“It was my time”: Chris Hunichen wins his first bracelet and $2.8 million at the $100,000 High Roller | World Series of Poker 2024

One of the loudest final tables of the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) so far, one defined by two outsides, three outsides and a rail whose energy would be hard to beat, concluded tonight with the long-time high-stakes pro Chris Huenichen won his first bracelet and the highest winnings of his career of $2,838,389 in Event No. 47: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em.

“Nobody is due in poker, but I feel like I was due,” said Hunichen PokerNews in a winner’s interview. “And I was in that position a few times, was unlucky, a few seconds. It was my time.”

Hunichen’s poker resume includes a second-place finish in a 2022 Online $25,000 High Roller worth $1.3 million and a third-place finish in the 2022 $250,000 Super High Roller worth $1.9 million, but a bracelet had eluded “Big Huni.” Of the six players who returned for Day 3, only Hunichen and the Swedish online wizard Viktor “Isildur1” Blom bracelets were missing.

Blom finished third for $1,311,091, just a week after finishing third in the $50,000 High Roller, while Jeremy Ausmus was denied a seventh bracelet with a second place finish worth $1,892,260.

Event #47: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Results

The room erupts after Big Huni is kicked out twice

The $100,000 High Roller seemed like a doable win for Ausmus, as he doubled his bet in fourth place Chance Kornuth in the first hand of the day just before sending Justin Saliba was eliminated in sixth place. Ausmus, who joked on social media earlier in the week about how well he was doing at the WSOP, eventually doubled up against Hunichen, although his queen-jack was dominated by the eventual champion’s ace-jack.

It looked like everything was going in Ausmus’ favor when Hunichen was all-in with pocket fives against the ace-jack of a lucky Ausmus, who hit an ace on the turn and left Hunichen two outs. But the luck factor changed when Hunichen hit a five on the river as screams from his rail echoed through the Horseshoe Event Center.

“That was crazy,” Hunichen said. “I had ace-jack against his queen-jack in the same suit before. He had a straight for a huge pot, that would have given me about 65% of the chips in the game… It kind of felt like it was his day. Everything was starting to go in his favor. And then that magic five came on the river. The place erupted, and now I have a little life and we’re back in the game.”

Without question, Hunichen’s rail was one of the main characters of the action on day three. “Jeremy looks so good!” someone from Hunichen’s camp shouted at one point. “This is the most collectively attractive heads-up match!”

Did one of Hunichens’ wildest jumps of the summer help him achieve the career-defining victory?

“Oh, absolutely. They bring all this energy. Every time I hit a card, you can hear everything going crazy. Plus, it gets on the other guys’ nerves a little bit… They all had bracelets, they’re all experienced. Anything that gets them a little bit rattled is a big deal to me.”

“These are my guys, all my friends. My wife was able to come over after my kids’ soccer camp. These are all my buddies, we live for this shit.”

Hunichen also paid tribute to his late father, who passed away last summer.

Birth of Sauron?

When he fought against “Isuldur1”, Hunichen’s men took it upon themselves to call Hunichen “Sauron” to mock the Swede. Lord of the rings-inspired nickname.

Unlike in the Tolkien trilogy, Sauron defeated Isuldur this time because Blom’s King-Jack lost to Hunichen’s Ace-Seven and it became a one-sided duel between Hunichen and Ausmus.

When asked if the new nickname will stick, Hunichen said: “We’ll see.”

“When my friend won a bracelet last year, we started talk about Phil Hellmuth (to be) dressed as a Spice Girl. That stuck pretty well, it went viral. We’ll see what happens.”

Ausmus managed to stay alive with a three-outer and eventually took the lead before going all-in on one final hand on the flop, with Ausmus holding an overpair to Hunichen’s top pair. The turn kept Ausmus in the lead, but trips on the river gave Hunichen the win, as his rail maintained the energy they had maintained all day.

Hunichen is known for his annual Fourth of July Independence Day parties and said this year’s celebrations, which followed his seven-figure win, will be the biggest of all.

“It should be,” he said. “Otherwise I have failed. If you don’t come, you’re missing out.”

Keywords:
Aleksejs PonakovsChance KornuthChris HunichenDaniel AharoniIsaac HaxtonJeremy AusmusJustin SalibaViktor Blom