Michael Rocco Wins First Bracelet In WSOP $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Max Championship

Heading into the 2024 World Series of Poker $10,000 no-limit hold’em six-max championship, Michael Rocco had made five top-three finishes in WSOP bracelet events without coming away with a win. Just over a month before this tournament began, the 34-year-old recorded a third-place finish in a $25,000 buy-in high roller at the series. Rocco’s frustration with the result was evident in his bust-out interview with PokerGO’s Jeff Platt.

“I always don’t close [in] big spots. That’s just what I do,” he said at point.

Really respect and appreciate Michael Rocco taking us through what honestly was running through his mind as he busted in third: pic.twitter.com/KO2ysBkXWP

— Jeff Platt (@jeffplatt) June 9, 2024

Rocco was able to close in this big spot, though. He beat out a field of 502 entries in the final $10,000 buy-in championship event of the summer to earn his first WSOP gold bracelet and a career-best payday of $942,922. This victory increased Rocco’s lifetime tournament earnings to $7,137,887.

In an interview with Pokernews during the final day of this event, Rocco revealed that he has purchased a farm and intends to spend more time cultivating crops than playing flops in the near future.

Rocco was awarded 2,100 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win. This was his second title and tenth final-table finish of the year. With 5,183 total points and nearly $2.2 million in to-date POY earnings, he now sits in sixth place in the 2024 race standing presented by Global Poker. Rocco also secured 925 PokerGO Tour points, enough to catapult him into the outright lead in the PGT season-long points race.

The top 76 finishers made the money in this event, with big names like 2013 WSOP main event champion Ryan Riess (48th), 2021 WSOP main event champion Koray Aldemir (41st), 2015 WSOP main event champion Joe McKeehen (35th), two-time bracelet winner Joao Simao (29th), Viktor Blom (12th), two-time bracelet winner Eric Baldwin (11th), and bracelet winner James Chen (10th) among the many that ran deep.

The third and final day of this event began with 28 players remaining. Rocco was in seventh chip position to start the day. He remained in that spot when the unofficial final table of seven was set. He outlasted Fahredin Mustafov (7th – $104,465) and Egor Procop (6th – $142,316) to make it down to the final five.

Four-time bracelet winner Adrian Mateos was the next to fall, with his pocket nines unable to hold against the A-9 of two-time bracelet winner Alexandre Reard, who won this very event in 2023. Mateos earned $198,261 for his latest deep run. He also took home 875 POY points, enough to see him regain the lead in the 2024 POY standings. He has 7,502 total points accrued across 13 final-table finishes. His to-date POY earnings now sit at more than $8.6 million.

Reard continued to pull away from the pack when his pocket tens bested the A-6 suited of bracelet winner Aram Zobian (4th – $282,302) to narrow the field to three. Rocco was able to close the gap a bit during three-handed action, but Reard made two-pair over two-pair to bust Aleks Dmitrov (3rd – $410,657) to extend a sizable chip advantage again.

Heads-up play began with Reard holding 23,100,000 to Rocco’s 8,700,000. Reard had a chance to close out the win and secure back-to-back victories in this event, but his pocket eights were outrun by Rocco’s pocket sevens. Rocco flopped a set and held from there to double into the lead.

The final hand of the tournament was a wild one. Reard min-raised to 500,000 on the button with Q5 and Rocco defended with 43. The flop came down Q54 and Rocco check-called for 500,000. The turn brought the 3 and Rocco checked his fours and threes. Reard bet 900,000 with queens and fives. Rocco check-raised all-in and Reard quickly called. According to Card Player’s Poker Odds Calculator, Reard was a 91-percent favorite to win the hand and double up. The 3 appeared on the end, though, giving Rocco threes full for the win.

Reard earned $610,013 as the runner-up. The French player now has more than $5.9 million in lifetime earnings.

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

Winner photo credit: WSOP / Rachel Kay Winter.

Visit the Card Player 2024 World Series of Poker page for schedules, news, interviews, and the latest event results. WSOP coverage sponsored by Global Poker.

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