A 37 year old Russian poker ace made his $40,000 buy-in into a staggering $1.89 million at the World Series of Poker today. This is his second gold bracelet after knocking out a total of 201 of the world’s best players over a period of four days. Vitaly Lunkin from Moscow beat a 23-year-old Isaac Haxton from Las Vegas after more than three hours of heads-up no-limit Texas Hold ‘em, winning the final hand with pocket aces the game’s best starting hand.

“It was the most difficult tournament of my life,” Lunkin said through an interpreter. “Every player at the table was a star.”

Lunkin managed to avoid a flush by Haxton on the final hand of the table taking the last of his poker chips and end the tournament glorious. Haxton secured $1.17 million for second place. The players wagered the total of their chips after Haxton hit a pair of eights and a diamond flush draw on the flop, but black cards on the turn and river gave Lunkin the title. Haxton started the game by playing heads up play with a nearly 2-1 chip lead on Lunkin, but the players traded chips over a slow grind for much of the next two hours.

Lunkin took a roughly 2-1 chip lead over Haxton after calling Haxton’s all-in bet with a pair of 10s, catching a third on the flop for a set to beat Haxton’s king high.
A total of 201 players made their appearance in the series first open tournament of the year attracting some of the biggest names and others who regularly play in the highest stakes cash games. A total of 27 players won $71,858 from the prize pool of $7.72 million. The $40,000 tournament was specially priced for the series 40th anniversary this year.