Ryan Leng Wins 2018 WSOP $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Bounty Event

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A total of 1,983 players turned out for the 2018 World Series of Poker $1,500 no-limit hold’em bounty event, building a prize pool of $2,667,050. Each player started with a bounty chip that would go to whoever eliminated them from the event, which could be redeemed for $500 after the event concluded. After four days of action, there was only one bounty hunter left standing: Ryan Leng. The

“It’s amazing. It’s just so much fun. Yesterday and today, it was such a whirlwind. I was chip leader, I was short stacked, then I was the chip leader again,” Leng told WSOP reporters after coming out on top. “I played against some very tough opponents. Ranno Sootla, the guy I got heads-up with, is one of the toughest players I’ve ever played against. It’s a lot of fun to have to go through someone that good to win my first bracelet.”

In addition to the money and the hardware Leng also took home 1,080 Card Player Player of the Year points. This was his fifth final table finish of the year, with a number of deep runs in WSOP Circuit events in 2018. As a result of Leng’s success, he shot up to 74th place in the 2018 POY rankings.

Leng came into the unscheduled fourth day of this event as the chip leader with four players remaining, having knocked out 2017 Card Player Poker Tour Venetian $5,000 main event winner Javier Gomez in fifth place ($65,851) at the very end of day 3. Estonia’s Ranno Sootla scored the first elimination of the day, winning a race with 66 against Christian Nolte’s AQ. Sootla jumped into the lead after that hand.

Leng was able to regain the ascendancy by taking out 2013 WSOP main event runner-up Jay Farber in third place. Farber moved all-in over a button raise from Leng with A9 and found himself up against Leng’s A10. Leng made the nut flush on the river to send Farber home with $121,329 as the third-place finisher.

With that Leng took just shy of a 2-to-1 lead into heads-up play against Sootla. The Estonian turned the tables early in the final showdown, winning an all-in preflop confrontation when his pocket threes beat Leng’s AK. Leng was able to battle back into the lead in time for a massive cooler to seal the deal for him.

In the final hand Sootla min-raised to 400,000 from the button and Leng made the call. The flop brought the 986 and Leng bet out for 350,000. Sootla raised to 1,175,000, only to have Leng make a three-bet to 2,175,000. Sootla moved all-in and was snap-called by Leng, who had flopped a straight with the 107. Sootla had also flopped a huge hand with his 99 for top set. The turn brought the 10 and the river the 4, locking up the pot and the title for Leng. Sootla was awarded $168,329 as the second-place finisher.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

For more coverage from the summer series, visit the 2018 WSOP landing page complete with a full schedule, news, player interviews and event recaps.

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