Jeremy Eyer captures his maiden voyage WSOP bracelet

Event #12: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is in the books, with Mississippi's Jeremy Eyer capturing his maiden WSOP bracelet and the $649,550 first-place prize.

Eyer defeated GGPoker ambassador Felipe Ramos in an elongated heads-up duel to top the 735-player field and claim the lion's share of the $3,381,000 prize pool.

The win marked the end of Eyer's five-year pursuit of poker's most sought-after accolade. It was his 12th cash at the WSOP, with his first coming back in 2018. Moreover, the victory boosts Eyer to $1,483,523 in live tournament earnings and shoots him to second place in the Mississippi All-Time Money List.

The top 111 players made the money, with notable names such as Kristen Foxen (26th - $18,569), Josh Arieh (39th - $15,873) and 2022 WSOP Main Event champion Espen Jorstad (63rd - $10,952) all cashing the event.

Eyer came into Day 2 with a stack of only 60,000 and squeezed into the paid places, and when the money bubble burst, Eyer pointed to that as the turning point for his tournament.

"Probably my first double after the bubble," said Eyer in regard to where things started going right for him. "I had king king-ten versus ace-king, and I rivered a flush."
Eyer is often found on the virtual felt, where he's been sharpening his skills.

"I'm just trying to improve each year. I've been playing a lot online, improving my game, and now I'm transitioning more into live mostly, and that's helping my game a lot. And coming here, playing with the best players, and finishing first also helps."

His battle with Ramos lasted three hours and was a true test of wits until the end.

"It was a back-and-forth battle, you know. I had him down a little bit, and he had me down. It was back and forth, and finally, we just got into a cooler, and I was on the right end of it."
Eyer has ruled out competing for the WSOP Player of the Year title, but the newly crowned champion is still hunting for more gold.

"I don't play enough mix games for the Player of the Year race, so I'll probably just stick to the bigger hold'em events and keep trying to win bracelets."

Just 16 players returned for the final day, and the action was fast and furious as the official final table of eight was established by the first break. The likes of Yuval Bronshtein, Christina Gollins, and Jesse Lonis, all found themselves on the wrong side of the rail within the first two levels of the day.

Gollins suffered a huge cooler in a pot for the chip lead after her ace-king couldn't leapfrog Ramos' pocket queens in a battle between the blinds.

James Vecchio busted in ninth place on the final hand before the first break after his ambitious hero call backfired. His $51,769 payout was his biggest ever cash and more than three times as much as his total live tournament earnings.

WSOP Circuit Ring winner Shiva Dudani was the next to depart after jamming his short stack in with king-deuce, but he could not hold against Jeremy Eyer's queen-nine.

Ramos then took the chip lead heading into the final six after making two difficult calls in a row. He called a big river bet from Nozomu Shimizu with on the second pair and then called the four-bet bluff shove from Ivan Galinec. The Croatian tabled pocket fours, and they went into the muck after Ramos' pair of jacks held out to bring the event to its final six players.

2022 bracelet winner Jinho Hong then scored his first final table elimination after his pocket nines won the flip against Jeffrey Halcomb.

Shimizu then began his ascent up the chip counts after doubling through Ramos and Hong as well as ousting Ronald Minnis with a superior ace.

Hong was down to one big blind after Shimizu doubled through him. Hong was then all in several times over the next few hands. He was denied a couple of double-ups through chopped pots but did manage to double twice before eventually bowing out to Eyer.

With Hong's exit confirmed, the three remaining players competed for their first bracelet. Ramos and Eyer had previously tasted victory under the WSOP umbrella, but that came on the WSOP circuit in 2010 and 2019, respectively.

The top three would then battle in a war of attrition with the three stacks even for most of the time. However, Ramos sent Shizimu out in third place after his ace-queen held against ace-ten.

The $287,106 score was Shizimu's biggest payday and follows on from a stellar year where he has already picked up an EPT title in addition to the $194,273 he banked from a €25K High Roller at EPT Monte Carlo.

Like Shizimu, Eyer and Ramos also guaranteed themselves a career-best cash, but that thought didn't cross the mind of either player as both were gunning for the bracelet, if nothing else.

At heads-up, the chip lead changed back and forth on several occasions. As soon as one player looked like they would pull ahead, momentum shifted in their opponent's favor.

Eyer then picked off Ramos' three-high bluff to set himself apart once more, and then a few hands later, Eyer flopped Ramos dead after both players committed their stacks with premium hands.

Final table results:
Place Winner Country Prize (USD)
1 Jeremy Eyer United States $649,550
2 Felipe Ramos Brazil $401,460
3 Nozomu Shimizu Japan $287,106
4 Jinho Hong South Korea $208,158
5 Ronald Minnis United States $153,032
6 Jeffrey Halcomb United States $114,102
7 Ivan Galinec Croatia $86,300
8 Shiva Dudani United States $66,226
9 James Vecchio United States $51,769