Event #23: THE MARATHON - $2,620 No-Limit Hold'em

In what was the first ever event of its kind, Joseph Di Rosa Rojas came out on top of Event #23: $2,620 "Marathon" No-Limit Hold'Em. Rojas defeated Alexander Lynskey in a heads-up battle to take home the first place prize of $690,469 and the first WSOP gold bracelet for his home country of Venezuela.

Rojas came into the day as the chip leader and never relinquished that lead as he went into heads-up play with an eight-to-one chip lead. In the final hand of the night, Rojas limped the button and baited Lynskey into an all-in shove, which Rojas quickly called. Rojas was way ahead with the    vs Lynskey's   , however, when the flop came     he would need some help. That help came in the form of the   on the turn. The   completed the board and Rojas came out victorious, as his rail jumped over the gates and flooded the stage area with cheers.

Rojas, a Venezuelan pro, realized he had a real shot at winning a bracelet today once the final two tables came together. He explained that he intended to play a lot of hands with the huge lead he had and stuck to this plan.

This is Venezuela's first WSOP gold bracelet, and when asked how he feels about this he said, "I don't know, maybe tomorrow I will know," he laughed, clearly overcome with emotion. The newly-crowned champion began playing poker eight years ago, and it's his second time playing in Las Vegas. He has played in Barcelona, Bahamas, Panama, and Aruba. This is his first official win, and before today's win, his total earnings added up to $55,344.

Rojas explained that he is very focused on poker, and he will keep playing online and working on his game. "I like tournaments more than cash games. It's more of a competition," he said. He plans on enjoying this win and staying until the end of the series, including a shot at the Main Event in July.

Here is a look at the full final table results:

The final table took a total of 210 hands to play and here is a summary of the action.

Final Table Summary

The official final table of nine players came together after Josh Weiss (10th place - $42,334) and his super short stack were ousted by Julian Stuer. Maurice Hawkins (9th place - $54,356) came into the final table as a short stack as well, having just over three big blinds. He got his remaining chips in the middle with two live cards and a gut-shot straight draw but was unable to hit anything. Not far behind him was Pratik Ghatge (8th place - $70,590), when he was all-in vs Andrew Jernigan. Ghatge was in a dominating position preflop but Jernigan out-flopped him sending Ghatge to the cash cage.

After taking out the seventh place finisher, Andrew Jernigan (7th place - $92,705) still found himself as a short stack and couldn't get anything going. He was all-in with    against Stuer's    and was unable to hit a nine. Faraz Jaka (6th place - $123,105) was pretty quiet all day but managed to ladder up to a sixth place finish. He, too, had all of his chips in the middle in a dominated position against Alexander Lynskey and could not catch up afterward. It was an action-packed hour after the dinner break, as there were five all-ins within ten hands, in which case nobody busted. On the sixth all-in, it was Julian Stuer (5th place - $165,277) at risk with    against Tomlinson's   . Stuer flopped a set but it wasn't good enough to beat Tomlinson's flush on the river.

Four-handed play didn't last very long either as it was Tim Reilly (4th place - $224,316) who found himself all-in with pocket eights vs Tomlinson's pocket nines. Reilly couldn't catch an eight and was sent to the rail. The 53-year-old Jeffrey Tomlinson (3rd place - $307,728) put up an outstanding fight on the final table put just came up short when his ace-king was beaten by Rojas' pocket eights. Tomlinson was a former WSOP bracelet winner in the 2015 $5,000 8-max event. That set the stage for a heads-up match between Lynskey and Rojas, with the Venezuelan holding a massive chip lead.

This unique style of tournament featured 100-minute levels and put players to the test on the ultimate grind level with days taking up to 14-hours to complete. It attracted a total of 1,759 entries that generated a prizepool of $4,147,722. There were 264 places that got paid, with each of them being guaranteed to cash for $3,934. Some notables that took home some money but failed to reach the final table include Patrick Mahoney (13th place - $33,350), Upeshka De Silva (30th place - $17,491), Kristen Bicknell (44th place - $14,446), Adrian Mateos (52nd place - $12,077), and Jason Mercier (143rd place - $4,909).

That wraps things up for this event but PokerNews will continue to provide extensive coverage throughout the summer.

Hand #207: Alexander Lynskey raised to 600,000 and Joseph Di Rosa Rojas called. The flop was     and both players checked to the   and the river  . Rojas tabled    to win the hand.

Hand #208: Rojas limped the button and Lynskey moved all-in getting a fold from Rojas.

Hand #209: Lynskey raised to 600,000 and Rojas called. The flop was     and Rojas check-called a bet of 500,000. The turn was the   and both players checked. The river was the   and Rojas won the pot with a bet of 800,000.

Hand #197: Alexander Lynskey raised to 600,000 and Joseph Di Rosa Rojas called. The flop came     and Lynskey bet 450,000 which was called by Rojas. The turn was the   and Rojas checked-called a bet of 1,450,000 again. The river brought the   and Rojas led out for 2,700,000. Lynskey folded and Rojas showed    for a missed flush draw.

Hand #198: Rojas raised to 600,000 and Lynskey moved all-in, which resulted in Rojas folding.

