The final weekend before the start of the $10,000 Championship Event next weekend wrapped up on Sunday, with several notable pros stepping up to capture WSOP bracelets in a multitude of poker disciplines.
Event #49 – $1500 No Limit Hold’em
This particular $1500 NLHE tournament drew in a nice sized field of 2247 but, by the time the final hand was dealt on Saturday, British poker professional Barny Boatman was the last man standing. The victory for Boatman was his first ever WSOP bracelet win and the second one for the vaunted “Hendon Mob” poker squad (Ram Vaswani claimed a bracelet in 2007).
21 players came back on Saturday with Robin Ylitalo at the head of the field and the players wasted little time in getting their chips into action. Kevin MacPhee and Jan Eric Schwippert were eliminated to bring the action to two tables in less than thirty minutes and, after that redraw, the players continued to drop. Robert Redman, Luis Silva and Michael Perrone were among those eliminated as the tournament stormed to the final table in about four hours.
Once the final table was set, Brian O’Donoghue was ahead of a tightly packed field while Boatman sat down in the middle of the pack. That would change only five hands into the final table when Boatman, holding pocket Kings, doubled up through Paul DaSilva pocket tens to take over the lead. O’Donoghue fought back, eliminating Roger Lussier in ninth place and Noah Sandler in eighth to push his stack up to 3.65 million to retake the lead.
Boatman and O’Donoghue continued to crush the table as Boatman was responsible for ending DaSilva’s run in seventh place and Ylitalo in sixth to keep Boatman on O’Donoghue’s heels. He would move back into the lead in busting Aditya Prasetyo in fifth, but O’Donoghue once again responded with a knockout (and a retaking of the lead) of Taras Kripps in fourth. It seemed inevitable that Boatman and O’Donoghue would clash at some point and, when it happened, it would eventually determine the champion.
After limping in from the small blind, Boatman saw O’Donoghue make it 150K to go. Boatman put out a three bet of 375K and, after O’Donoghue four bet the pot to 700K, Boatman would call to see a 5-10-3 flop rainbow flop. The chips would go in here, with Boatman’s tournament life on the line, and he unveiled a pocket pair of fives for the flopped set. A frustrated O’Donoghue turned up his pocket Kings and, after the turn and river blanked, Boatman was back in the lead.
After a dinner break, Van Tran would fall at the hands of O’Donoghue to bring heads up action. Nearly even in chips (O’Donoghue had a 75K lead to start), O’Donoghue opened up a 2.2 million chip lead before Boatman came firing back. For over two hours, the players mostly used pre-flop bets to take pots down before Boatman reversed the stacks and ended the tournament.
On the final hand, the twosome would get the chips in the center for a classic race, Boatman’s pocket tens up against O’Donoghue’s Big Slick. A ten would come on the flop, giving Boatman a set, but it came with a Queen to offer some outs to O’Donoghue. A five on the turn and a seven on the river weren’t what O’Donoghue was looking for, however, as he exited in second and Boatman’s rail exploded over the newest WSOP champion.
1. Barny Boatman (Hendon, the United Kingdom), $546,080
2. Brian O’Donoghue (Bayside, NY), $338,745
3. Van Tran (Goodyear, AZ), $239,339
4. Taras Kripps (Naramata, British Columbia, Canada), $172,087
5. Aditya Prasetyo (Cambridge, MA), $125,372
6. Robin Ylitalo (United States), $92,550
7. Paul DaSilva (Escalon, CA), $69,192
8. Noah Sandler (Mercer Island, WA), $52,387
9. Roger Lussier (East Islip, NY), $40,162
Event #50 – $2500 Six Handed 10-Game Mixed
As Boatman was charging to his first bracelet victory, Brandon Wong was able to defeat a quality field to take down the championship of Event #50 and its $220,061 payday.
Twenty players returned on Saturday for the festivities of Day Three, but for some it was a trip they would rather not have taken. Felipe Ramos, Konstantin Puchkov, Robert Williamson III, Tom McCormick, Bruno Fitoussi, Greg Raymer and Mike Wattel were eliminated in the first four hours and, once Daniel Makowsky was eliminated in seventh place, the official six handed final table was set with Philip Sternheimer in the top slot.
Scott Abrams would drop Loren Klein from the final table in sixth place after Klein had some difficult hands in 2-7 Triple Draw. After an uneventful round of Pot Limit Omaha, Christopher George made a big move up the leaderboard in scooping a big pot in Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo against Sebastian Saffari and Abrams. Two more calm rounds sent the remaining five players on a break with Saffari holding a slim lead over Sternheimer.
Wong would make his moves during a round of Badugi, using those chips to eliminate George in fourth place to crack the million mark in chips. He would attempt to catch Saffari for the lead, but was delayed when the dinner break hit the table.
After some sustenance, Wong would get some traction in Limit Hold’em. Taking a pot off of each of his opponents, Wong was able to work out to the lead over Saffari, while Sternheimer looked to stay relevant in the tournament. Despite his best efforts, Sternheimer would fall to Wong, putting Wong in the lead against Saffari by 700K in chips.
The duo of Wong and Saffari would battle through Badugi, Stud, No Limit 2-7 Single Draw and Omaha Hi/Lo before a big hand swung the tournament. In 2-7 Triple Draw, Wong was able to make an 8-7 low that Saffari couldn’t contest to drive his stack north of 2.6 million chips. Saffari could never get back in the match as, in No Limit Hold’em, he would attempt to make a steal by moving all in with an 8-6 off suit. Wong looked down at pocket Aces and, immediately making the call, saw the board bring no help to Saffari to lock up the championship.
