Ausmus claims WSOP COVID-19 Relief Charity Event

Jeremy Ausmus almost didn't play in the $1,000 Covid-19 No-Limit Hold'em Charity event. The longtime poker player and commentator braved the long registration lines at the Rio Convention Center Thursday, making it into the tournament shortly before the end of late registration.

Less than 24 hours later, that decision led to WSOP glory. Ausmus took down series Event #3 Friday afternoon, taking home a $48,681 payday.

The win earned Ausmus his second career WSOP bracelet and brought his lifetime tournament earnings to over the $8.7 million mark.

Event #3 played with a turbo structure throughout, with 20-minute levels. Day 2 resumed with five players at the final table, and Ausmus claimed the bracelet in less than two hours of play on Friday.

"They're fun," Ausmus said of turbo WSOP events. "They're much lower pressure for everyone. There's less skill; I like to have a few of them in the mix."

"You can just finish a tournament in a couple of days. It's not the truest mark of the skilled players; you need deeper stacks for that. But everyone has fun just getting in there and gambling."

Despite the fast format, Friday's final table included plenty of tough competition. Runner-up Jesse Lonis (2nd - $30,086) came up one spot short of his second career WSOP bracelet.

Lonis held the chip lead going into heads-up play against Ausmus. Ausmus managed a double-up just a few hands into heads up play, and finished the deal in an all-in preflop hand against his fellow WSOP champion.

The final hand saw Ausmus pick up ace-nine suited against Lonis' king-nine suited, and the ace-high held through the runout.

"The tournament in general, for being a $1k at the World Series, was reg-heavy as we say," Ausmus said. "Lots of regulars, and I knew everyone at the final table."

Other top-five finishers included Mitchell Halverson (3rd - $20,960), Asher Conniff (4th - $14,919), and Steve Gross (5th - $10,854).

Ausmus is now a two-time WSOP champion, with his previous bracelet win coming at the 2013 WSOP Europe in Pot-Limit Omaha.

Final Table Results
1 Jeremy Ausmus $48,681
2 Jesse Lonis $30,086
3 Mitchell Halverson $20,960
4 Asher Conniff $14,919
5 Steve Gross $10,854

(Article courtesy of World Series of Poker)