Event #16: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed

You can officially remove a name from the "Best Without a Bracelet" list.

On Thursday night, Isaac Haxton reigned victorious in Event #16: $25,000 High Roller to capture his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet along with a first-place prize of $1,698,215. Haxton outlasted a field of 301 entries including a heads-up match with Ryan O'Donnell to finish things off.

It was a record-breaking field for the buy-in level at the WSOP and Haxton said after his victory that he felt honored to come out on top. "I've finished second and third many times for my biggest cashes so it's nice to finally win. A three hundred-player field for a $25k, yeah I guess it's gotta be up there with one of my biggest accomplishments."

While the man has been forced to settle for many second and third-place finishes in the past, 2023 has been the complete opposite as Haxton has now recorded six victories this year already, amassing over $7,000,000 in that time frame. In years past, many have talked about the "Year of Fedor Holz" or the "Year of Justin Bonomo", but Haxton is on pace to maybe have one of the best years ever recorded in poker history.

With his good friend Bonomo on his rail and at his side during the post-match interview, Haxton was asked about his future goals and if he has any aspirations of chasing down the No. 1 live-tournament winner of all time.

"No, not really," he laughed. "I don't really look at that stuff. I just really like playing poker and making money at it."

The win brought Haxton's lifetime winnings up to $37,509,332 according to The Hendon Mob, good for 14th place on the all-time money list.

Final Table Payouts

Day 3 Action

There were 13 players who returned to the felt for the third and final day of this tournament. It took a classic flip to get things going when Taylor von Kriegenbergh went hunting with ace-king against Haxton's pair of queens. A clean board for Haxton left Von Kriegenbergh heading to the exit. At the same time on the other table, Kristen Foxen also watched her short stack dissipate from the big blind and the field was down to 11 players.

In the next level, it was Jorge Consiglieri and Aleksejs Ponakovs who bowed out in succession which formed the unofficial final table. Haxton entered the final nine with a healthy chip lead and mostly had the cruise control button on while the short stacks jostled for position. There were multiple doubles that occurred before the next elimination of Michael Jozoff.

Many small pots ensued over the next hour and Joao Vieira raked in very few, if any at all, along the way. A failed bluff attempt from Brian Rast also left him short and they would end up colliding in the blinds. It was Rast who came out on top with a straight and Vieira's tournament was over in eighth place.

After a 60-minute dinner break, the final table moved into the Thunderdome and things didn't get any better for Rast. The five-time bracelet winner got his last 11 big blinds in the middle from the small blind but ran into a better hand from Lewis Spencer in the big blind. Rast was unable to improve and Spencer put himself on the top of the leaderboard.

The final six players all held the chip lead at one point or another on the final day, including Frank Funaro who clearly had the largest and loudest of any rails. Unfortunately for the American poker pro, it wasn't enough to propel him to his first live WSOP bracelet as Funaro bowed out in fifth place when he ran into the pocket aces of Spencer.

Everything was going the Brit's way but things took a turn for the worse in the next couple of orbits. First, it was a preflop double-up for O'Donnell, followed by a cooler that saw Haxton turn two pair and take another big chunk from Spencer's stack. Down to just a few big blinds, he then ran into Elias' pocket tens and the field was dwindled to just three players.

It was a wild rollercoaster ride for the final three players with multiple all-ins taking place in a short period of time. Elias entered as the chip leader but Haxton quickly doubled up to take that away. However, Elias fought back and delivered another blow to his fellow American. The haymakers weren't finished as Haxton immediately doubled up on the following hand.

Elias was starting to climb out of the hole but O'Donnell eventually landed the final punch. Elias held a dominating hand but O'Donnell found a straight on the river to send Elias home in third place and enter a heads-up match with Haxton. The battle started with some limps and some cautious play but Haxton started to crank up the dial.

After Haxton rivered top pair in the largest pot of their heads-up match, he took a three-to-one chip lead and never looked back. Both players picked up an ace shortly after and all of the chips went in the middle with Haxton holding a dominating advantage. It wasn't clean as O'Donnell flopped a pair of tens but Haxton managed to come from behind once again with a pair of jacks on the river.

