Steady Nicholas Kiley claims 1st WSOP bracelet
Nicholas Kiley steadily navigated the final table to win his first World Series of Poker bracelet early Sunday.
Kiley (screen name MrFinalT) won Event 25 of the WSOP Online, the $500 buy-in No-limit Hold’em Summer Saver tournament, earning $149,244.52. He prevailed in a field of 2,155 entries (1,484 players and 671 rebuys) on WSOP.com.
Kiley won heads-up against Guo Liang Chen (Ct188), who earned $92,233.22. In the final hand, Kiley went all-in on the river with a pair of kings, and Chen called and was eliminated with a pair of jacks.
Kiley jumped from the middle of the pack to near the chip lead early in the final table when his trip threes won a massive pot against a pair of queens. He steadily maintained his chip position from there and erased a small deficit heads-up to claim the bracelet.
Kiley had seven career cashes-in WSOP events for $24,689 before Sunday’s victory.
High-stakes poker pro Matt Berkey (Berkey11_S4Y) made another deep run, finishing fifth for $36,850.50 a day after taking seventh in Event 24.
The flagship WSOP that normally is held every summer at the Rio Convention Center has been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The U.S. leg of the WSOP Online includes one event every day in July. Players must be physically located in Nevada or New Jersey to play.
Event 26, the $500 No-limit Hold’em Grand Finale, starts at 3 p.m. Sunday and is expected to end early Monday. Event 27 is a $400 No-limit Hold’em freezeout tournament that starts at 3 p.m. Monday.
A series for players who live outside the U.S. — or Americans who can travel out of the country — started July 19 and runs through Sept. 6 on GGPoker.
Contact Jim Barnes at jbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV on Twitter.