Every few years, the World Series of Poker rolls out a new wrinkle on the traditional no-limit hold’em format. Some, like mystery bounty events, catch fire. Others, like mixed max events where table sizes shrank over the course of a tournament, have their moment and fade.
Only time will tell where the new ‘Battle of the Ages’ will fall in the annals of WSOP history. The new event, which split the fields into ‘under 50’ and ‘over 50’ sections for day 1, was certainly an entertaining exercise.
Sebastiaan de Jonge was one of seven players from the younger flight to make the final day, standing against Joseph Roh, the lone player from the ‘over 50’ segment to survive to day 3. While Roh held the overnight chip lead, and de Jonge had just five big blinds when the tournament resumed on Tuesday, the Dutch pro whose surname fittingly translates as ‘the young one’ ultimately prevailed.
De Jonge earned a first-place prize of $335,390, outlasting a combined field of 3,074. De Jonge’s share of the $3,705,120 prize pool dwarfs his previous career best of $92,340, secured with a runner-up finish in a $5,250 no-limit hold’em event at the 2020 L.A. Poker Classic.
In addition to his first career WSOP bracelet, de Jonge earned 1,200 points in the Card Player Player of the Year race, presented by Coin Poker.
A Whirlwind Spinup
With the distribution of the chips in play, action was destined to be fast and furious, especially at the start of the day. Xia Wang, the last woman standing in the field, went out in eighth place when her A♦6♦ fell to Ignacio Sagra’s K♣ Q♣, courtesy of a Q♦ on the flop.
Srivinay Irrinki knocked off Allan Le, the last player in the field with a WSOP bracelet win prior to this event, in seventh. Le, who recently won his second career bracelet in the $1,500 Razz event, fell a few spots short in this event. After surviving on a short stack for an extended stretch, Le couldn’t overcome Irrinki’s A♥ 10♠ with J♥ 10♥ despite turning an open-ended straight flush draw.
De Jonge avoided an indignity and won a most unusual coin flip six-handed. In a battle of the blinds, Jack Maskill shoved seven big blinds and de Jonge called with pocket threes. Maskill was indeed racing with 10♥ 4♥, and despite picking up a world of outs by the turn of a K♥ 9♠ 7♣ Q♥ board, the river was a harmless 9♦ for de Jonge.
In one pot, de Jonge was all but even with Roh and Irrinki at the top of the chip counts.
It only got more ridiculous from there. Just moments after taking the lead, de Jonge three-bet shoved with A♦ 10♥. Roh called off his stack with A♠ 7♣, and the board ran out K♣ J♥ 3♠ A♣ 6♥. De Jonge simultaneously grabbed a stranglehold and knocked off the last ‘over 50’ player in the field.
A Bump In The Road
Sagra jumped from the shortest stack into the chip lead in the blink of an eye. He doubled up three times, the third coming at de Jonge’s expense. Sagra’s pocket jacks were superior to de Jonge’s pocket nines, and the runout was clean.
Sagra continued his tear when his Q♦ 10♠ outflopped Irrinki’s A♣ 6♦ by making a pair of queens. Three-handed play did not last long. Hakeem Mashal’s all-in was called by both de Jonge and Sagra, and de Jonge bet the Q♠ 8♠ 2♣ flop. Upon Sagra’s fold, de Jonge tabled Q♦ 10♥, which was strongly ahead of Mashal’s pocket sevens. It remained so through the A♥ turn and 5♥ river.
While Sagra started heads-up play in the lead, it didn’t last long. De Jonge’s Q♦ 5♣ in the big blind connected hard with a 5♠ 5♦ 4♣ flop, and a mistimed bluff from Sagra cost him the chip lead.
Closing It Out
Sagra flipped a 2-to-1 deficit into a 2-to-1 lead when his A♣ Q♣ staved off de Jonge’s A♠ 4♦. On a hand that would swing everything, Sagra check-raised all in on an A♦ 7♣ 4♣ flop. De Jonge went deep into the tank and finally called with Q♣ 4♠. His pair of fours was ahead, but Sagra had 10♣ 8♣ and 14 outs, twice. According to the Card Player Texas Hold’em Poker Odds Calculator, the odds were impossibly close on the flop. De Jonge was 50.2% to win the pot and double. Sagra had a 49.8% chance to win the tournament.
The turn was the 4♥ and the river was the A♠. With a full house, de Jonge claimed the crucial pot and a double-up.
It only got crueler for Sagra from there. De Jonge ran K♦ 4♦ head-first into Sagra’s pocket kings, with the bracelet on the line. The board ran out a queen-high straight on the river for a chop to save de Jonge.
When de Jonge’s pocket queens successfully held off Sagra’s A♠ 4♦, the tournament was all but over. On the final hand, de Jonge was in a dominant spot with J♦ 9♠ vs. J♣ 4♠. He had the victory sealed by the turn of a K♦ 9♥ 7♥ 5♣ 4♣ runout.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Sebastiaan de Jonge | $335,390 | 1,200 |
| 2 | Ignacio Sagra | $223,394 | 1,000 |
| 3 | Hakeem Mashal | $165,944 | 800 |
| 4 | Srivinay Irrinki | $124,269 | 600 |
| 5 | Joseph Roh | $93,820 | 500 |
| 6 | Jack Maskill | $71,416 | 400 |
| 7 | Allan Le | $54,814 | 300 |
| 8 | Xia Wang | $42,424 | 200 |
| 9 | Kelley Slay | $33,112 | 100 |
Photo credit: PokerGO / Miguel Cortes.
