Event #89: $3,000 Mid-Stakes No-Limit Hold'em Championship

It is a French takeover here at the end of the 2024 World Series of Poker. Shouts of "Allez!" reverberated around a cavernous Horseshoe as Clement Richez was draped in "Le Tricolore" flag of France while his rail chanted his name moments after he conquered 3,177 runners in Event #89: $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship No-Limit Hold'em to win the massive first place prize of $1,041,989.

"I'm shaking all over," Richez said afterward to French media as he described the emotion of his win, "I didn't think this would give me so many emotions. I was on the verge of crying during the winner's photo, and I'll probably cry after this because I need to release all the pressure."

$3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship Final Table Results

Prior to this seven-figure payout, the French pro's biggest career score had been $188,000 when he finished 50th in last year's Main Event, where he spent a decent amount of time on feature tables to make a bit of a name for himself than with his distinctive tattoos and memorable fearless play.

But despite the visible emotion coming out of him afterward, Richez says he was steely and focused throughout the tournament. "I was very focused and didn't feel any doubt. I did not even check what first-place money was. I was just playing hand by hand and trying to play well."

And play well he did, as he entered the day fourth in chips and remained one of the big stacks through the day, where he would then reach his first career final table.

"My first final table was already a dream; the more players went down, and then suddenly I was heading up. It was even more of a dream. It's amazing, every poker player dreams to have a bracelet. It was not even my goal, but once I won, I realized that all this time, it was my goal."

Richez was sure to shout out his fellow Frenchmen as well as part of this late French takeover at the WSOP. "The dream is not over yet; it continues because Malo Latinois plays in the final table of the Main Event tomorrow, so if he wins, it would be crazy," he added as a teaser for tomorrow's Main Event extravaganza. Not to mention, Alexandre Reard, who had just won a big pot in the $10,000 6-Max Championship to take the chip lead there as Richez watched on following his win.

One final thing that made it special for Richez was that his wife was able to witness it. She arrived in Vegas from France just in time to watch the final table and share in his win. The two of them shared an emotional embrace following his winner's pictures and interview.

Action of the Day

The record field of 3,117 was the largest ever recorded field for a $3,000 tournament, and the day began with plenty of action as the 17 who started the day converged on the unofficial final table of ten in just two hours right as the first break hit.

From there, the action would be speedy at first as Stefan Dimitrov and David Brehme quickly departed within the first few minutes to bring the table down to eight. At eight-handed play there would be some dynamic changes with big all-ins that flipped the chip counts, most notably between Adam Owen and Alec Torelli.

Owen's downward momentum would be stymied when he hit a much-needed river card to bust Boris Kuzmanovic to boost himself back up into contention and bring the field down to six where start of day chip leader Taylor Black would meet his demise after he was unable to really get anything going at the final table.

David Uvaydov more than tripled his previous career-best score with a fifth-place finish for $293,950 as he fell victim to Torelli. Dong Chen was the next to go in fourth as he was able to ladder up his short stack into a fourth-place finish after being short for much of the final table.

Three-handed play began with three relatively even deep stacks. Torelli made some aggressive plays as he had the chip lead at the start of it, but ultimately, he lost a few pots and then went out to Owen when his straight flush draw could not get there. This result became the second best of Torelli's poker career, only behind his 11th place finish in the Main Event last year.

Heads-up play began with Owen holding the chip lead after taking out Torelli, but Richez quickly took control, winning multiple pots in a row through showdown and forcing folds. After about an hour, he had Owen down to around 15 big blinds, where the Brit would double once to climb close again but then lose on the second time, asking just a few hands later to confirm the Frenchman as the bracelet winner.

It was a somewhat bitter pill for Owen to swallow despite the large monetary score. It was the second time he had been runner-up for his first bracelet at this WSOP, as he was denied second place in Event #32: $1,500 Seven Card Stud, both times entering as the heads-up chip leader. But regardless, this result is good for the third-largest cash of his career.

That wraps up the PokerNews coverage of the inaugural and very successful Mid-Stakes Championship. Stay tuned for the final few days of the 2024 WSOP, which will all be covered right here on the site's live reporting tab.

Clement Richez limped from the button, Adam Owen moved all in and Richez made the call.

Adam Owen:   
Clement Richez:  

The     flop came Owen's way, giving him two pair, and Richez missed the clubs on the    runout.

Clement Richez	92,200,000	-16,600,000
Adam Owen	35,000,000	16,600,000

The players are now on a 15-minute break.

Clement Richez	108,800,000	8,800,000
Adam Owen	18,400,000	-9,600,000

Adam Owen limped the button and Clement Richez checked.

The flop came     and Richez check raised to 4,000,000 after Owen bet 1,600,000. Owen made the call.

The   turn prompted a check from Richez and Owen raised to 1,700,000. Richez called taking them to the   river.

Richez checked, Owen moved all in and Richez folded. Handing a sizeable pot to Owen.

Clement Richez	100,000,000	-6,000,000
Adam Owen	28,000,000	6,000,000

After a few small hands of heads up play, the action really began as it was picked up on a hand where the board read     . From the button, Clement Richez bet 2,500,000 and Adam Owen called.

The river was the  . Richez overbet 14,000,000 into a pot of 11,500,000. Owen considered it for about 30 seconds before he called.

Richez tabled the    and Owen mucked to take the chunky pot.

--
A couple of hands later, Richez limped the button. Owen raised to 4,000,000 and Richez called. The flop came down    . Richez called the bet of 4,500,000.

The turn was the  . Richez bet 11,0000,000 which got a fold from Owen.

--

The rush continued as the next hand, Richez called the 3,500,000 flop bet from Owen on a flop of    . Both players checked the turn  .

Richez bet 3,500,000 and Owen folded as Richez took the significant chip lead.

Clement Richez	87,000,000	49,500,000
Adam Owen	41,000,000	-48,000,000

In what was intended to be a conversation about a slew of near misses over his career, Michael Rocco flipped the script when he revealed that the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) would be his last full series for many years.

And the reason why he'll be reducing his volume at the tables may come as a bit of a shock.

During a break in Event #94: $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Championship, he told PokerNews that he has acquired a farm in the last year, and intends to shift his focus to that venture over his card-playing exploits.

Read the full article

Clement Richez opened on the button and Adam Owen defended the big blind.

The flop came     as both players checked it to the turn which was the  . They checked again to to the river as it came the  . Owen bet 1,800,000. Richez raised it up to 6,000,000.

Owen called after a few moments. Richez had the    ace-high and Owen showed the winner with the    pair.

Adam Owen	48,500,000	7,500,000
Clement Richez	37,500,000	-11,500,000

The flop came down    . Adam Owen bet 3,500,000 from the button. Alec Torelli thought and ruffled his chips for quite a long time before he moved all in, which got a snap fold from Owen.

Alec Torelli	43,200,000	2,000,000
Adam Owen	36,000,000	-1,500,000

With only four players remaining, Dong Chen raised to 5,000,000 from the button. Clement Richez moved all in from the big blind and Chen counted his remaining stack, before making the call.

Dong Chen:   
Clement Richez:   

The flop came     and Richez remained ahead with a set, although Chen had some hope with a gushot straight draw.

The     runout didn't improve Chen, and he was eliminated in fourth place.

Clement Richez	45,000,000	13,300,000
Dong Chen	0	-17,400,000