Cash specialist Gonsalves clinches debut bracelet in the $5,000 6-Handed NLH
Cash Game Specialist Gonsalves Clinches First Bracelet in the $5,000 6-Handed NLH
The $5,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em event at the World Series of Poker drew a massive field of 1,402 entries. The tough line-up was packed with WSOP champions, including Josh Arieh. Emerging victorious from this stacked field was Markus Gonsalves. The American online 6-max cash game specialist secured his career-first bracelet and pocketed $979,655, nearly doubling his previous career-best cash.
The defining moment for Gonsalves came during three-way play against Jeremy Izquierdo. The American moved all-in pre-flop with pocket threes, and the Frenchman called with ♠️♣️. Izquierdo flopped a pair on the ♦️♣️♥️ board. The turn brought the ♦️, offering no help and leaving Gonsalves with a mere 5% chance of survival. However, poker is played on all streets, and the ♦️ on the river delivered Gonsalves a set of threes to scoop a massive pot.
In heads-up play, Markus Gonsalves battled past Xiaoyao Ma, who had impressively clawed back from a three-to-one chip deficit to briefly take the lead, only to surrender his advantage later. In the final stretches of the duel, Ma shipped it twice. On the second shove, his ♠️♠️ was not enough when Gonsalves, holding ♣️♣️, flopped two pair.
Xiaoyao Ma collected $653,037 for his runner-up finish, practically doubling his lifetime live tournament earnings. Among the CIS players, Andrei Pateichuk secured the deepest run, finishing 47th for a $21,062 payday.
