In what turned out to be a quick final table at the World Series of Poker at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, it was Nicholas Seward who came out on top in Event #31: $3,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em. Not only did Seward capture his first WSOP gold bracelet, but he also pocketed a whopping $516,135.
Seward overcame a field of 1,230 players to take home the lion’s share of the $3,284,100 prize pool as he defeated runner-up Konstantyn Holskyi.
Seward is a Las Vegas local who typically plays tournaments year-round, ranging from $400 to $10,000 buy-ins. This is his second first-place finish with his first coming in 2022 in a $400 buy-in tournament. This score surpassed his best cash of $320,631 which came in June of 2023 as he finished fourth in a $3,500 buy-in tournament.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nicholas Seward | United States | $516,135 |
| 2 | Konstantyn Holskyi | Ukraine | $344,092 |
| 3 | Akinobu Maeda | Japan | $238,886 |
| 4 | David Coleman | United States | $168,448 |
| 5 | Nikolaos Angelou | Greece | $120,672 |
| 6 | Stephen Buell | United States | $87,846 |
Final Day Action
Six players began the day and it didn’t take long for the chips to start flying as Stephen Buell was eliminated the first hand of the day when his pocket fours could not crack the pocket jacks of the eventual champion Seward.
Over the next few hours, the chips circulated around the table with several players doubling their stacks. Day 3 chip leader David Coleman, who started the day with nearly half of the chips in play, faced a series of setbacks. His ace-five was bested by Nikolaos Angelou's ace-king, leading to Angelou's double-up. Shortly thereafter, Coleman experienced another downswing when he doubled up Akinobu Maeda.
However, Coleman regained the chip lead with six remaining, when he won the flip against Angelou to send him to the rail in fifth place.
With four remaining, Seward was on the verge of elimination when he called off his last five big blinds with jack-ten and was able to hold against the nine-six of Maeda. It didn’t take long for Seward to be at risk once again with the same hand as he doubled through Coleman to take the chip lead.
Seward ended up eliminating his good friend Coleman in fourth place when he jammed king-five on the button and got there against Coleman’s pocket sevens.
“It was bittersweet,” Seward said as he talked about eliminating Coleman, “He was the best player at the table. It’s hard not to want him out. It gives me a better chance to win but he's a very close friend of mine and we've worked together a lot and I have endless respect for him. So, you know, bittersweet, it hurt and I feel bad about it but it's, you know, there's definitely a sweet part to it too.”
Coleman didn’t take it personally as he was seen on the rail shortly after cheering for Seward to win the bracelet.
Three-handed play concluded swiftly as Seward eliminated Maeda. All the chips went into the middle preflop, and Seward's ace-jack prevailed against Maeda's king-jack.
Holskyi delivered an extraordinary performance at the final table. Despite being reduced to just one big blind with five players remaining, he continuously doubled his stack, ultimately emerging as the chip leader during heads-up play. However, Seward regained the lead from Holskyi by calling two streets with bottom pair in a limped pot.
Seward held a slight chip lead when both players moved all their chips into the middle preflop. Although Holskyi was favored with king-ten against Seward's jack-ten, the board ran out a straight for Seward, securing his victory. Holskyi finished in second place, while Seward captured his first WSOP gold bracelet.
“I'm just so grateful for my friends, my family and just the experience.” Seward concluded as he headed to celebrate with his friends.
That wraps up the coverage for this event but keep it tuned into PokerNews for coverage from all of the events going on this summer.
