The 2024 World Series of Poker is drawing to an end at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. Almost all of the coveted gold bracelets have been awarded by now but the Player of the Year (POY) race is still not locked up.
On July 16, Chinese poker pro Xixiang Luo has made history as he has not only doubled his tally but also became the first player from his home country to win a second bracelet. Earlier in the summer, Luo won his maiden bracelet in Event #41: Mixed Double Board Bomb Pot and he now came out of a stacked elite field in a tournament with much higher buy-in.
Xixiang Luo Wins Second Bracelet
During his hot run at the Asian Poker Tour Jeju stop prior to the trip to Las Vegas, Luo had showcased his mixed games prowess already with multiple final table appearances and he now did so on the grand stage in Sin City. The tail end of the series included Event #96: $25,000 High Roller H.O.R.S.E. (8-Handed) and attracted a field of 120 entries to generate a prize pool of $2,820,000.
Some of the biggest names in the world of poker entered this high-stakes contest in which Luo was second in Chips after Day 1 while Kazuhiko Yotsushika from Japan was right behind him in third place on the leaderboard. It was still a long way to go to reach the paid places, as only the top 18 finishers would lock up a cash prize.
The bubble burst on Day 2 and the field was whittled down all the way to just ten contenders. Among the Asian players to bust before the money were Koji Fujimoto, Ren Lin, as well as aforementioned Yotsushika. Matthew Ashton from the United Kingdom, a former WSOP Poker Players Championship winner, was eliminated on the bubble and the first to cash was none other than 17-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth. He was one of seven players to earn $52,632 alongside Day 1 chip leader Paul Volpe.
Luo’s fellow countryman Yueqi “Rich” Zhu, one of the first players from China to win a WSOP gold bracelet, was among the ten survivors on Day 2 but bowed out in ninth place for $65,761 early on the final day. The 2024 WSOP POY contender Scott Seiver missed the chance to become the first player to win four bracelets in the same year as he departed in sixth for $131,719. Another of poker’s greats, Phil Ivey, had the chance to win number 12 but had to settle for $239,850.
Luo was three-handed with Michael Moncek and Albert Daher, the latter holding the lead and chasing his first bracelet. Moncek was ousted in third place for $336,442 and Luo entered the heads-up stage with a lead of more than two-to-one over Daher. The Lebanese high-stakes player got short and doubled a few times before Luo decimated his stack again.
Ultimately, Luo scooped a large pot in Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo with a straight and low to leave Daher on the ropes and finished the job shortly after. Daher earned a consolation prize of $483,866 while an ecstatic Luo celebrated vividly inside the Horseshoe Event Center.
His second bracelet win of the summer came with a top prize of $725,795, which is the largest live poker tournament score of his career. The breakout year of Luo catapulted him into ninth place of China’s all-time money list on The Hendon Mob with nearly $4.3 million in cashes. His top three tournament cashes have all been earned since April 2024 to showcase the hot run of the Chinese poker pro in the current year.
During the 2024 WSOP in Las Vegas, he cashed in eight WSOP live events and reached four final tables. Alongside his two trademark victories, Luo also finished sixth in Event #35: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. (8-Handed) for $33,078 and added a third place finish in Event #77: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet Event (6-Handed) for $90,920.
*Article by Christian Zetzsche
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