With the schedule for the current World Series of Poker now well past the halfway mark, fifty-year-old Maryland player Jiaqi Xu has claimed the main prize of $212,128 and his first WSOP winners’ bracelet in the thirty-ninth event of the tournament – the $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha competition.
Xu’s chances did not appear that good at the start of the final day; he has down in the lower of the chip stacks among the 17 talented survivors of an originally 776-strong field.
However, he did not allow that to distract him and started working his way up the chip counts until only UK player Jeffrey Duvall stood in his way.
It was a brief affair; Xu held a strong chip advantage and wasted no time in eliminating Duvall in the next hand, sending the Brit to the exit and a runner up prize of $131,073.
It was Xu’s biggest win so far, carrying with it the distinction of his first winner’s ring.
Other cashes included:
Pallas Aidinian $91,369
Joshua Pham $64,654
Tommy Le $46,452
Richard Austin $33,895
Jon Ho Christensen $25,123
Thibault Klinghammer $18,922
Bryce Eckhart $14,484