'Like A Boss' -- William Kassouf Wins Irish Poker Masters Main Event

William Kassouf became notorious for his motor-mouthed table talk during the 2016 World Series of Poker main event. The British player ultimately finished 17th in that event for $338,288, but he was involved in many contentious and controversial hands that featured heavily in that year’s ESPN television coverage before he was eliminated.

Arguably the most famous moment from his run came when he ran an all-in bluff with 9-6 offsuit and drew a fold from Stacy Matuson’s pocket queens, which were an overpair to the board. He was penalized for his incessant table talk during the hand, but not before he unveiled his now infamous catchphrase: “Nine high, like a boss!”

While Kassouf has not quite become a full-time staple on the live tournament circuit since his starring role in the 2016 WSOP main event coverage, he has managed to make some big scores in the years since that breakout run, accumulating more than $1.2 million in career live tournament earnings along the way. In December of that year he won a €10,300 buy-in no-limit hold’em high roller event at the European Poker Tour Prague festival for $554,120.

Kassouf’s most recent big score came online, though. On Dec. 16, 2020 he outlasted a field of 1,341 entries in the €1,100 buy-in Irish Poker Masters no-limit hold’em main event, which was held online on partypoker. Kassouf reportedly won his way into the event via a €109 satellite. He managed to parlay that buy-in into a payout of €215,163 after he outlasted the sizable field and a tough final table that included a number of accomplished tournament players.

Kassouf came into the final table in seventh chip position out of nine remaining players, with recent WSOP International Tournament third-place finisher Manuel Ruvio starting the day with the largest stack. He survived to four-handed play as one of the shorter stacks, but managed to win a preflop race against fellow Anton Siden to give himself a bit more breathing room heading into three-handed action. Kassouf’s pocket fives beat out the K-Q offsuit of Siden to send the Swede home in fourth place (€66,267), while Kassouf chipped up to around 14 big blinds after the hand.

Kassouf doubled through online poker star Samuel Vousden to continue his climb up the leaderboard. Vousden’s run came to an end in third place when his pocket queens ran into a flopped straight held by Ruvio. The chips got in on the flop. Vousden picked up some outs to a higher straight on the turn, but a brick on the river sent him to the virtual rail with €101,620.

Ruvio held more than a 4:1 chip lead going into heads-up play against Kassouf. The British player doubled up with pocket nines against A-7, and won another sizable pot with A-10 suited against Ruvio’s pocket sixes to close the gap even further. He later took the lead making top two pair with A-10 in a raised pot.

By the time the final hand of the tournament was dealt, Kassouf held built a sizable lead of his own. He picked up the 88 on the button and raised to 8,592,600. Ruvio three-bet all-in for 57,857,400 with the 76. Kassouf made the call and flopped a full house with 877. The 4 turn meant Ruvio needed the case seven on the river to stay alive. The 6 gave him a full house, but it was still the second-best hand. With that Ruvio was eliminated in second place (€148,042) while Kassouf secured the pot and the title.

Here is a look at the payouts awarded at the final table:

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