July 26, 2020

Raymond Avant Outlasts Strong Final Table to Win WSOP Bracelet and $95K

3 min read

A search for Raymond Avant on Hendon Mob and other online databases yields no results. But while Avant’s poker past is currently unknown, his future will include the title “WSOP bracelet winner” after he took down first place in the $500 No-Limit Hold’em Knockout Freezeout event.

Raymond Avant came out on top of a 1,452-player field to win a WSOP Bracelet. (Image: Screenshot)

Avant (Avant9201) entered the final table with the chip lead and never gave it up, outlasting runner-up Scott Epstein (intheblack14), Ryan Torgersen (Im.Sorry), and Upeshka De Silva (gomezhamburg) en route to a $95,476 payday and his first WSOP bracelet. De Silva was the most accomplished player at the final table as a two-time WSOP bracelet winner with more than $3 million in career poker tournament earnings.

$500 No-Limit Hold’em Knockout Results

1. Raymond Avant (Avant9201) $93,776 + $1,700 KO
2. Scott Epstein (intheblack14) $58,074 + $500 KO
3. Ryan Torgersen (Im.Sorry) $41,243 + $1,100 KO
4. Upeshka De Silva (gomezhamburg) $29,690 + $700 KO
5. Byung Jun Kim (YESUM1987) $21,693 + $900 KO
6. Zachary Grech (Kings702) $15,995 + $900 KO
7. Dilip Kumar Natarajan (dogmai) $12,023 + $2,900 KO
8. Michael O’Brien (mikeob81) $9,095 + $400 KO
9. Daniel Zack (PepperPrince) $7,004 + $400 KO

Robert Kuhn and Ryan Torgersen Battling For the Top Spot

Robert Kuhn (BustinBalls) cooled off after a red-hot run through the first half of the WSOP Online Series, but he seems to be heating back up again after finishing in 40^th place for $2,416 in WSOP Bracelet Event #22 and in 50^th place for $1,568 in Thursday’s Event #23. Kuhn entered Event #23 with a 2631.72 to 2246.79 lead over Ryan Torgersen on the WSOP $100,000 Online Leaderboard.

But Torgersen may have closed the gap with his third-place finish. With a win and a runner-up finish already on his resume this summer, another top-three finish will put Torgersen right in the mix for the top spot. Both players are likely anxiously awaiting the WSOP.com leaderboard update, but regardless of what position they are in heading into Friday’s $400 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed event, it figures to be a neck-and-neck race down the stretch.

Daniel Negreanu Runs Deep and Falls Just Shy Again

Negreanu (DNegs) made yet another deep run on Thursday night, finishing in 25^th place for $2,770. This marked the fourth straight tournament in which Negreanu managed to crack the top 35, finishing in 25^th place in Event #20 ($2,814), 30^th place in Event #21 ($5,145), and in 32^nd place in Event #22 ($2,913).

Negreanu reportedly has $1 million in bracelet bets placed against other players in this series, including Connor Drinan (666666), who he’s had a few deep runs against. Eight events remain for Negreanu to break through in the WSOP Online Series before he makes his way to Mexico to play in the GG Poker bracelet events.