Nine Bigs and a Dream: China’s Lei Yu Spins Short Stack to Win WSOP Paradise $5K NLH
On Thursday, the final table of the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Paradise Event #6: $5,000 Deepstack No-Limit Hold’em returned to action.
The tournament attracted 363 entrants and awarded a $1,815,000 prize pool, and when play resumed China’s Lei Yu, part of the Red Dragon Poker Team, was the short stack with just nine big blinds. Thanks to a pair of early doubles right out of the gate, Yu found himself in position to make a run, and after five hours of play he had all the chips!
“I’m so excited. So pumped,” Lu told reporters via a translator. “Not too much in terms of plans [for the money]. I’ve been playing for years and what matters is the bracelet.”
Prior to the win, Lu had $1,071,665 in live tournament earnings according to The Hendon Mob, including a prior career-best $135,186 for winning the WPT Korea Single Day High Roller back in March. He celebrated his victory with fellow Red Dragon Poker Team members and GGPoker Ambassador Ren Lin, who took a break from high-stakes action to congratulate the 38-year-old champion.
WSOP Paradise Event #6 Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lei Yu | China | $293,050 |
| 2 | Blaz Zerjav | Slovenia | $225,720 |
| 3 | Rokas Asipauskas | Lithuania | $174,050 |
| 4 | Vlad Darie | Romania | $134,210 |
| 5 | Bruno Volkmann | Brazil | $103,490 |
| 6 | Fahredin Mustafov | Bulgaria | $79,800 |
| 7 | Gleb Tremzin | Russia | $61,530 |
| 8 | Archibald Seaton | United Kingdom | $47,450 |
| 9 | Ezequiel Kleinman | Argentina | $36,590 |
Among those to finish in the top 51 and make the money leading up to the final table were John Ripnick (11th - $23,890), Frank Bannan (19th - $15,300), Nick Maimone (20th - $15,300), Christoph Vogelsang (28th - $13,190), Zhen Cai (38th - $11,370), Hossein Ensan (40th - $11,370), and Ana Marquez (41st - $11,370).
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Final Table Action
Argentina’s Ezequiel Kleinman was the first player eliminated at the final table after flopping top pair only to be set up by Blaz Zerjav’s deuces. Kleinman turned a flush draw to give him hope, but the river was a brick to send him out the door in ninth place.
The short-stacked Archibald Seaton then fell at the hands of Yu before Gleb Tremzin tangled with Zerjav. Tremzin had flopped to pair and shoved on the turn, but Zerjav had flopped a set of fives that improved to quads. Tremzin, who vlogged his demise, had to settle for seventh place and $61,530 in prize money.
Bulgaria’s Fahredin Mustafov exited in sixth after shoving the turn with a double gutter and failing to get there against Zerjav, who had flopped another set. Brazil’s Bruno Volkmann then got his short stack all in with ace-six and was ahead of Vlad Darie’s ace-five, but a five spiked on the flop to end the Brazilian’s run in fifth place.
Unfortunately for Darie, he followed him out the door in fourth place when he got aggressive with king-queen suited only to run it smack dab into the ace-king of Rokas Asipauskas. Darie was the last remaining bracelet winner in the field, so his elimination ensured a first-time bracelet winner would be crowned for the sixth straight tournament at WSOP Paradise.
Three-handed play was a battle with Zerjav and Asipauskas not shying away from butting heads. In arguably the biggest hand of the tournament, and one sure to make PokerNews’ ‘Hands of the Week’ recap, Asipauskas saw his chips go to Zerjav, who took a more than 2:1 chip lead into heads-up play against Yu.
Yu won a flip with ace-queen against pocket tens to double into the lead, but Zerjav clawed it back. Upon returning from a break, the two got it in once again and Zerjav was one card away from winning, but Yu spiked the river to stay alive and take a 2:1 chip lead.
In the final hand of the tournament, Zerjav got his chips all in with top pair and an open-ended straight draw, while Yu held pocket aces and a spade flush draw. An eight on the turn gave Zerjav the lead with trips, but a fourth spade peeled off on the river to give Yu the flush and the win.
Zerjav Denied Again
For Zerjav, it was another close call to victory. He began 2024 with a big score at the EPT Paris in the €1,100 FPS Main Event finishing second for $316,484, and once again he had to settle for a runner-up finish. Notably, the $225,720 in prize money put him over $1 million in lifetime earnings becoming just the third player from Slovenia to cross that seven-figure mark behind Rok Gostisa ($2,438,553) and the late Casey Kastle ($2,201,725).
All of that is in addition to Zerjav’s online prowess, where he is known as 'Scarmak3r'. Back in 2018, when he turned a $5.50 satellite seat into $1,364,688 by finishing third in the MILLIONS Online. In September 2020, he would finish fourth in the WPT Online World Championship Main Event for $552,006.
Despite not claiming his first bracelet, the future is certainly bright for the young Slovenian player.
That does it for PokerNews’ coverage of Event #6: $5,000 Deepstack No-Limit Hold’em, but you can still follow live updates from all the other events by visiting our WSOP Paradise hub here.
In this Series
- 1 Ivey & Negreanu Looking for 2nd Bracelets of Year in WSOP Paradise Triton Million
- 2 Texas Mike Retains Chip Lead After Day 2 of Triton Million, With Dvoress Close Behind
- 3 Brazil’s Matheus Cardoso Machado Wins WSOP Paradise Event #4: GGMasters Online Championship ($432,623)
- 4 Battle Rapper Alejandro Lococo Beats Pros in WSOP Paradise Triton Million for $12M
- 5 Specialist Lautaro Guerra Wins Record-Breaking $100K PLO SHR at WSOP Paradise
- 6 Jeffrey Hakim Takes Down the 2024 WSOPP $2,500 Mini Main Event for First Bracelet
- 7 Monkey Off Eric Wasserson's Back as He Claims First Bracelet in $25,000 Dealers Choice Championship for $353,340
- 8 Nine Bigs and a Dream: China’s Lei Yu Spins Short Stack to Win WSOP Paradise $5K NLH
- 9 Alex Foxen Adds Another Career Highlight by Winning the $100,000 Triton Main Event ($3,850,000)
- 10 Stephen Chidwick Wins 2nd Bracelet in WSOP Paradise $50K PLO Championship ($1,357,080)
- 11 Pair of Former WSOP Player of the Year Winners Battle Heads-Up for 4th Gold Bracelet
- 12 Which Newcomer Is Taking Poker's High Roller Scene by Storm?
- 13 Brazil’s Pablo Silva Wins WSOP Paradise Super Saver $1M Invitational ($200,000)
- 14 Michael Addamo Leads $25k WSOP Super Main Final Table; Liv Boeree in the Hunt
- 15 Addamo Rolls Back the Years in WSOP Paradise $25,000 Super Main Event
- 16 Johannes Straver Rides Into the WSOP Paradise Sunset With GGMillion$ Championship Title
- 17 24-Year-Old Bluffs Poker's Toughest Opponent to Win WSOP Super Main for $6M
- 18 Family Man Nick Schulman Ships Sixth Bracelet in Event #15: $5,000 The Closer
