This Week's Big Winner: Ben Heath Wins First Career Bracelet, Takes Down 2019 WSOP $50,000 High Roller

After being the beneficiary of one of the most controversial blunders of the 2019 World Series of Poker, British poker pro Ben Heath earned one of the biggest paydays of the series. Heath defeated an elite, 110-entry field to win his first WSOP bracelet in the $50,000 no-limit hold’em high roller.

The 27-year-old defeated Andrew Lichtenberger heads-up to win $1,484,085, the largest payday of his career. Along with the bracelet and the seven-figure payday, Heath was also awarded 1,020 Card Player Player of the Year points.

“When I was younger, I was shy and didn’t really want to win the bracelet,” Heath told WSOP reporters. “I would have rather just taken second place. But now that it has happened, it feels great! It feels a lot better than I thought it would.”

This was his third final table and first title of 2019. He now sits in 41st place in the POY race sponsored by Global Poker. Heath’s previous best score came at the 2017 Aussie Millions main event, where he finished runner-up for $760,000. He also has final-table appearances at EPT Monte Carlo, EPT Prague, the Wynn Classic, and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. In total, the Brighton-native has more than $4.5 million in career live tournament earnings.

Here are the five key hands that propelled Heath to the title.

Tournament: WSOP $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller
Buy-In: $50,000 • No. of Entries: 110 • Prize Pool: $5,280,000
1st Place Prize: $1,484,085

The Action

With seven players remaining, Soverel raised to 240,000 from under-the-gun and Fox shoved for 2,345,000 behind him. Heath then woked up with pocket kings in the big blind and moved in over the top to isolate. Soverel folded, and Fox needed help with his pocket eights. The board offered none, falling Q♠ 5♠ 5♥ J♣ A♠, and he was eliminated in seventh place, taking home $192,794.

The Action

Yurasov raised to 260,000 and Petrangelo three-bet to 800,000 on the button. Heath then four-bet to 1,850,000 from the small blind, and Yurasov got out of the way. Petrangelo then shoved for 3,800,000, and Heath called immediately with pocket queens. Petrangelo held A♥ K♠ for a classic coinflip confrontation, but failed to connect on a ten-high board. He earend $335,181 for his fifth-place showing, almost exactly one year after winning the 2018 WSOP High Roller event.

The Action

Soverel raised to 400,000 and Yurasov moved all-in over the top for 4,930,000. The action folded to Heath in the small blind, who asked for a count. Heath thought it over in the tank for a bit and eventually used one of his time bank chips, tossing it onto the felt. Soverel, apparently not paying full attention to the action, then mucked his cards out of turn. Now facing just one player instead of two, Heath made the call, and turned over A♥ Q♥. A livid Yurasov unhappily revealed A♦ 10♦, clearly believing that Soverel had influenced the outcome of the hand. The board offered him no help, and he was eliminated in fourth place, taking home $458,138. To his credit, Heath later claimed that he would have eventually made the call either way.

The Action

Heath raised to 575,000 and Soverel three-bet to 1,500,000 from the small blind, leaving himself with just 650,000 behind. Heath then moved all-in, and Soverel made the call for his tournament life with K♥ J♥. Heath had him dominated, holding A♦ K♠, but the flop of Q♠ 9♥ 6♥ gave Soverel plenty of outs. In fact, Soverel was a 55 percent favorite to win the hand on the flop with his straight and flush draws. The board completed 4♠ 5♦, however, and Soverel was eliminated in third place, earning $640,924. With the pot, Heath took a 4:3 chip lead into heads-up play.

The Action

Sitting with a slight chip disadvantage, Lichtenberger raised to 650,000 on the button and Heath three-bet to 2,400,000. Lichtenberger responded by moving all-in, and Heath called with A♣ J♠. Lichtenberger was a big favorite, however, with a dominating A♦ K♥. The flop fell J♥ 5♦ 3♣, however, flipping the advantage to Heath. Lichtenberger picked up outs to a straight with the 10♥ on the turn, but the 10d on the river was a brick and ended his tournament run in second place. He picked up $917,232 for his runner-up performance, while Heath pocketed $1,484,085 and the bracelet.

Final Table Results

1. Ben Heath $1,484,085
2. Andrew Lichtenberger $917,232
3. Sam Soverel $640,924
4. Dmitry Yurasov $458,138
5. Nick Petrangelo $335,181
6. Chance Kornuth $251,128
7. Elio Fox $192,794
8. Cary Katz $151,755