$1,000 Double Stack No-Limit Hold'em (Event #34)

Joseph Cheong just won the first bracelet of his career in Event #34: $1,000 Double Stack No-Limit Hold'em of the 50th Annual World Series of Poker at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. Cheong takes home the first-place prize of $687,782 for his victory after defeating a four-figure field of 6,214 players, putting him at over $6,300,000 in total earnings at the World Series of Poker.

With multiple previous victories including a third place finish in the 2010 WSOP Main Event for over four million, today was just a regular day for Cheong.

"I have been playing poker for so long, it was just another day at work."

Cheong had a decent stack during most of the tournament and managed to get closer to the top of the leaderboard when things mattered most, eventually bagging a massive chip lead for the final day with 100 big blinds in the bag. He was responsible for four eliminations at the final table.

With tons of experience, multiple final tables, three Circuit rings, and a massive chip lead, Cheong didn't need much preparation for the final day.

"Me and my friends shared a bottle of wine, I slept really late, yep, that was my preparation."

Day 5 started with 6 players returning to the felt and within the first eight hands, only 3 players were left standing.

Soon after, Cheong eliminated Xu and found himself heads-up against David Ivers. Both of his opponents played their best game and the chip lead was going back and forth between the two of them during most of Day 4. Indeed, Ivers started the official final table as the chip leader.

"I think David (Ivers) was probably the toughest opponent on the table, but Zinan (Xu) played a little different from most grinders, which kinda threw me off a lot. So, he was probably the most dangerous opponent for me," Cheong said.

When the heads-up portion of play started, Cheong had over a 3 to 1 chip lead. He didn't waste time and quickly started applying pressure, soon extending his lead to an 8 to 1 chip advantage. Ivers managed to find a double when he was down to 18 bigs with tens against Cheon's sixes in an all-in preflop situation to get the stacks back to the starting point. However, that didn't last long as Cheong quickly won his chips back and it was all over when Cheong moved all with king-jack and Ivers made the call with ace-three for his last 15 blinds. Cheong flopped a king and that was it for Ivers' tournament life.

As for Cheong, he doesn't plan on taking a break. Indeed, he's going straight back to the grind.

"I am jumping into the bounty tournament immediately, okay, maybe a bathroom break and a beer before I'll jump in."

Final Table Results

Final Table Action

Brock Wilson was the first casualty of the final table when David Ivers jammed on the cutoff with jack-seven and Wilson made the call with his last twelve bigs with ace-queen. The flop brought a jack and that was it for Wilson's fantastic run.

Ivan Deyra was next to go when he three-bet shoved his last twelve bigs from the big blind with sixes and got called by Cheong with king queen. Cheong flopped a king and Deyra couldn't recover and headed to the rail instead in 8th place.

He was followed to the rail by David Guay in 7th place. David Guay was extremely short. He shoved his last 4 blinds with after flopping bottom pair from the big blind only to be snap-called by David Ivers who held jacks. The turn and river bricked and that was the end of Guay's tournament life.

Ido Ashkenazi was eliminated on the very first of the final day. He jammed his last twelve bigs with ace-jac from the hijack and got snap-called by Cheong who held jacks. The board was of no help to him and he was eliminated in 6th place.

Arianna Son headed to the exit in 5th place. She was all in for her last 7 big blinds with queen-jack suited against David Ivers' nine-deuce. Ivers hit a nine on the flop and Son couldn't recover.

The very next hand, Andrea Buonocore became Iver's next victim. Buonocore called a shove from Ivers with queen-ten against Iver's king-jack. The flop was jack-high and this ended the italian's deep run.

Zinan Xu was sent to the payout desk in 3rd place. Xu was the shortest stack during the three-handed portion of play and put up a strong fight. However, it all ended for him in a post-flop situation when he called a shove from Cheong on the river with top pair only to see Cheong's two pair.

With Cheong holding more than a 3 to 1 chip advantage against David Ivers, the heads-up portion of play only lasted an hour. Cheong kept chipping up and although Ivers found a double up at some point, Cheong quickly gained his chips back and Ivers chipped down to 15 big blinds. He put his last chips at risk with ace-three after calling a shove from Cheong with king-jack. Cheong flopped a pair of kings and the turn and river bricked for Ivers and he was sent home as the runner-up as Cheong claimed the title.

Other notables to cash include Jack Sinclair (27th place - $23,701), Denis Timofeev ($12,760), Timur Margolin ($12,760), Alexander Ziksin ($10,447) and Marcel Vonk ($7,278).

