Hail to the Baron, Isaac Claims 1st WSOP Bracelet

Young poker star Isaac Baron captures first WSOP bracelet.

On Wednesday, June 5, 1,832 poker players took to their respective seats in the Rio Poker Room in Las Vegas, Nevada. Each came into the day with high hopes of routing the field in the 2019 WSOP Event #16, $1,500 NLHE 6-Handed. Four days later, only two would return, and it took less than 15 minutes for one to claim the ultimate prize – the coveted WSOP bracelet.

Those two men were American poker pro Isaac Baron and Singapore’s Ong Dingxiang. In the end, it was Baron who emerged victorious, scooping over $400,000 and the first WSOP bracelet of his star-studded career.

Isaac Baron Captures First WSOP Bracelet

There’s no greater honor in a young poker pro’s career than the reception of that first piece of gold jewelry bearing the WSOP logo. Isaac has been eyeing that prize for more than 10 years now, starting from his early days as an instant online poker phenom.

Baron burst onto the scene as an online poker phenom in 2007. In January of 2008, he was named Online Poker Player of the Year. He struck gold in one of his first big live tournament cashes, finishing 4^th in the 2008 EPT Monte Carlo for €589,000 (US$932k), followed by his first major event win at the 2009 Caesars Palace Classic Championship for $246,928.

He continued to cash in events over the next few years, finally popping his first 7-figure bubble in the 2014 PCA Main Event. Baron’s 3rd place finish scored him $1,207,599 – his largest single-event cash to date. Isaac got quiet after that, lighting up the global poker news headlines only a few times over the next four years. And who can blame him – a young man with millions in the bank has to enjoy the fruits of his labor for a while.

Hail to the Baron! TCB at WSOP

Now, The Baron is back, and he’s taking care of business in at the 50th Annual World Series of Poker. It was as if this WSOP event were made for the 31 year old to conquer. Saturday’s return to the tables saw Baron and Ong compete under the big lights in only 4 hands before the American poker pro sent Dingxiang to the rails. The chip counts were surprisingly even when the final hand was dealt:

Isaac Baron: 22,125,000

Ong Dingxiang: 21,825,000

On the button, Baron raised 800k, getting the 3-bet of 3.2m from Ong. Baron called to witness the flop:

Flop: 4♣ 10♥ Q♠

Ong shot out 3.7m, and after a brief hesitation, Isaac made the call to see the turn.

Turn: 6♠

Dingxiang wasted no time shoving the remainder of his stack into the middle, and Baron was even quicker to respond in kind. Both tabled their hands at that point:

Isaac Baron: A♣ A♥
Ong Dingxiang: Q♥ K♠

Ong held top pair, but it wasn’t enough to overtake the American’s pocket Aces. The 3♣ river was no help, sending Dingxiang out in 2nd place for $251,937. Baron captured the prestigious WSOP bracelet, adding $407,739 to his new lifetime earnings of $6,149,513.