1. Brandon Wong (Clovis, CA), $220,061
2. Sebastian Saffari (London, the United Kingdom), $135,932
3. Philip Sternheimer (London, the United Kingdom), $87,397
4. Christopher George (Croton on Hudson, NY), $57,954
5. Scott Abrams (Henderson, NV), $39,564
6. Loren Klein (Las Vegas, NV), $27,792
Event #51 – Ladies’ No Limit Hold’em Championship
The final nine ladies stepped to the felt on Sunday to determine the champion of Event #51 with Shana Matthews holding down a slim 42K chip lead over Chris Priday. Many of the fans at the table were watching notable pro Amanda Baker, who was down the ladder a bit with her 277K in chips, as she had the most experience of the ladies in attendance.
Baker would draw first blood in eliminating Cindy Kerslake in ninth place, rivering a ten to make a set over Kerslake’s pocket Jacks, to move up the leaderboard. As the afternoon wore on, Kristen Bicknell would double up through Matthews to take over the lead and kept on rolling in eliminating Baker in seventh place and Connie Bruce in fifth. By the time Bicknell dumped Julie Monsacre in third, she was nearly even with Leanne Haas, who had been eliminating players right along with Bicknell.
It would only take six hands to determine a champion. After both players saw a 3-8-K flop, Bicknell would fire a 50K bet that was called by Haas. A Jack appeared on the turn, bringing another bet from Bicknell. This time, Haas made it 280K to go and, after Bicknell called, the ladies saw a seven hit the river. Haas moved all in at this point and Bicknell nearly beat her into the pot with her call. Haas showed down a K-9 for a flopped top pair, but Bicknell bested her with an A-K with the Ace playing over Haas’ nine kicker to take down the ladies’ crown.
1. Kristen Bicknell (Nepean, Ontario, Canada), $173,922
2. Leanne Haas (Newcastle East, Australia), $107,616
3. Julie Monsacre (France), $67,331
4. Shana Matthews (Mill Valley, CA), $48,871
5. Connie Bruce (Longmont, CO), $36,078
6. Eleanor Gudger (London, the United Kingdom), $27,045
7. Amanda Baker (Las Vegas, NV), $20,572
8. Chris Priday (Commerce City, CO), $15,858
9. Cindy Kerslake (Calgary, Ontario, Canada), $12,389
The win by Bicknell is historic for the nation of Canada. With her win, it marks the tenth bracelet of the 2013 WSOP for the country, by far the best performance by a country other than the United States.
Event #52 – $25,000 Six Handed No Limit Hold’em
Overcoming a difficult 175 player field, WSOP bracelet winner Steve Sung added a second bracelet to his trophy case in besting the Event #52 field.
18 men came back on Sunday to contest the $25K buy in event and, with a first place prize of over $1.2 million, everyone was looking to be the “last man standing.” Max Lehmanski was at the head of the table for the start of the Day Three action, but such players as Igor Kurganov, Dani Stern, David Benyamine, Shannon Shorr, Marvin Rettenmaier, David “Bakes” Baker, Christian Harder, Kevin Eyster and Sung were poised to take him down.
Within an hour of the start of play, Harder, Fabian Quoss, Rettenmaier and Baker were gone from the tournament, with Lehmanski knocking off Baker to extend his lead. Shorr would take out Benyamine in 14th place to chip up a bit, but it was Sung who started to really make the big moves. He doubled up through Lehmanski, flopping two pair with his A-9 on a 9-6-A board to best Lehmanski’s A-K, to move into first with over 2.2 million in chips. Once the final nine players were set, Sung continued to drive upwards with the elimination of Eyster in ninth place.
A quiet Phil Galfond got himself back in the match by doubling through Lehmanski and, as the final seven men convened for the unofficial final table, he would take over the chip lead in eliminating Shorr from the tournament in seventh place. Holding 3.995 million in chips, Galfond was way out in front over Stern (2.745 million) while Stephen Chidwick (2.02 million), Sung (1.98 million), Lehmanski (1.8 million) and a short stacked Richard Lyndaker (590K) took up the remaining seats.
Over the first two dozen hands, the players basically felt each other out before Sung eliminated Lyndaker in sixth place to move into second on the leaderboard behind Galfond. Galfond would answer back in eliminating Lehmanski in fifth and, as the players went to dinner, kept his lead over Sung, Stern and Chidwick.
Following dinner, Stern would eliminate Chidwick when his pocket fives rivered a set against Chidwick’s pocket sixes, but he was still looking up at Galfond (5.38 million) and Sung (2.895 million). Sung would go on the attack at this point, pushing his stack up over seven million, but Galfond would eliminate Stern in third place to leave himself only 1.8 million chips behind Sung as heads up play began.
Fifty hands of heads up action saw Galfond pull close, but he could never get past Sung for the lead. On the final hand, Galfond moved all in over a Sung bet pre-flop and looked to be in good shape with his K-Q over Sung’s J-10. The flop brought all the action, coming down K-10-J to put Sung in the lead with two pair but leaving a host of outs for Galfond to catch up. A six turn and a five river didn’t do anything to help Galfond, however, and he was out in second place as Sung captured his second WSOP bracelet.
1. Steve Sung (Torrance, CA), $1,205,324
2. Phil Galfond (New York, NY), $744,841
3. Dani Stern (New York, NY), $509,473
4. Stephen Chadwick (Deal, the United Kingdom), $353,780
5. Max Lehman ski (Rosenheim, Germany), $249,291
6. Richard Lyndaker (Chaumont, NY), $178,261
