They say seven is a divine number. Minnesota’s Richard Alsup may share that sentiment after he spiked a seven to take down a seven-figure score after defeating Salvatore Dicarlo to win a whopping $1,302,125 in Event #18: $1,500 Monster Stack No Limit Hold’em at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
This is the second World Series of Poker bracelet of his career. With this win, Alsup now pulls into second in the Minnesota all-time money list. For Alsup, this had little meaning to him compared to what the score means for him and his family.
“I just stayed positive and I just really felt it, that I was going to win when I won, and even on the last hand when I got it in with a (ace) seven against ace king, I just felt it was going to come,” said Alsup in the afterglow of his victory.
“I got a new baby run good, so that probably helped out a little bit. I’m just very thankful to get a big score and provide for my family.”
Event #11: $1,500 Monster Stack Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richard Alsup | United States | $1,302,125 |
| 2 | Salvatore Dicarlo | United States | $900,000 |
| 3 | John Ripnick | United States | $700,000 |
| 4 | Aaron Massey | United States | $520,000 |
| 5 | Matthew Miller | United States | $400,000 |
| 6 | Pierce Mckellar | United States | $305,000 |
| 7 | Kevin Eyster | United States | $240,000 |
| 8 | Nikolaos Angelou | Greece | $190,000 |
Winner’s Reaction
The aforementioned top prize was the biggest single cash prize of Alsup’s career, smashing his previous best of $273,430.
Alsup entered the heads-up match with Dicarlo possessing two-thirds of the chips in play. This deficit grew to as much as a four-to-one chip lead for Dicarlo, but Alsup got his foot in the door after hitting trip sixes on the river to crack Dicarlo’s aces.
Alsup shared with PokerNews that his first bracelet was meaningful because he had a swap with a friend and WSOP roommate back in 2022, but that this one hit different.
“It was really special that we both won the same event, but you can’t compare anything to the monster field this big,” Alsup said.
Final Table Action
Alsup came into the final day sixth in chips, but was healthy with 65 big blinds. Alsup stayed in the background to start the day, as it was Aaron Massey who got it in with aces against the big slick of Kevin Eyster and the pocket kings of Nikolaos Angelou. Massey took it down to eliminate Angelou in eighth place.
Eyster, who began the day as the chip leader, was unable to recover from that point forward. Eyster doubled up Pierce Mckellar before he put in his final two big blinds and lost to go out in seventh place.
Mckellar may have doubled up against Eyster, but he was the next to go when he jammed from the small blind holding an ace and was called by Salvatore Dicarlo, who woke up with big slick to knock out Mckellar in sixth place.
Dicarlo was in control of the final table, but Alsup put a wrench in the plan when he rivered trip kings to crack Dicarlo’s aces.
John Ripnick doubled through Dicarlo as he continued to take hits to his stack. Dicarlo rebounded with an elimination of Matthew Miller in fifth place.
It was Alsup’s turn next to play the role of eliminator when he clashed in a flip against Massey. Alsup hit his overcards and sent Massey packing in fourth place.
It didn’t take long for the next bust to occur when Dicarlo was back at it again with a knockout of Ripnick. Ripnick three-bet jammed into Dicarlo’s pocket kings and was unable to hit his ace. He was sent out in third place.
The heads-up battle went on for nearly three hours, with Alsup and Dicarlo battling it out for the $400,000 difference between second and first place. Alsup got his foot in the door when he cracked Dicarlo’s aces and took the chip lead when he four-bet jammed and elicited a fold from Dicarlo.
“I just limped every pot,” said Alsup. “Just put the pure limp strategy with that many bigs, and it just worked. The stars aligned.”
The two would stay in a close heat as both jockeyed for position. Dicarlo sank in the chip count, but rebounded when he got paid with a full house by Alsup to climb back into the lead.
This was far from the end of the battle, as Dicarlo rallied back to a three-to-one chip lead when he got paid with pocket kings, which became a full house with three aces on board versus the aces full of jacks held by Alsup.
The two would trade blows, with Alsup knotting it up, before Dicarlo pushed off Alsup with a check-raise when he hit a full house on the river to retake the chip lead.
It was all Alsup from that point forward. The duel culminated when Alsup got it in with ace seven versus ace king and hit the seven on the river to lock up the top spot.
This concludes the coverage for Event #18: $1,500 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold’em. Check back here at PokerNews for continued coverage of the 2026 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