Hand #199: Lynskey raised to 600,000 and Rojas called to see the flop of    . Rojas check-called a bet of 375,000 and the   came on the turn. Rojas checked again to Lynskey who bet 975,000. Rojas called and the   fell on the river. Both players checked and Rojas showed    for the nut flush.

Hand #200: Rojas raised to 600,000 and Lynskey folded.

Hand #201: Lynskey raised all-in for 4,500,000 and Rojas folded.

Joseph Di Rosa Rojas	41,300,000	1,300,000
Alexander Lynskey	4,700,000	-3,300,000

Hand #191: Jeffrey Tomlinson raised all-in for 2,600,000 on the button and Joseph Di Rosa Rojas called from the big blind. Tomlinson held    and was in a race situation vs Rojas'   .

The board ran out       and Tomlinson was unable to hit the board. Tomlinson was eliminated in 3rd place but will take home over $300,000 for his strong efforts today.

Jeffrey Tomlinson

0

-12,000,000

Hand #180: Alexander Lynskey raised to 500,000 and Jeffrey Tomlinson re-raised to 1,500,000. Lynskey called and the flop came    . Tomlinson bet 1,900,000 and Lynskey moved all-in, sparking a quick fold from his opponent.

Hand #181: Tomlinson limped the small blind and Lynskey pushed all-in, getting Tomlinson to fold again.

Hand #182: Lynskey limped the small blind and Joseph Di Rosa Rojas checked his option. The flop was     and Lynskey bet 240,000 which Rojas called. The turn was the   and both players checked to the   river. Lynskey checked again and Rojas bet 375,000. Lynskey called with    and had the best hand.

Hand #183: Lynskey raised to 500,000 on the button and Tomlinson called from the big blind. The flop came     and Lynskey won the pot with a bet of 260,000.

Hand #184: Rojas raised to 500,000 and Lynskey called from the big blind. The flop was     and Lynskey check-called a bet of 550,000 from Rojas. The turn was the   and both players checked.

The river brought the   and Lynskey led out for 1,175,000. Rojas thought for a couple moments and then raised to 3,675,000 sending Lynskey into the tank. Lynskey finally called and Rojas tabled    for a full house. He then turned and shouted with his rail as they started cheering in Spanish.

Joseph Di Rosa Rojas

35,400,000

5,370,000

Hand #170: Alexander Lynskey limped the small blind and Joseph Di Rosa Rojas checked his option. The flop came     and both players checked. The turn was the   and Rojas bet 250,000 to win the hand.

Hand #171: Lynskey raised to 400,000 and Rojas three-bet to 1,075,000 getting Lynskey to fold.

Hand #172: Rojas raised to 450,000 and Lynskey moved all-in for 5,500,000. Rojas mucked his cards.

Hand #173: Jeffrey Tomlinson raised to 500,000 and Rojas called from the big blind. The flop came     and Rojas check-folded to a bet of 500,000 from Tomlinson.

Hand #174: Rojas raised to 400,000 and Tomlinson called in the big blind. The flop was     and Rojas bet 350,000. Tomlinson raised to 1,050,000 and Rojas called.

The turn was the   and Rojas checked to Tomlinson who bet 1,600,000. Rojas called and the river brought the  . Rojas checked again and Tomlinson bet 2,500,000. Rojas thought for a couple minutes and decided to fold.

Hand #160: Jeffrey Tomlinson limped the small blind and Alexander Lynskey checked his option. The flop came     and Lynskey took down the pot with a bet of 200,000.

Hand #161: Tomlinson raised to 450,000 on the button and Joseph Di Rosa Rojas three-bet to 1,450,000 earning him the pot.

Hand #162: Lynskey raised to 400,000 from the button and Tomlinson called from the big blind. Both players checked the entire way with the board reading      . Lynskey held    while Tomlinson had   .

Hand #163: Rojas raised to 450,000 and Lynskey called from the big blind. The flop was     and both players checked to the   turn. Lynskey bet 675,000 and Rojas folded.

Hand #164: Rojas received a walk in the big blind.

Hand #155: Jeffrey Tomlinson moved all in for 4,540,000 from under the gun. Tim Reilly was on the button and called for his last 4,270,000, barely covered by Tomlinson.

Reilly was at risk with    and Tomlinson had him dominated with   .

The rail behind Reilly yelled for an eight, but the board ran out       and Reilly was eliminated after a hard-fought battle.

Jeffrey Tomlinson	10,180,000	2,830,000
Tim Reilly	0	-5,300,000

Hand #145: Joseph Di Rosa Rojas raised to 450,000 from the cutoff, everyone folded and he tabled   .

Hand #146: Tim Reilly moved all in from the small blind and Alexander Lynskey folded his big blind.

Hand #147: Lynskey limped from the small blind and Rojas checked from the big blind. The flop came     and Lynskey led out for 200,000. Rojas called, and the dealer put out the   on the turn. Lynskey checked, Rojas bet 375,000 and Lynskey called. The river was the   and Lynskey checked again. Rojas bet 400,000 and Lynskey moved all in for 2,810,000. Rojas tank-folded.

Hand #148: Rojas limped from the small blind and Jeffrey Tomlinson checked his option. The flop came     and Rojas check-called a bet of 200,000 from Tomlinson. The turn was the   and both players checked to the   on the river. Rojas led out for 400,000 and Tomlinson mucked.

Hand #149: Rojas got a walk.