"It Was My Time," Chris Hunichen Captures First Bracelet & $2.8M in $100K High Roller
One of the loudest final tables of the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) so far, one defined by two-outers, three-outers and a rail whose energy would be hard to match, wrapped up tonight with longtime high-stakes pro Chris Hunichen winning his first bracelet and a career-high score of $2,838,389 in Event #47: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em.
"No one’s ever due in poker, but I feel like I was due," Hunichen told PokerNews in a winner's interview. "And I’ve been in this position a couple times, got unlucky, a couple seconds. It was my time.”
Hunichen's poker resume includes a runner-up finish in a 2022 online $25,000 High Roller worth $1.3 million and a third place in the 2022 $250,000 Super High Roller for $1.9 million, but a bracelet had eluded "Big Huni." Of the six players who returned for Day 3, only Hunichen and online Swedish wizard Viktor "Isildur1" Blom lacked bracelets.
Blom finished third for $1,311,091 just a week removed from a third-place finish in the $50,000 High Roller, while Jeremy Ausmus was denied a seventh bracelet with a runner-up finish worth. $1,892,260.
Final Table Results
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Hunichen | United States | $2,838,389 | |
| 2 | Jeremy Ausmus | United States | $1,892,260 | |
| 3 | Viktor Blom | Sweden | $1,311,091 | |
| 4 | Chance Kornuth | United States | $932,725 | |
| 5 | Aleksejs Ponakovs | Latvia | $681,796 | |
| 6 | Justin Saliba | United States | $512,465 | |
| 7 | Daniel Aharoni | United States | $396,396 | |
| 8 | Isaac Haxton | United States | $315,805 |
Room Erupts After Two-Outer for Big Huni
The $100,000 High Roller seemed like Ausmus' tournament to win as he doubled through fourth-place finisher Chance Kornuth in the first hand of the day shortly before sending Justin Saliba out in sixth place. Ausmus, who earlier in the week joked on social media about how well he runs at the WSOP, went on to double through Hunichen, despite his queen-jack being dominated by the eventual champion's ace-jack.
It looked like everything would go Ausmus' way as Hunichen found himself all in with pocket fives against the ace-jack of lucky Ausmus, who hit an ace on the turn to leave Hunichen drawing to two outs. But the luck factor shifted as Hunichen hit a five on the river as the screams from his rail resonated through the Horseshoe Event Center.
“That was insane," said Hunichen. "I got it in earlier ace-jack off to his queen-jack suited. He hit a straight for a huge pot. It would’ve given me like 65% of the chips in play … It kind of felt like it was his day. Everything was starting to go his way. And then that magical rivered five. The place erupted and now I have a little bit of life and we’re back in the game.”
Without question, Hunichen's rail was a main character in the Day 3 action. “Jeremy is so good-looking!" someone from Hunichen's camp yelled at one point in the day. “This is the most collectively handsome heads-up match!"
Did having one of the rowdiest rails of the summer help Hunichen secure the career-defining victory?
“Oh absolutely. They bring all that energy. Everytime I hit a card you heard the place go crazy. Plus, it gets in the heads of the other guys a little bit … Everyone had bracelets, they’re all experienced. Anything to throw them a little off their game is a huge thing for me.”
“These are my boys, all my friends. My wife was able to show up after my kid’s soccer camp. These are all my homies, we live for this shit.”
Hunichen also paid tribute to his late father, who passed away last summer.
Birth of Sauron?
As he battled against "Isildur1," Hunichen's rail took it upon themselves to coin Hunichen as "Sauron" as a way of poking fun at the Swede's Lord of the Rings-inspired nickname.
Unlike in the Tolkien trilogy, Sauron defeated Isildur this time around as Blom's king-jack lost out to Hunichen's ace-seven to set up a lopsided heads-up battle between Hunichen and Ausmus.
As to whether the new nickname will stick, Hunichen said "we'll see."
"When my buddy won a bracelet last year, we started talking about Phil Hellmuth (being) dressed like a Spice Girl. That stuck pretty good, that went viral. We’ll see what happens.”
Ausmus managed to spike a three-outer to stay alive and eventually took the lead before a final hand that got all in on the flop with Ausmus holding an overpair to Hunichen's top pair. The turn kept Ausmus ahead, but rivered trips gave Hunichen the victory as his rail kept the energy they'd maintained all day.
Hunichen is known for his annual Fourth of July parties and said this year's festivities on the heels of his seven-figure score will be the biggest of all.
“It better be," he said. "Otherwise, I failed at it. If you ain’t coming, you’re missing out.”
That concludes the PokerNews live reporting from this event, but there are plenty of other bracelet events underway here at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.