Event #34: $2,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em | 2024 World Series of Poker (2024)

Joined by his friends and family on the rail, Antonio Galiana dominated Day 3 of Event #34: $2,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em to claim his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet. He started the day as the chip leader before losing three flips that put a major dent in his stack, but Galiana kept his composure and found his spots. Then he made some calculated moves to reacquire those chips and entered the final table with the chip lead. From there he was able to apply ICM pressure to his opponents, who would be looking to avoid confrontations.

“It’s something you dream of to win a World Series of Poker bracelet, but I have to profess that I need some sleep before I can process what just happened.”

The event saw 1,267 entries, which surpassed last year’s total of 1,139 participants and generated a prize pool worth $2,819,075. Galiana takes home $439,395 for the win, defeating France's Johan Guilbert in a heads-up battle that will be remembered for one significant hand.

Final Table Results

Day 3 Action

Day 3 kicked off with 13 players at two tables and Galiana as the chip leader, followed by Patrick Leonard in second place. The tables played for roughly three hours before bracelet winner Brett Apter was eliminated in tenth place after running his suited king-queen into Galianna’s pocket aces.

The field boasted many WSOP Main Event champions including Ryan Riess, Espen Jorstad, Joe McKeehen, Qui Nguyen, Joe Cada, and Koray Aldemir. Plenty of decorated players made deep runs but fell short of the ultimate prize.

The final table had an international feel to it, as France, Spain, Finland, England, and Ireland were all represented. The final table also consisted of five bracelet winners in Eoghan O'Dea (ninth place, $36,908), Leonard (seventh place, $62,334), Romain Lewis (sixth place $82,702), Juha Helppi (fourth place, $151,592), and Jeremy Ausmus (third place, $209,358).

Heads-up play was between Galiana and Guilbert, both looking for a first career bracelet and battling back and forth for several hours. Galiana told PokerNews that he felt he had an edge against his opponent and wanted to keep pots small and variance low. His plan was working, except that Guilbert was winning all the all-in confrontations.

Bluff of the Year?

A spellbinding hand occurred during Level 34 when Galiana pulled off a historic bluff that quickly grabbed the attention of the poker world. Galianna shared his thought process about the hand with PokerNews.

"Preflop was pretty standard," said Galiana, "I usually give up when the flop is all clubs, but I also do have clubs when I check the flop and turn."

"I bet the river because I felt Johan was pretty capped and I expected a lot of folds," Galiana continued. "When he raises, he is not representing anything, because all of his good clubs are either betting the flop or the turn due to the high stack-to-pot ratio; betting was the only way to get all the money in by the river."

"When he raised me, it was obvious that he was bluffing, so I decided to raise him again. When he makes the last bet, the size doesn’t make sense to me because he would just go all in with his value hands so I decided to put the pressure back on him and went all in myself."

The historic bluff gave Galiana the necessary chips to survive Guilbert's seemingly endless string of all-in wins. Galiana kept his poise and found his spots which ultimately led to a dominant Day 3 performance.

That concludes our coverage of Event #34: $2,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em, but stick with PokerNews for continuing action from the rest of the 2024 World Series of Poker.

Tags:Antonio GalianaBrett ApterDavid GoodmanEoghan O'DeaJeremy AusmusJesse LonisPatrick Leonard

Johan Guilbert looked down at his hole cards and moved all in for his remaining stack to put himself at risk, and Antonio Galiana obliged his opponent with a call.

Johan Guilbert: A♥5♦
Antonio Galiana: Q♠9♠

The dealer fanned Q♣J♦10♥ on the flop, giving Galiana top pair while opening a gut-shot straight draw for Guilbert.

The 4♥ on the turn didn’t help Guilbert, and the 6♠ on the river gave Galiana the winning hand.

Guilbert finished the tournament in second place for a payout of $292,927.

Tags:Antonio GalianaJohan Guilbert

Antonio Galiana and Johan Guilbert got involved in a battle of rag cards.

Galiana held 9♥4♦, while Guilbert had 8♣4♠. With no preflop raising, off to the flop they went.

The dealer fanned J♥10♣3♠, which both players checked. The 6♠ on the turn also produced checks.

The 2♠ showed up on the river, and taking down the pot would boil down to who wanted it more.

Guilbert showed he desired the pot by firing an 800,000 bet with air to take it down.

Johan Guilbert was on the button and decided to raise to 1,800,000 with J♦4♣. Antonio Galiana defended his big blind with Q♠7♦.

The flop came 3♦Q♦2♣. Galiana made top pair but checked in turn. Guilbert bet almost the size of the pot, 3,200,000 into 3,400,000. Galiana called.

The turn was the 2♠. Galiana checked and Guilbert checked behind.

On the 10♠ river, Galiana decided it was time to bet and made it 5,000,000. Guilbert folded, and sent a pot of over 10,000,000 Galiana's way.

Tags:Antonio GalianaJohan Guilbert

Antonio Galiana is starting to pull away again from Johan Guilbert.

Galiana called from the button holding 8♠5♣ and Guilbert checked his option with 10♣2♥.

The dealer fanned 5♥2♣7♣, resulting in checks from both players despite each hitting a pair. The A♠ appeared on the turn and Galiana bet 600,000 after Guilbert checked.

Guilbert called, resulting in 3♦ on the river. Both players checked and Galiana’s pair of fives took it down.

Tags:Antonio GalianaJohan Guilbert

Johan Guilbert is channeling his inner cat, he may have nine lives in Event #34, as he is winning his all ins when they matter most. Action picked up when Antonio Galiana limped in from the button. Guilbert then raised to 2,100,000 before Galiana bet enough to put Guilbert all in. Guilbert made the call and was ahead.

Johan Guilbert: A♦J♦
Antonio Galiana: A♠6♥

The dealer ran out clean board for Guilbert containing 10♦10♣4♣K♥9♥ securing the double up for Guilbert and keeping his chances at a bracelet alive.

Tags:Antonio GalianaJohan Guilbert

Antonio Galiana decided to switch it up and played a hand by betting every street postflop as a bluff.

The hand started with a limp from Galiana with J♦5♦. Johan Guilbert checked his option with A♣7♦.

The flop came 10♣A♥8♦ and Guilbert checked. Galiana bet 600,000 and Guilbert called.

The turn was the K♠. Guilbert checked again and Galiana now bet 2,000,000. Guilbert thought for a while and called again.

The river was the J♥. Guilbert checked. Galiana thought for a while and then bet 5,000,000 into a pot of 7,000,000. Guilbert visibly struggled with the situation holding top pair on a high-card, four-to-a-straight board. He would have taken the chip-lead if he called correctly, but he couldn't quite sniff it out. He thought for quite a while and then folded. Galiana again decided to quickly show him the bluff.

Tags:Antonio GalianaJohan Guilbert

Action has drastically slowed down in Level 36, as multiple hands haven’t gone past the turn, and three-bet preflop hands are absent.

But a handful of hands have gone to the river, such as this one.

Antonio Galiana raised 2,000,000 with Q♠8♥, and Johan Guilbert called with 10♥9♠.

The dealer fanned 9♣K♣6♠, giving Guilbert middle pair. Galiana didn’t have anything, but that didn’t prevent him from putting chips in the middle with a 1,500,00 bet, which Guilbert called.

Things slowed down on the turn when 7♣ appeared, which gave Galiana an open-ended straight draw. Both players checked.

The 5♠ on the turn completed Galiana’s straight for the winning hand, but he checked. If Galiana had hoped to trap his opponent with a check-raise, it wouldn’t have happened because Guilbert had checked behind.

Tags:Antonio GalianaJohan Guilbert