Turkish Entrepreneur Takes Home $218,500 and Seventh Career Title
Date: 2023-09-23 Author: Dima Zakharov Categories: POKER, PEOPLE
UK-based Turkish entrepreneur Orpen Kisacikoglu may not be a professional poker player, but his recent triumph at the 2023 Poker Masters has solidified his status as a force to be reckoned with in the poker world. In a thrilling showdown, Kisacikoglu outplayed 95 other contenders to secure victory in event no. 6 of the high-stakes festival. His impressive win in the $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event earned him a whopping $218,500 in prize money.
Kisacikoglu's path to victory was no easy feat, as he faced off against some of the most seasoned players in the game, including two heavyweights of poker's all-time money list: Justin Bonomo ($64.1 million in career earnings) and Stephen Chidwick ($52 million in career earnings).
By seizing the final pot in this event, Kisacikoglu added a remarkable 540 Card Player Player of the Year points to his name, propelling him to the 33rd position in the 2023 POY standings presented by Global Poker. So far this year, he has notched up nine final tables and clinched three titles, amassing an impressive $4.2 million in POY earnings along the way.
Kisacikoglu also scored 219 PokerGO Tour points for his victory, catapulting him to sixth place in the race for this year's Poker Masters Purple Jacket.
The top 14 participants in this event all secured cash prizes, with a total prize pool of $950,000 to share among them. The final day of play started with just seven players, with Kisacikoglu leading the pack and event no. 4 champion Chino Rheem hot on his heels.
The action began with the 2013 WSOP main event champion, Ryan Riess, losing a preflop race and finishing in seventh place ($47,500). Chidwick followed suit, bowing out after his A-9 hand collided with Bonomo's A-K. This marked Chidwick's 18th final table appearance of the year, placing him in sixth position on the POY leaderboard as he vies for his third Card Player's points race victory.
Rheem, a three-time World Poker Tour winner, knocked out Sam Laskowitz in fifth place ($76,000) but later suffered a substantial setback when his pocket jacks were trumped by Jack Hardcastle's pocket aces. Rheem's run came to an end when he went all-in with pocket sixes against Kisacikoglu's A-10, finishing in fourth place ($95,000). He climbed to second place in the overall points race for the series, amassing a total of 313 points.
Bonomo was the next to depart, going all-in with 5-4 suited and falling short against Kisacikoglu's ace-high hand. Bonomo secured third place and a $114,000 prize.
Kisacikoglu entered the heads-up showdown with 11.1 million in chips, compared to Hardcastle's 775,000. In a swift conclusion, Kisacikoglu seized the title in the very first hand. Hardcastle went all-in with Q-Club Suit J-Heart Suit, while Kisacikoglu called with 10-Diamond Suit 6-Heart Suit. The board favored Kisacikoglu, and he secured both the pot and the title. Hardcastle earned $152,000 as the runner-up, marking the third-largest recorded score of his career and pushing his lifetime earnings past the $2 million mark.
Kisacikoglu's path to victory was no easy feat, as he faced off against some of the most seasoned players in the game, including two heavyweights of poker's all-time money list: Justin Bonomo ($64.1 million in career earnings) and Stephen Chidwick ($52 million in career earnings).
By seizing the final pot in this event, Kisacikoglu added a remarkable 540 Card Player Player of the Year points to his name, propelling him to the 33rd position in the 2023 POY standings presented by Global Poker. So far this year, he has notched up nine final tables and clinched three titles, amassing an impressive $4.2 million in POY earnings along the way.
Kisacikoglu also scored 219 PokerGO Tour points for his victory, catapulting him to sixth place in the race for this year's Poker Masters Purple Jacket.
The top 14 participants in this event all secured cash prizes, with a total prize pool of $950,000 to share among them. The final day of play started with just seven players, with Kisacikoglu leading the pack and event no. 4 champion Chino Rheem hot on his heels.
The action began with the 2013 WSOP main event champion, Ryan Riess, losing a preflop race and finishing in seventh place ($47,500). Chidwick followed suit, bowing out after his A-9 hand collided with Bonomo's A-K. This marked Chidwick's 18th final table appearance of the year, placing him in sixth position on the POY leaderboard as he vies for his third Card Player's points race victory.
Rheem, a three-time World Poker Tour winner, knocked out Sam Laskowitz in fifth place ($76,000) but later suffered a substantial setback when his pocket jacks were trumped by Jack Hardcastle's pocket aces. Rheem's run came to an end when he went all-in with pocket sixes against Kisacikoglu's A-10, finishing in fourth place ($95,000). He climbed to second place in the overall points race for the series, amassing a total of 313 points.
Bonomo was the next to depart, going all-in with 5-4 suited and falling short against Kisacikoglu's ace-high hand. Bonomo secured third place and a $114,000 prize.
Kisacikoglu entered the heads-up showdown with 11.1 million in chips, compared to Hardcastle's 775,000. In a swift conclusion, Kisacikoglu seized the title in the very first hand. Hardcastle went all-in with Q-Club Suit J-Heart Suit, while Kisacikoglu called with 10-Diamond Suit 6-Heart Suit. The board favored Kisacikoglu, and he secured both the pot and the title. Hardcastle earned $152,000 as the runner-up, marking the third-largest recorded score of his career and pushing his lifetime earnings past the $2 million mark.