What's next for one of the best players to ever play the game? "Well I'm gonna go try to win the $50k tomorrow," Haxton said afterward as he'll get right back on the wagon with many more high-roller events on the horizon this summer. Haxton, along with many other great players, will be back in action on Friday when Event #23: $50,000 High Roller gets underway at 12:00 p.m. PDT.

Keep it locked here as the PokerNews live reporting team will have plenty of more action coming your way throughout the summer, highlighting more history at the World Series of Poker.

Isaac Haxton limped in on the button with    and Ryan O'Donnell raised to 2,000,000 with    in the big blind. Haxton called and the flop of     hit the felt. O'Donnell led out with a bet of 1,500,000 and Haxton called.

The turn brought the   and O'Donnell slowed down with a check. Haxton counted out a bet of 3,000,000 and O'Donnell stuck around for the   on the river. O'Donnell checked again and Haxton announced all in, putting O'Donnell to the test for his last 12,800,000. O'Donnell used three of his time banks but eventually decided to lay his hand down.

Isaac Haxton	32,400,000	7,300,000
Ryan O'Donnell	12,800,000	-7,300,000

Isaac Haxton raised to 1,000,000 on the button and Ryan O'Donnell moved all in for 10,250,000 total. Darren Elias moved all in from the big blind for 7,200,000 total and Haxton folded and the hands were turned up.

Darren Elias:   
Ryan O'Donnell:   

The board ran out       and O'Donnell's rail screamed with excitement as O'Donnell's hand made a straight and Elias exited the tournament in third place.

The players are now heads up.

Isaac Haxton	25,700,000	700,000
Ryan O'Donnell	19,500,000	10,500,000
Darren Elias	0	-9,700,000

Ryan O'Donnell shoved all in from the small blind and Darren Elias instantly called off his stack of 1,625,000 in the big blind.

Darren Elias:   
Ryan O'Donnell:   

Elias was in a dominating position and the flop of     left him well in front. The   on the turn changed nothing and the   hit the river to give Elias a double up to get back into contention.

Ryan O'Donnell	13,400,000	-2,400,000
Darren Elias	4,500,000	-600,000

Darren Elias raised to 800,000 on the button and in the small blind Isaac Haxton three bet to 2,075,000 which saw Elias call.

The flop rolled out     and Haxton continued for 1,500,000 and Elias called.

On the turn  , Haxton bet 2,600,000 and Elias moved all in for 4,750,000 which saw Haxton called.

Darren Elias:   
Isaac Haxton:   

The river came the   and Elias made three sixes to survive and take the tournament lead.

Darren Elias	17,500,000	8,200,000
Isaac Haxton	11,900,000	-10,000,000

Ryan O'Donnell limped in from the small blind and Darren Elias checked his option. The flop came     and O'Donnell led out with a bet of 400,000 which Elias called.

The turn was the   and O'Donnell sized up a bet of 2,000,000. Elias still called and the   paired the board on the river. O'Donnell barrelled another 3,500,000 and Elias instantly flung his cards to the muck.

Ryan O'Donnell	14,000,000	2,400,000
Darren Elias	8,100,000	-3,000,000

The remaining three players are going on a 15-minute break.

Darren Elias	22,500,000	0
Ryan O'Donnell	11,600,000	-900,000
Isaac Haxton	11,100,000	-300,000

Lewis Spencer made it 900,000 to go in the small blind and Isaac Haxton called from the big blind. The flop came     and Spencer led out with a bet of 550,000. Haxton went into the tank for a minute and then counted out a raise to 1,350,000. Spencer just called and the   rolled off on the turn.

Spencer checked this time and Haxton burned another time bank before checking it back. The   hit the river and Spencer jammed all in. Haxton instantly called off his stack of 3,275,000 and the cards were tabled. Spencer showed    for top pair and Haxton turned over    for two pair to double up.

Isaac Haxton	11,400,000	4,100,000
Lewis Spencer	1,400,000	-6,500,000