Kristen Bicknell Wins Poker Masters $25,000 NLHE; Chance Kornuth Second Again
Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas, Kristen Bicknell made history by becoming the first woman to win a Poker Masters title after defeating a final table that included current Purple Jacket points leader Chance Kornuth and defending Purple Jacket champion Ali Imsirovic.
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“It feels incredible to win this event. I final tabled the World Poker Tour event last week and I did not feel happy with my final table play, so that run was kind of bittersweet. I wasn’t planning on playing this tournament but I felt the itch and in Las Vegas and I’m very happy with how it played out,” Bicknell said.
A cooler just three minutes into the day sent one player to the rail. Ben Heath moved all-in from UTG for 125,000 with 
. Action folded to Ralph Wong in the small blind and he called with 
before Andras Nemeth moved all-in for 525,000 from the big blind 
forcing Wong to fold. The board ran out 
to bust Heath in sixth place.
Less than 10 minutes, action folded to Wong on the button and he moved all in for 590,000 with 
. Nemeth folded his small blind but Kornuth called from the big blind with . The 
flop kept Kornuth ahead and the turn kept Wong drawing to a nine but the 
failed to connect and he was out in fifth.
Kornuth moved all-in from UTG with 
and Nemeth called from the big blind with 
. Nemeth failed to connect on the 
board and was eliminated in fourth place.
Kornuth continued to be the aggressor and it resulted in finding yet another victim. Bicknell folded the button and Kornuth moved all in for 1,050,000 withh 
and Ali Imsirovic called all-in with 
. The 
flop was a safe one for Imsirovic, but the 
turn gave Kornuth the advantage before the 
river finished Imsirovic off in third.
Heads-up play began with Bicknell holding 3,470,000 of the 6,375,000 chips in play. Over the next two hours, Bicknell and Kornuth each took turns with the lead before Bicknell captured it for the final time and finished Kornuth off. Bicknell moved all-in with and Kornuth called all-in with 
. The 
flop gave Bicknell a gutshot straight draw. The turn was a brick but the river completed her straight and gave her first Poker Masters title.
This marked the third time in six Poker Masters events this year that Kornuth finished as the runner-up. He previously came second to Isaac Baron in Event #1 and Ryan Laplante in Event #2 and now leads the Purple Jacket championship standings by more than double any other player.
Final Table Payouts
- Kristen Bicknell – $408,000
- Chance Kornuth – $267,500
- Ali Imsirovic – $178,500
- Andras Nemeth – $127,000
- Ralph Wong – $102,000
- Ben Heath – $76,500
- David Stamm – $63,750
- Elio Fox – $51,000
Purple Jacket Standings
- Chance Kornuth – 630
- Kristen Bicknell – 300
- Isaac Baron – 300
- Ryan Laplante – 300
- Julien Martini – 300
- Jared Bleznick – 300
- Jonathan Depa – 300
- Sam Soverel – 270
- Jorryt van Hoof – 270
- Alex Foxen – 270