Dong Chen Wins WSOP Paradise Event 15 $10K High Roller with "The Robbi" ($411,659)

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Dec 14, 2023 3 min read

After three days Event #15: $10,000 High-Roller 6-Handed concluded Thursday at the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Paradise at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island. China's Dong Chen defeated Thomas Santerne in heads-up play to lay claim to a top prize of $411,659 and his first WSOP gold bracelet.

Chen came into the final day with a dominating chip lead over his final three competitors that he never relinquished en route to capturing the title. Chen had just over $1 million in career tournament earnings and a previous-best score of $153,473 from a runner-up finish at the APPT in Macau back in 2018 before the win. That previous-best score is nearly tripled with Chen’s win at WSOP Paradise.

WSOP Paradise Event #15: $10,000 High Roller 6-Handed Final Table Results

Day 3 Action

The tournament drew 169 entrants to generate a prize pool of $1,690,000, well ahead of the $1 million guarantee. Only four players found a bag at the end of Day 2, with Chen and Santerne holding a sizable lead over short stacks Mike Watson and Jean-Noel Thorel to start the day today.

Watson came in with the shortest stack of the final four players and was eliminated in the first hand of the day after running into Santerne's pocket kings and failing to improve. Thorel comparatively got off to a decent start, at one point moving all in preflop for six hands in a row to nearly double up his stack without having to see any flops.

Santerne nearly overtook the chip lead from Chen after the elimination of Watson. That all changed after Santerne got involved in a massive pot against Chen that saw four bets go in on the flop before Santerne was forced to fold to a jam on the turn. Chen held a significant chip lead over the rest of the field after that hand that he never let go of for the rest of the tournament.

It was a roller coaster session for Santerne from there, who quickly found himself at the bottom of the counts after losing pots to both Thorel and Chen. Santerne would double up through Chen only to lose those chips right back after being caught with a bluff.

Thorel did an admirable job chipping up from the short stack he had begun the day with, but ultimately he would find himself short again after paying off an overbet from Chen only to run into trips. Thorel would then run into Chen's red aces shortly after to bow out in third place, setting up a heads-up duel between Chen and Santerne where Chen held nearly 90 percent of the chips in play.

Heads-up play between Santerne and Chen would only last about 10 minutes. Santerne did find a double through Chen early on but would get his stack in with second pair against Chen's top pair shortly afterward. Chen, who held the infamous "The Robbi" jack-four offsuit and had connected with the jack, remained ahead in that hand to capture the title, the top prize of $411,659 and his first WSOP gold bracelet while Santerne was forced to settle for a runner up finish.

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