Alexandre Vuilleumier Wins $25,000 Six-Max No-Limit Hold’em 2023 World Series of Poker Event

Alexandre Vuilleumier won the first open bracelet event of 2023 World Series of Poker. The Swiss player navigated a tough field of 207 entries in the $25,000 buy-in six-max no-limit hold’em event to earn his first WSOP title and the grand prize of $1,215,864.

This was Vuilleumier’s first seven-figure score. Lui increased his career earnings to over $2.1 million.

Vuilleumier made two final tables in 2023 and took the title both times. His previous win saw him top a field of 87 entries in a $10,150 six-max event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure to earn $237,700. His two wins saw him amass 1,740 Card player Player of the Year points, enough to put him within a three-way tie with Giorgiy Skhulukhiya and David Yan for 75th place in 2023 POY extension ranking presented by Global Poker.

This three-day event took place May 30-June 1 at the Paris and Horseshoe properties on the Las Vegas Strip. The top 32 finishers cashed, sharing a prize pool of $4,864,500. Some of the many notables who went deep but failed to make the final table included all-time leader Justin Bonomo (29th), 2021 WSOP main event winner Koray Aldemir (26th), 2022 WSOP main event winner Espen Jorstad (25th), six-time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu (22nd), high-stakes tournament regular Chris Brewer (21st), four-time bracelet winner Adrian Mateos (14th ), recent Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Poker World Tour main event winner Bin Weng (12th), two-time bracelet winner Keith Lehr (11th) and some other bracelet winners like Andrew Lichtenberger (10th), Jake Schindler (9th) and Elior Sion (8th °).

Bracelet winner Joey Weissman was the first to fall at the official final table, with his last big blinds going into the middle thanks to a monstrous starting hand: pocket kings. Unfortunately for Weissman, that big pair didn’t hold up against Vuilleumier’s humble J-3 offsuit, which he called from the big blind. Vuilleumier flopped trip threes and rivered a full house to send Weissman home with $188,219.

Ren Lin fell short after attempting a triple bluff that was eliminated by Chance Kornuth, who held only king high. Lin was left with less than 13 big blinds after that hand. Not long after, Sean Winter lost all but 1.5 of his big blinds in a fight with Vuilleumier, with his second pair on the river against the Swiss player’s two pair. However, Winter quickly got back off the mat, doubling up quickly to give himself some room to operate.

After that, Lin moved all-in with A-10 suited to face Kornuth’s pocket kings, who improved to quads on the turn to eliminate Lin in fifth place ($259,220). This was his 14th final table of the year, with two titles won and over $2.7 million to date POY extension earnings accrued along the way. As a result, Lin sits third in the overall standings. Now follows Bin Weng, second in the standings, only 55 years old POY extension points.

Winter then doubled his stack once again, winning a preflop contest with K-10 suited against Axel Hallay’s pocket sevens. Winter smashed a king on the flop and held from there leaving Hallay with just over six big blinds. He soon brought the rest of his stack with Q-3 suited dominated by Winter’s KQ. Winter flopped a king and dodged Hallay’s backdoor flush draw to narrow the field to three. Hallay earned $363,326, the largest mark by him in a live tournament.

Winter’s run ended in third place thanks to the next hand. With a flop of 942 in a limped blind battle, Winter checked to 96 and Vuilleumier led the big blind with 109. Winter called and on the 5th hit the turn. Winter checks again and Vuilleumier bets again. Winter check-raised with his top pair and gutshot straight draw. Vuilleumier showed up with his top pair and a higher kicker. The 10 in the end Winter bet about half the pot. Vuilleumier raised all-in and Winter thought about it before calling with what had become second pair. His hand was second best, though, and he was sent home with $518,106 for his efforts.

This score increased Winter’s total tournament winnings to nearly $27.2 million, while also giving him the edge in the high-stakes tournament. Tour of PokerGO points race. He has amassed nine receipts PGT extension qualifying events, with one win and over $1.1 million in receipts to date. Lin is second on the PGT extension standings after this event, while Vuilleumier moved up to sixth place thanks to this great victory.

Heads-up play began with Vuilleumier holding 19,800,000 to Kornuth’s 11,300,000. That lead was soon greatly extended when Vuilleumier won a sizable pot with queens beating Kornuth’s third pair on the river. Kornuth was left with just under 18 big blinds after the hand. He was 14 down in the big blind when the final hand of the tournament was dealt. Vuilleumier limped in from the button with AQ. Kornuth moved all-in from the big blind with kings3. Vuilleumier quickly called and the board eliminated J1089j to give him a winning queen high straight.

Kornuth failed to secure his fourth career run WSOP gold bracelet but was awarded a career-best payday of $751,463 as a runner-up. He has now grossed more than $13.3 million on the tournament circuit.

Here’s a look at payments and POY extension points awarded at the final table:

Visit the Card Player 2023 World Series of Poker page for schedules, news, interviews, and the latest results from the event.

Photo credits: Vuilleumier – WSOP / Danny Maxwell. Lin and Kornuth – PokerGO.