Following almost seven hours of play on the final day of the 2023 PokerNews Cup, the United Kingdom’s Johnny Kelly was crowned the champion after he bested Vid Zagar in heads-up play. Kelly collected the $176,540 up top in addition to his mystery bounty prizes.
This year’s edition of the tournament set a Golden Nugget tournament record with 2,331 entrants and completely obliterated the $1 million guaranteed prize pool. When registration closed on Saturday, the pot had reached $2,261,070, crushing last year’s impressive prize pool of just over $1.2 million.
As the PokerNews Cup operated as a Mystery Bounty, 60% of the prize pool went into the regular prize purse, while the rest was allotted to the bounty prizes. There were a massive two $100,000 bounties up for grabs, as well as a couple of $75,000, $50,000 and $25,000 prizes.
Zagar pulled the first six-figure bounty, with Michael Lo grabbing the second. They were both taken out of the Mystery Bounty chest on Day 2. The only big bounty remaining on Day 3 was a $50,000 slip, which went to Tim Garles at the beginning of the day. In fact, Garles secured himself $61,000 before the final table even began.
2023 PokerNews Cup Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johnny Kelly | United Kingdom | $176,540* |
| 2 | Vid Zagar | Slovenia | $152,165* |
| 3 | Humberto Lopes Galindo | Portugal | $145,855* |
| 4 | Forrest Raleigh | United States | $75,140 |
| 5 | Felipe Olivieri | Argentina | $56,065 |
| 6 | Kunal Patni | India | $44,945 |
| 7 | Kyle Gross | United States | $35,000 |
| 8 | Tim Garles | United States | $27,850 |
| 9 | Eduardo Amaral Silva | Brazil | $21,920 |
*Denotes three-way deal
Winner’s Interview
Prior to today, Kelly had $113,009 in tournament winnings, which he has now more than doubled. His previous best cash was for $13,227, which came from the GUKPT London Grand Final that took place in December.
A boisterous and loud British rail mobbed Kelly after he won, with renditions of ‘There’s Only One Johnny Kelly,’ repeatedly sung throughout the day.
“They’re mad, but brilliant,” commented Kelly in regards to his rail. “I’ve been playing poker a lot, and I’ve been listening to my friends and taking all the advice on board, and [I’m] really, really enjoying the journey.”
“And now I can actually say I’ve got a trophy. I’ve never had a trophy, and I’ve always wanted one.” Kelly added.
The grind isn’t over for the former dealer, though, as more tournament glory is in his sights.
“I’m exhausted. I’m looking forward to having a few more calories with the boys and relaxing tomorrow. [I’ll] then play the Main Event on Wednesday.”
Final Day Recap
The final table got off to a hot start, with several players getting double-ups. Johnny Kelly looked to be the first casualty of the day until he hit a one-outer to make a set of aces, besting Zagar’s flopped set of tens. The British rail went wild, and more chanting and singing followed.
Zagar would then score the first knockout of the day shortly after. He had Eduardo Amaral Silva dominated in an all-in preflop confrontation and turned two pair to see off the Brazilian. The action began to cool off with the players conscious of the pay jumps, but things picked up again when Zagar and Karles got into a flip with the latter at risk. Zagar’s ace-king paired up on the runout to overcome Garles’ pocket jacks.
The players were sent on break shortly after, and when they returned, so did the cautious play. Several pocket pairs went into the muck preflop when facing a three-bet. Forrest Raleigh avoided disaster by getting rid of his pocket tens when Kelly looked down at aces. Felipe Olivieri was putting his big stack to use and managed to get pocket sevens to fold twice when he moved all in with ace-queen.
Gross became the short stack once again after doubling up Raleigh, and a few hands later, Zagar got his third elimination of the day. His pocket eights held against Gross’ queen-eight.
Humberto Lopes Galindo was the next player to be at risk, but he managed to spike a pair of sevens on the river to overcome Olivieri’s sixes. Galindo was looking to become the first player to win two major live Mystery Bounty tournaments. His first win came back at EPT Paris earlier this year in the €3,000 Mystery Bounty.
Several more doubles took place before the next bust-out, which saw Galindo snatch the chip lead away from Olivieri after his ace-king got there against his opponent’s pocket fours. Patni then tried to get a double of his own, but his dominated ace fell to Raleigh’s ace-king to bring the tournament to five-handed play.
Olivieri then doubled his way back into the chip lead through Galindo after he hit a two-outer on the turn to make trips while dominated. That lead was then quickly relinquished to Zagar. Olivieri was all in and at risk again soon after and his queens fell to Kelly’s ace-jack, who turned a wheel.
Raleigh soon departed in fourth place after Kelly’s queen-ten beat his nines. This gave Kelly the chip lead, and then a lengthy deal discussion took place. A deal was agreed with Galindo and Zagar, securing $145,855 and $152,165, respectively, while Kelly locked up $166,540. The trio would then compete for $10,000, the title and the trophy.
When play resumed, Galindo’s hopes of being a two-time Mystery Bounty champion evaporated after his ace-eight could not leapfrog Zagar’s pocket eights. This gave Zagar a nine-big-blind lead going into heads-up.
Heads-up play was a war of attrition, with Kelly and Zagar passing chips back and forth. However, the tides turned in Kelly’s favor after his king-ten paired up on the river to get a huge double in the biggest pot of the tournament.
The following hand Zagar jammed with ace-six, and Kelly called with ace-deuce. Both players paired their ace on the flop, the turn kept Zagar ahead, but a deuce on the river sealed the win for the Brit.
A Big Thanks From PokerNews
Everyone at PokerNews would like to give a big thank you to the Golden Nugget team and all the players who participated. You made this the biggest PokerNews Cup ever, and we are all extremely grateful for your support.
Congratulations to Kelly on the victory, and hopefully see you all at the tables again next year.
Editor & Live Reporter
Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum’s proudest poker achievement is winning the only tournament he has ever played in Las Vegas, the prestigious $60 Flamingo evening event.