break.