Weekend Binge Watch – Will Justin Bonomo Ever Lose Again?

This phrase has been uttered before, but it’s very hard not to say: “Justin Bonomo’s 2018 will never get topped,” as he laid claim on more than $25 million in tournament cashes through September. With plenty of time left, Bonomo could still top the career earnings of Phil Ivey ($26.2 million), Antonio Esfandiari ($27.6 million) and Dan Colman ($28.9 million) in one calendar year, but right now we’ll look back on a smaller, yet very impressive, performance from the summer of 2018.

Skip the spoilers and watch Justin Bonomo in the $10,000 Heads-Up Championship right now on-demand on PokerGO.

Bonomo at the World Series of Poker

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Bonomo capped off his blazing hot summer by winning the Big One for One Drop for $10,000,000, doubling his previous best score. Earlier this summer, Bonomo won the Super High Roller Bowl at the PokerGO Studio for $5,000,000, and two months prior he took down the Chinese version of this event for $4.8 million.

Bonomo’s numbers are mind-blowing, but even when removing 2018 from the occasion, his successes have been steady and impressive over the course of his decade-plus long career playing high stakes tournaments. Prior to this year, Bonomo’s had mixed results at the World Series of Poker. Snagging his first WSOP bracelet in 2014, winning the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em 6-Max event for $449,980 by beating Mike Sowers heads up, Bonomo also had many close calls that would’ve looked great on his resume.

In 2009, Bonomo could’ve had his breakout score when finishing fifth in the $40,000 No Limit Hold’em Anniversary event at the WSOP, won by Vitaly Lunkin who beat Isaac Haxton heads up. Prior to this year, Bonomo had a total of 12 WSOP final tables, one victory, five-second places, and four third-place finishes.

Want to hear from Justin Bonomo himself? Listen to Episode 108 of the Poker Central Podcast featuring the man of the year himself!

The Summer of Bonomo

And then the summer of 2018 rolls around.

Bonomo made “just” two final tables, but in true Bonomo-2018 fashion, he won both events. For this week’s Weekend Binge Watch, we look back at his epic run in the $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Heads-Up Championship, one of the most prestigious events of the summer.

Starting out with victories over David Peters, David Laka, and Jake Schindler, Bonomo played his way into the Round of 16. Relive the Round of 16 on PokerGO right now, as Bonomo faced Niall Farrell and Mark McGovern while Martijn Gerrits took on Kane Kalas and Jan-Eric Schwippert, Jason McConnon went up against Galen Hall and Kahle Burns, and Juan Pardo Dominguez found himself in a battle with Jason Mo and Nicolai Morris.

Coming into the final day, the matches were lined up as follows:

Justin Bonomo vs. Martijn Gerrits
Jason McConnon vs. Juan Pardo Dominguez

Watch the final day in full right in the player below, and let us know what you think of the action!

Want more Bonomo action? Check out his Deep Issues interview with Drea Renee, or relive the 2018 Big One for One Drop final table as well as the 2018 Super High Roller Bowl. New to PokerGO? Subscribe right now and never miss another day of live action or on-demand content.