King of queens for first WSOP bracelet

A lucky lady gave Pat Lyons his first World Series of Poker bracelet early Saturday.

Lyons (screen name IchiiKawawa) hit a queen on the river to win Event 17 of the WSOP Online, a $777 buy-in No-limit Hold’em tournament. He prevailed in a field of 1,382 entries (917 players and 465 rebuys), earning $173,551.56.

Christopher Ginley (NJ_ GLive) finished second for $107,478.14.

Lyons began headsup play with a massive lead, but Ginley doubled up twice to close the gap. In the final hand, Lyons went all-in with queen-nine, and Ginley called with aceking. Ginley stayed ahead on the ace-queen-deuce flop, but Lyons hit a queen on the river to make three of a kind to win the tournament.

Lyons has more than $1.5 million in career tournament earnings, according to the Hendon Mob Poker Database, but he had only $64,942 in WSOP events before Saturday’s win.

Jonathan Dokler (Art.Vandelay), who won a bracelet earlier in the series, finished fourth for $54,948.32.

The flagship WSOP that is normally held every summer at the Rio Convention Center has been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The U.S. leg of the WSOP Online includes one event every day through July 31. Players must be physically located in Nevada or New Jersey to play.

Event 18, a $1,000 No-limit Hold’em eight-handed turbo tournament, starts at 3 p.m. Saturday. Event 19 is a $400 No-limit Hold’em tournament that starts at 3 p.m. Sunday.

A series for players who live outside the U.S. — or Americans who can travel out of the country — starts Sunday and runs through Sept. 6 on GGPoker.

Pat Lyons