The $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty Freezeout event at the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) lived up to its hype, offering even more excitement than its $1,500 “little brother” that concluded a few days ago. The super turbo format combined with the tasty $3,000 bounty for each elimination creates an intense and electric atmosphere.
You do need a bit of luck in an environment like this, and Frank Funaro embraced all that with open arms. He emerged victorious and secured his second WSOP career bracelet and a prize of $612,997, not including the bounty rewards he accumulated along the way.
“I tried to embrace the madness and got really lucky,” Funaro explained to WSOP. “I was short, I rounded it up, and then I was short again. It was a swinging Super Turbo. The table was full of professionals; it wasn’t the easiest final table. But luck was on my side. There were a lot of tough spots, and they all went my way. And I thought I played relatively well, all things considered. I’m very grateful.”
In the heads-up battle, Funaro faced another WSOP winner, Japan’s Shota Nakanishi, who had previously won a bracelet in the $10,000 Short Deck event in 2022, earning $277,212. This time, Nakanishi pocketed $408,658 as the runner-up, his best result so far.
Funaro, an accomplished player, now boasts two WSOP bracelets, the first from a 2022 Online event. He also holds two WSOP Circuit Rings and finished fifth in the 2022 WPT World Championship, where he earned his career-best $1.3 million payday.
The event also saw notable players making deep runs. Phil Hellmuth, who famously won his 17th bracelet in this event last year, was one of the top stacks in the later part of Day 1 but eventually fell in 15th place. Other notables included 2014 WSOP Main Event champion Martin Jacobson, who finished in 19th place, and 2023 WSOP Player of the Year Ian Matakis, who exited in 11th place just before daybreak.
Event #57: $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1 |  Frank Funaro | United States | $612,997 |
| 2 |  Shota Nakanishi | Japan | $408,658 |
| 3 | Michael Rocco | United States | $282,983 |
| 4 |  Oliver Weis | Germany | $199,342 |
| 5 |  Aliaksei Boika | Belarus | $142,892 |
| 6 | Steve Buell | United States | $104,261 |
| 7 |  Antoine Saout | France | $77,460 |
| 8 |  Ludovic Geilich | United Kingdom | $58,616 |
| 9 | Aaron Johnson (MN) | United States | $45,195 |
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Event #57: $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout Final Table Recap
One full day of grinding wasn’t enough to crown a winner in Event #57: $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout, so the event stretched into an unscheduled Day 2. Nine players were still in contention for the gold bracelet and the $612,997 first-place prize, on top of all the bounties collected during play. Aliaksei Boika was the chip leader with 34 big blinds, followed by a trio of Oliver Weis, Antoine Saout, and Steve Buell, who had 28, 27, and 26 big blinds, respectively.
With bounties in play, the final table was expected to move quickly. Aaron Johnson was the first to go, moving all-in with pocket sixes from early position, only to be called by Michael Rocco with ace-queen on the button. The board ran out 3♥J♥J♦A♠J♠, and Rocco collected the bounty.
Scottish legend Ludovic Geilich, still searching for his first bracelet, bowed out in 8th place. Geilich put all his chips in the middle with ace-four and was called by Boika with king-queen. A king on the flop sealed the deal for Geilich.
Three-time WSOP Main Event finalist Antoine Saout was eliminated in seventh place by Buell after losing a major pot against Rocco’s pocket aces. A bit of PTSD in the last hand for Saout as he crashed into pocket aces again.
Despite gaining new chips, Buell was the next to go. He called an all-in from Oliver Weis for a classic coin flip. Buell tabled pocket tens while Weis showed ace-king. The flop of 7♥7♣9♣ was safe for Buell, but the turn spiked Ks, sending Buell home with $104,261 for his 111th WSOP cash.
The action moved quickly, and another big pot created another favorite as Boika hit the rail in fifth place. Rocco led out on the flop of 5♦4♦5♥, Boika raised, and Rocco three-bet. With an overpair of nines, Boika shoved, and Rocco snap-called with 8♦7♦ for a straight flush draw. The turn was an innocuous Q♣, but the river 6d completed Rocco’s straight flush.
At this point, Weis and Rocco were running away from Shota Nakanishi and Frank Funaro, who were both short-stacked. But within half an hour, both short-stacked players doubled up several times, flipping the script entirely. Nakanishi had a chance to knock out both Rocco and Weis in one hand as he pushed with eight-six, but Rocco survived with ace-seven, while Weis busted with king-three as the board ran out 5♠8♣6♠K♥4♦.
Rocco soon followed as he called Nakanishi’s push with pocket sevens against ace-seven. A great spot for Rocco turned into a one-outer nightmare as the flop opened with an ace. Turn and river blanked, and the 2008 WSOP winner was out in third.
Nakanishi started the heads-up battle with a commanding 5:1 lead, but Funaro quickly doubled up with 6c5d against Nakanishi’s Tc3s. Funaro nearly leveled the stacks after a great call with king-ten on a Q♠Q♦J♦8♦Q♥ board as Nakanishi tried to steal the pot with turn and river bets holding 7♥2♠.
Soon after, in a crucial hand, Nakanishi pushed all-in with queen-three suited, and Funaro called with queen-jack, dominating Nakanishi’s hand. The board bricked, and Funaro gained a 3:1 lead.
Both players played aggressively, and it was no different in the final hand as Funaro pushed with jack-six suited, and Nakanishi quickly called with ace-nine. The flop brought J♠6♣4♥, and Nakanishi was left drawing very thin. The turn J♣ sealed the deal, and Funaro celebrated his second WSOP bracelet with his rail.
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* Images and hands courtesy of WSOP and PokerNews.