Hand #170: David Ivers limped from the small blind and Joseph Cheong checked. The flop came     and was checked around to the   turn. Cheong bet 4,000,000 and Ivers called. The turn was the   and Cheong continued with a bet of 12,000,000. Ivers folded.

Hand #171: Cheong limped from the small blind and Ivers checked. The dealer spread a flop of    . Ivers checked. Cheong bet 2,500,000 and Ivers folded.

Hand #172: Ivers limped from the small blind and Cheong checked. The flop was     and Cheong checked. Ivers threw in a bet of 2,000,000 that was enough to claim the pot.

Hand #173: Cheong limped from the small blind and Ivers moved all in. Cheong folded.

Hand #174: Ivers limped from the small blind and Cheong checked. On a flop of    , Cheong check-called a bet of 2,000,000 from Ivers. The turn was the   and was checked to the   river. Again both players checked. Cheong showed    and Ivers mucked.

Hand #175: Cheong limped and Ivers checked. The flop came     and Ivers check-called a bet of 2,500,000 from Cheong. The turn brought the   and Ivers checked once more. Cheong bet 7,000,000 and Ivers gave up his hand.

Hand #176: Ivers moved all in from the small blind and Cheong folded.

Hand #177: Cheong limped from the small blind and Ivers checked. The dealer fanned a flop of     that was checked through to the   turn and to the   river. Both players checked again. Ivers showed    and Cheong tabled    to win the pot.

Hand #178: Ivers called on the button and Cheong checked. They both checked through the     on the flop, the   on the turn, and the   on the river for Cheong to pick up the pot with   .

Joseph Cheong	224,000,000	17,900,000
David Ivers	24,000,000	-17,900,000

Hand #154: David Ivers limped from the small blind and Joseph Cheong responded by moving all in from the big blind. Ivers snap-called, putting at risk his last 28,800,000.

David Ivers:   
Joseph Cheong:   

The runout was       and Ivers doubled up.

Hand #155: Cheong raised to 4,800,000 on the button and Ivers folded.

Hand #156: Ivers limped from the small blind and Cheong checked. The flop came     and Cheong check-called a bet of 2,000,000 from Ivers. The turn was the   and was checked through to the   river. Cheong checked once more. Ivers fired 5,500,000 and Cheong folded.

Hand #157: Cheong limped from the small blind and Ivers checked. The flop was     and was checked through to the   turn and to the   river. Both players checked again and Cheong tabled    to claim the pot.

Hand #158: Ivers limped from the small blind and Cheong raised to 5,600,000. Ivers folded.

Hand #159: Cheong limped on the button and Ivers checked. The flop came     and Ivers check-called a bet of 1,600,000 from Cheong. The turn was the   and Ivers checked once more. Cheong continued with a bet of 6,000,000 and Ivers let it go.

Hand #160: Ivers raised to 3,800,000 from the small blind and Cheong moved all in. Ivers folded.

Hand #161: Cheong limped from the small blind and Ivers raised to 5,600,000. Cheong folded.

Joseph Cheong	190,000,000	-29,200,000
David Ivers	57,600,000	28,800,000

Hand #144: David Ivers limped from the small blind and Joseph Cheong checked. The dealer spread a flop of     that was checked through to the   turn. Cheong fired 4,000,000 and Ivers folded.

Hand #145: Cheong raised to 4,800,000 from the small blind and Ivers folded.

Hand #146: Ivers limped from the small blind and Cheong checked. The flop came     and Cheong checked. Ivers bet 1,600,000 and Cheong check-raised to 4,500,000. Ivers folded.

Hand #147: Cheong limped from the small blind Ivers checked. A flop of     was dealt and Ivers checked. Cheong threw in a bet of 1,600,000 that was enough to claim the pot.

Hand #148: Ivers limped from the small blind and Cheong checked. On a flop reading    , Cheong checked and Ivers bet 2,000,000. Cheong check-called. The turn was the   and was checked through to the   river. Both players opted to check. Ivers showed    for a pair of fives and Cheong showed    for a pair of tens to win the pot.

Joseph Cheong	206,560,000	16,160,000
David Ivers	42,000,000	-15,600,000

Hand #143: Joseph Cheong raised to 2,500,000 on the button and Zinan Xu and David Ivers called in the blinds.

The flop came    , both Xu and Ivers check-called the 2,500,000 bet of Cheong.

The turn was the  , Xu tanked and then bet 10,300,000. Ivers folded immediately but Cheong called after considering it for a few seconds.

