Barely ten days ago US online and live tourney poker pro Justin Bonomo claimed the $5 million main prize in the PokerGO – Poker Central $300,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl, an achievement which reprised a similar victory in March this year when he took home $4.8 million after winning the $250,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl Macau.
His latest victory in the World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in NoLimit Heads Up Championship Friday delivered a more modest reward at $185,965, but was accompanied by Bonomo’s second WSOP bracelet, and it was the latter that had more emotional gravitas for a relatively young professional player, who has already racked up career earnings in excess of $32 million – $4 million in WSOP events.
The NL Heads Up event format required Bonomo to come out tops in seven separate heads-up matches, and he played and bested the likes of David Peters, David Laka, Jake Schindler, Niall Farrell and Mark McGovern to get to the final day of play.
His final obstacle to victory was UK cash games ace Jason McConnon, whom Bonomo acknowledged turned out to be his biggest challenge; Bonomo was generous in his respect for McConnon, saying after the game:
“In the final match, I simply caught much hotter cards than I did in the semifinal match. “I didn’t know who my opponent was before the start of the tournament, but I looked him up online and he plays high-stakes cash online. He’s just the type of guy that knows all the spots inside and out. Definitely not someone that you want to face in a heads-up tournament.”
As it turned out, Bonomo dominated the final match, grinding down McConnon’s stack to ultimately claim the win and send the Brit home with a runner up prize worth $114,933.
Other results included:
3rd: Juan Pardo Dominguez – $73,179
4th: Martijn Gerrits – $73,179
5th: Jan Eric Schwippert – $31,086
6th: Mark McGovern – $31,086
7th: Nicolai Morris – $31,086
8th: Kahle Burns – $31,086