Despite being a relative newcomer to poker, Santhosh Suvarna has quickly captured the hearts and souls of poker fans worldwide. The Indian casino mogul has had a meteoric rise in popularity following his appearances on cash game and tournament streams.
Suvarna’s never been afraid to splash around at the highest stakes, and once again, at the World Series of Poker, he proved he’s more than just a VIP as he took down the biggest buy-in event of the summer, the $250,000 Super High Roller.
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Suvarna was awarded his second WSOP bracelet after he topped the 75-entry field to claim the lion’s share of the $18,675,000 prize pool. He defeated online poker legend Ben Tollerene in heads-up play to seize the $5,415,152 that was set aside for the winner.
Tollerene, who was in control for most of the finale, missed out on a crowning moment, but the $3,537,135 runner-up prize should do well to soothe any wounds. Chris Hunichen rounded out the podium finishes, and it was his chips that allowed Suvarna to pull off the unlikely comeback against one of the best heads-up poker players of all time.
2024 WSOP $250K Super High Roller Payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santhosh Suvarna | India | $5,415,152 |
| 2 | Ben Tollerene | United States | $3,537,135 |
| 3 | Chris Hunichen | United States | $2,397,312 |
| 4 | Matthias Eibinger | Austria | $1,688,278 |
| 5 | Charles Hook | United States | $1,237,296 |
| 6 | Taylor von Kriegenbergh | United States | $945,219 |
| 7 | Jeremy Ausmus | United States | $754,052 |
| 8 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | $629,407 |
| 9 | Sean Winter | United States | $550,878 |
| 10 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | $506,757 |
| 11 | Phil Ivey | United States | $506,757 |
| 12 | Jonathan Jaffe | United States | $506,757 |
“He’s like, the nicest guy ever in poker,”
While Hunichen may have had the biggest rail, Suvarna had plenty of fans of his own, with the likes of Hustler Casino Live stars Nik Airball and The Professor cheering him on.
“He’s just, like, the sweetest guy you can find,” said a jubilant Airball as he watched his friend take his winner’s photos. “He’s just always happy, always nice, always cheerful, always helpful.
“It takes a lot of balls to just pony up to 50K or 100K etc and battle all the wizards. He’s got no fear, and he gives it his all. And I think it’s f****** awesome. It’s great for poker. It’s great for everyone. And I’m really happy for him.”
“I’m feeling very happy,” Suvarna said as he collected his bracelet. “Every day, I’m learning. I’m doing very good.”
Suvarna is all-in on poker as well. When he’s not tending to his business ventures or spending time with his family. Poker is the only thing on his mind.
PokerNews spoke to Survana after his first bracelet win at the 2023 WSOP Europe, where he reigned supreme in the €50K Diamond High Roller.
In his winner’s interview there, he shared that he’s grown his game quickly by studying other players. He goes over hands in the Triton app, analysing the decisions made by those who he thinks are at the top of the game.
He’s continued to follow that strategy, and it’s yielded his biggest-ever score and has put him at the top of his country’s All-Time Money List despite his poker pursuits being in its infancy.
Bubble Play; Ivey Misses Out on FT
Fourteen players returned for Day 3, with twelve of them guaranteed to make the money. Hand-for-hand play began immediately, and within just 35 minutes, the bubble burst.
Businessman and Triton Montenegro Main Event champion Mikalai Vaskaboinikau was the first to be eliminated. The Belarussian, who entered the finale as the short stack, succumbed to the big slick held by Charles Hook. The latter had earlier survived a crucial hand against Vaskaboinikau on Day 2, where his kings spiked a king on the flop to overcome Vaskaboinikau’s aces. This fortunate turn of events for Hook left Vaskaboinikau at the bottom of the chip counts coming into Day 3.
Hook, known for his appearance on the recent Hustler Casino Live Million Dollar stream, stayed a dominant force after the first elimination. He played a critical role in ensuring the remaining players reached the money, taking out high-stakes regular Brian Kim on the stone bubble by winning a flip against Kim’s pocket sixes. This secured a minimum payday of $506,757 for those still in contention.
Following Kim’s departure, Tollerene burst into life, reeling off a trio of knockouts in quick succession. The 37-year-old collected Jonathan Jaffe‘s short stack ahead of eliminating Phil Ivey via a rivered five-outer. Soon after, Tollerene straightened out start-of-day chip leader Adrian Mateos to set up the nine-handed final table, where he entered as the commanding chip leader.
Tollerene Dishes Out Brutal Beats; Survana Bides His Time
Tollerene’s composed and calculated navigation continued to be on display, where he correctly folded pocket jacks preflop when Sean Winter and Taylor von Kriegenbergh woke up with bigger pocket pairs. Winter held kings, but the cowboys were cracked after Von Kriegenbergh’s queens flopped a full house.
With Winter’s exit, Mikita Badziakouski laddered up, but he reached his final rung after succumbing to the pocket jacks of Matthias Eibinger.
After having a brief reprieve from taking souls, Tollerene’s onslaught resumed, with Jeremy Ausmus, Von Kriegenbergh, Hook and Eibinger next in his firing line.
After seeing off Ausmus, Tollerene went runner-runner to make a straight, cracking Von Kriegenbergh’s flopped set of kings. Hook’s bust out was equally if not more brutal and exemplified how well Tollerene was running. Hook got it in with tens, flipping against ace-king. The board ran out with quad deuces to counterfeit the pocket pair, which was met with a chorus of “oohs” and “so sick’s” from the railbirds. Eibinger’s deuces also went into the muck after Tollerene made a straight on the turn.
Hunichen bowed out in third, falling short of pulling off back-to-back WSOP high-roller victories. The former No. 1 online poker player received a standing ovation from those in the bleachers as his memorable run over the last week came to end. Hunichen’s performances across the $100K and $250K yielded a $5,235,701 windfall.
Survana, who had been fairly quiet prior to stacking Hunichen, closed the gap between himself and Tollerene and then took the lead. Chips were exchanged back and forth until a crucial pot (straight vs. two pair) went the way of Suvarna, leaving Tollerene with a handful of big blinds.
The last of the American’s chip went in soon after, and while he lived throughout the river for much of the final table, a rivered ten sealed his fate as the runner-up, allowing Suvarna to pull off the underdog triumph.
Editor & Live Reporter
Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum’s proudest poker achievement is winning the only tournament he has ever played in Las Vegas, the prestigious $60 Flamingo evening event.
