I don’t know if Kristen Bicknell has a hoard of female acolytes feeding off her inspiration, but it sure feels good to write about a woman taking a sledgehammer to the highest echelons of poker.
Bicknell smashed Event #6: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em to bits, earning a career-high $408,000 in the process, taking down the Poker Masters new warlord, Chance Kornuth, in heads-up action.
Whereas Bicknell hogs the headlines, it’s Kornuth who is in the prime position to win the 2019 Poker Masters after finishing runner-up for the third event of the series giving him a big lead on the Championship Leaderboard.
The biggest buy-in event of the series attracted 51-entrants, and Bicknell entered the fray in fine fettle after finishing 5/1109 in the WPT Montreal Main Event. But she wasn’t the only player in the cult of outstanding performances.
The defending champion, Ali Imsirovic, made his second final table of the series (he finished fifth in the $10k PLO). Ralph Wong was also making his second appearance at a Poker Masters final table (he finished third in the $10k NLHE). Andras Nemeth has been one of the top high rollers both live and online in the past 18-months. And Ben Heath finished third in the recent £100,000 at Triton Million London for £1.35m and won his first bracelet in the summer claiming the $1.4m first prize in the $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller.
The Nutshell Action
Heath was the first player to take that not so magical carpet ride to the rail after running kings into the aces of Nemeth. Next Bicknell doubled through Kornuth: AT>J7 before Kornuth went on a killing spree. Wong went first when A9 came up against the dominating AJ, Nemeth’s A3 was no match for Kornuth’s pocket fives, and then the defending champion became a slug bathed in salt when J3cc beat K8o after Kornuth turned and rivered trip jacks.
Heads-Up
Bicknell – 3,470,000
Kornuth – 6,375,000
The pair traded blows for two-hours before Bicknell coolered Kornuth to take the title. The Global Poker Index (GPI) World #1 Female Player moved all-in with pocket eights, Kornuth called with pocket nines, but Bicknell rivered a straight to win her third title of 2019.
ITM Results
- Kristen Bicknell – $408,000
- Chance Kornuth – $267,500
- Ali Imsirovic – $178,500
- Andras Nemeth – $127,500
- Ralph Wong – $102,000
- Ben Heath – $76,500
- David Stamm – $63,750
- Elio Fox – $51,000
2019 Poker Masters Championship Standings
- Chance Kornuth – 630 points
- Kristen Bicknell – 300
- Isaac Baron – 300
- Ryan Laplante – 300
- JulienMartini – 300