Super Main Event Crowns Pulsating WSOP Paradise Festival for GGPoker and WSOP

Five days of drama came to a conclusion on Thursday night as the biggest-ever WSOP winner came close to his 18^th WSOP bracelet, a new world record was set in the GGPoker Super Main Event and a 24-year-old poker prodigy emulated his hero and busted him from the final table on the last day of drama.

WSOP Super Main Event Won by Hinan Zhou

“I played at the final table with my idol and busted him.”

The Chinese player Hinan Zhou took home $6 million as he fulfilled a long-held dream to capture the gold bracelet they all wanted. It was the 24-year-old’s first-ever WSOP bracelet as he finished above the experienced British EPT and WSOP winner and Win-Win podcaster Liv Boeree, Aussie tournament crusher Michael Addamo, Italian poker legend Mustapha Kanit and the second most successful player in tournament history, Justin Bonomo.

With 1,978 entries, the $50m guarantee meant a top prize of $6 million and hundreds of players earning more than $50,000. In fact, eight of the nine final table players would become millionaires… or add another seven-figures to their career earnings. German player Georg Lehmann left in ninth place for $750,000 before the Belarussian player Vadzim Lipauka exited in eighth place for $1 million.

With each payout increasing the payouts dramatically, Justin Bonomo fell to short stack and busted in seventh for $1.3 million, which bumped his earnings to within just over $6 million of Bryn Kenney’s total at the top of the All-Time Money List on The Hendon Mob. Michael Addamo was a shock exit in seventh for $1.65 million, losing two big pots after the eventual winner Zhou had bluffed him off a big pot on the river.

Liv Boeree was the player to take out Addamo but after Austria’s Christopher Nguyen busted in fifth place for $2.1 million, the British player was knocked out. Twice yesterday, Boeree got it in bad with ace-high against pocket kings. Twice, she meditated during the dealing of the flop and hit an ace on those flops both times to survive. Today, the same could not be said, as she lost with pocket fours losing to the ace-eight of Marcelo Aziz. Boeree’s result, worth $2.8 million for fourth place, was the biggest single ranking event win by a female player in the history of live tournament poker.

Mustapha Kanit was unlucky to miss out in third place, cashing for $3.6m, losing with king-six to Aziz’ ace-six. Aziz went into the final showdown with the chip lead but couldn’t hold onto it, winning $4.6m as runner-up when Zhou finally got the better of him.

“I played at the final table with my idol and busted him,” Zhou told PokerNews after victory. “I’m feeling calm; when I started the final table nine-handed I [was] nervous, especially the big river bluff against Addamo. But when we got down to six, I felt very calm and enjoy this final table.”