The river completed the board with the  , Xu check-snap-called when Cheong put him all-in. Cheong flipped over    for the rivered two pair while Xu held    for just top pair. They shook hands and Xu made his way to his rail to walk to the payout desk together as he finished in third place for $314,875.

Joseph Cheong	190,400,000	56,300,000
David Ivers	57,600,000	-6,200,000
Zinan Xu	0	-50,100,000

Hand #137: Joseph Cheong raised to 2,600,000 on the button and Zinan Xu three-bet to 8,000,000 from the small blind. Cheong gave up his hand.

Hand #138: David Ivers limped from the small blind and Cheong raised to 4,200,000 from the big blind. Ivers added the remainder to call. The flop was     and Ivers checked. Cheong fired 3,000,000 and Ivers check-called. The turn was the   and Ivers check-called another bet of 13,000,000 from Cheong. The   completed the board and Ivers checked once more. Cheong continued with another bet of 30,000,000. Ivers went deep into the tank and eventually called. Cheong tabled    for trips and Ivers mucked.

Hand #139: Ivers raised to 2,500,000 on the button and Cheong three-bet to 10,600,000 from the small blind. Ivers called. The dealer spread a flop of    . Cheong checked. Ivers fired 10,000,000 and Cheong gave up his hand.

Joseph Cheong	125,000,000	30,000,000
David Ivers	68,000,000	-39,000,000
Zinan Xu	55,000,000	9,000,000

Hand #115: David Ivers raised to 2,500,000 on the button and Zinan Xu called from the big blind. A flop of     was dealt and Xu checked. Ivers threw in a bet of 4,000,000 that was enough to claim the pot.

Hand #116: Joseph Cheong opened to 2,600,000 on the button and got no action.

Hand #117: Xu raised to 2,700,000 on the button. Ivers and Cheong folded.

Hand #118: Cheong limped from the small blind and Xu raised to 4,100,000 from the big blind. Cheong folded.

Hand #119: Cheong opened to 2,000,000 on the button and got no action.

Hand #120: Cheong got a walk.

Hand #121: Ivers raised to 2,500,000 on the button. Cheong and Xu folded.

Hand #122: Xu limped from the small blind and Ivers checked in the big blind. The flop was     and was checked through to the   turn and to the   river. Again, Xu and Ivers checked. Xu tabled    and Ivers showed    and they chopped the pot.

Hand #123: Xu raised to 2,700,000 on the button and Cheong called from the big blind. The dealer fanned a flop of     and was checked through to the   turn. Cheong fired 5,500,000 and Xu gave up his hand.

Hand #124: Ivers raised to 2,500,000 on the button and Xu called from the big blind. A flop of     was dealt and Xu check-called a bet of 2,200,000 from Ivers. The turn was the   and both players checked it to the   river. Again, both players checked. Ivers tabled    for ace-high and Xu mucked.

Hand #125: Cheong raised to 2,500,000 on the button and Ivers called from the big blind. The flop came     and Ivers checked. Cheong fired 2,000,000 and Ivers let it go.

Hand #126: Xu moved all in on the button for about 20,000,000 and got no action.

Hand #127: Ivers raised to 2,500,000 on the butoton and Cheong called from the small blind. The flop came    . Cheong checked and Ivers fired 3,000,000. Cheong check-called. The turn was the   and Cheong checked once more. Ivers continued with another bet of 8,800,000 and Cheong folded.

Joseph Cheong	130,000,000	2,000,000
David Ivers	97,000,000	8,000,000
Zinan Xu	20,000,000	-11,800,000

Hand #103: Joseph Cheong limped from the small blind and Zinan Xu checked his big blind. The flop was     and was checked through to the   turn. Cheong bet 2,000,000 and Xu folded.

Hand #104: Xu limped from the small blind and David Ivers checked from the big blind. A flop reading     was dealt and Xu threw in a bet of 1,000,000 that Ivers called. The turn brought the   and Xu opted to check this time. Ivers fired 4,200,000 and Xu gave up his hand.

Hand #105: Xu raised to 2,500,000 on the button and Cheong called from the big blind. The flop came     and was checked through to the   turn. Cheong fired 4,500,000 and Xu folded.

Hand #101: David Ivers moved all in from the small blind and Arianna Son called from the big blind, putting at risk her last 7,000,000.

Arianna Son:   
David Ivers:   

Ivers hit a pretty favorable flop of    . The   turn and   river completed the board, and Ivers raked in the pot, eliminating Son from the tournament in 5th place for $176,820.

David Ivers	75,000,000	9,000,000
Arianna Son	0	-7,000,000