Orpen Kisacikoglu Wins $50k Diamond High Roller WSOP Event for $748,000

British-based Turkish player Orpen Kisacikoglu won his first World Series of Poker bracelet after winning the $50,000-entry Diamond High Roller WSOPE Event #11 For $748,106. At a final table containing some of the best and most in-form players in the world, such as Shaun Deeb, Sam Grafton and Timothy Adams, who led after a dramatic opening day at the felt.

The Final Table is Formed

The final day of the $50,000-entry Diamond High Roller event lasted a full 10 hours as the battle to become the latest WSOP gold bracelet winner ended in some style. With 45 total entries, only seven players made the final table, after 22 players had begun the day. Eventually, Dutch player Jorryt Van Hoof (9^th) and $25k High Roller bracelet winner Paul Phua (8^th) made the final table without scraping into the money.

Once the final seven were reached, it was Shaun Deeb (11.9 million) who held the lead over Timothy Adams (10.1m) with everyone else except Kisacikoglu (7.5m) having less than half the chip leader’s stack with a prizepool of $2,116,125 up for grabs.

Canadian player Daniel Dvoress was the first to bust of the final seven, cashing for $92,787 when his raise for half his stack with ace-five eventually saw him commit all of his chips as a call to Kisacikolgu’s shove with ace-six. Dvoress might have been hoping for a chop, but the board of J-8-3-7-2 was anything but fortunate for him as the Turkish player’s six kicker played and the Canadian made his way from the cardroom.

Adams Ousted Outside Final Four

Daniel-Gai Pidun exited in sixth place as he fell just short of emulating his brother Thomer, who won his first WSOP bracelet earlier in the series. Pidun, who moved all-in with jack-ten on a board showing J-K-J-2-4 was hit by a cold deck as Timothy Adams had travelled with him all the way to fifth street with queen-jack to out-kick his opponent and send him home with $119,492.

Timothy Adams began the day as chip leader but would end up missing the top four. He slid out in fifth for $159,413 after losing a couple of important pots to Shaun Deeb, running short then busting the eventual winner. Adams called off his stack with pocket fives after the Turkish high roller had shoved with king-eight and Kisacikoglu’s two overcards eventually hit, the board of A-T-6-A-K striking gold on the river to send Adams home and Kisacikoglu grabbed a big lead in the process.

It was American player Nick Petrangelo who left one step further up the ladder, reaching fourth place for a cash worth $220,045. Petrangelo was all-in just a couple of minutes after Adams, this time holding ace-seven, with Deeb calling with seven-five of diamonds. The board of 5-4-3-8-8 rewarded Deeb with a pair on the flop and he vaulted up the leaderboard at the expense of the only other remaining United States player.

Deeb and Grafton Miss Out

“I was starting to feel anxious about finishing second again.”

Down to the final three players, Orpen Kisacikoglu were perhaps the two less experienced players at this level, but the Turkish player was able to grab glory and the first WSOP gold of his career to date at the expense of another man going for that maiden gong. That was because Shaun Deeb busted in third place for $313,919, missing out on the chance to grab his sixth WSOP title after going close earlier in the week too.

Deeb was all-in with pocket jacks, but in a five-bet pot, Kisacikoglu held pocket kings and after the A-4-2-7-9 board, managed to eliminate Deeb and take a huge lead into heads-up. Interestingly, however, Grafton has raise-folded with ace-eight, meaning if he’d been all-in, then he would have scooped the pot. As it was, however, his 9.7 million chips were playing catch up to the Turkish player’s 35.4 million.

The final hand came about quickly as after an initial break, two big hands collided. Kisacikoglu shoved with king-queen and Grafton called it off with king-jack. Despite being a big favorite to win the hand pre-flop, Kisacikoglu looked on in horror as the flop came J-7-8, catapulting Grafton into the lead. A nine on the turn gave the Turkish player seven outs rather than three, however, and he hit a ten on the river to strike a runner-runner straight and capture the $748,106 top prize, his first-ever gold WSOP bracelet and a seat into the 2023 WSOP Tournament of Champions in Las Vegas.

Grafton, ever the gentleman, congratulated his opponent and took home $462,363 for his latest excellent performance on the high roller circuit.

“It feels incredibly special,” said Kisacikoglu after the event concluded. “Playing with friends makes things more relaxed at the table but yeah when we got to the final few, I was starting to feel anxious about finishing second again. I remember what it was like to be a loner at these events. Trying to go it alone. I really don’t miss those days.”

Surrounded by friends, both men were happy, but only Kisacikoglu had laid his WSOP ghost to rest.