Business was booming on Saturday at the 2014 World Series of Poker as three events awarded bracelets, including the first bracelet in a unique tournament that saw many poker variations dealt that haven’t graced the felt at the WSOP for many years.
Event #39 – $3000 No Limit Hold’em
Battling through a 992 player field, Sean Dempsey was able to vanquish the two other men who came back with him on Saturday after they couldn’t determine a winner on Friday.
Dempsey came back to the tables on Saturday as the short stack (1.6 million chips) as he looked up at Jacob Schindler (3.86 million) and Ryan Jaconetti (3.41 million), but he would thrust his name back into the title hunt when he was able to double up through Schindler early on. After moving all in, Schindler looked him up and had the edge with his A-J over Dempsey’s K-10. Help came for Dempsey in the form of a 3-2-K flop, pushing Dempsey to the lead, and he faded Schindler’s six outs on the turn and river (a six and a nine, respectively) to grab the double up and sit in a tie with Jaconetti as play continued.
The newfound chips would energize Dempsey as he began to push his weight around the table. He kept the lead as Jaconetti and Schindler began to beat up on each other. The battle between the two would eventually see Jaconetti move all in pre-flop and Schindler make the call, but he would be the one at risk with his A-J up against Jaconetti’s A-Q. A 6-K-K flop kept Jaconetti in the lead, but a stunning Jack on the turn sent Schindler into the lead. The thunderbolt of an Ace on the river, however, changed the fortunes of the men once again as both made two pair (Aces and Kings) but Jaconetti’s Queen now played as the better kicker, sending Schindler out in third place
As heads-up play began, Jaconetti held more than a 2:1 lead over Dempsey and he would extend that lead over the first few hands, but Dempsey used some well-timed all in pushes to stay competitive. Dempsey would find a double up, his pocket eights holding up against Jaconetti’s A-Q to pull even, but dropped back a little as Jaconetti put pressure on him. Another double up by Dempsey would eventually change the course of the tournament.
Dempsey moved all in on Hand 257 and, after Jaconetti made the call, was behind Jaconetti’s A-10 with his K-6. An A-3-9 flop pushed Jaconetti further into the lead and a four on the turn kept him there, but there were now three spades out with Dempsey holding the K♠. A fourth spade, the 7♠, came on the river to deliver a miracle flush for Dempsey and pull him back within 800K in chips of Jaconetti.
Jaconetti’s chips continued to slip through his fingers as Dempsey worked his way into the lead. On the final hand, Jaconetti moved all in and Dempsey immediately called, showing his pocket Jacks against Jaconetti’s Q-10. A J-9-4 flop provided a great deal of drama as Dempsey now held a set of Jacks, but Jaconetti was looking at an open-ended straight draw. A Queen on the turn opened some more doors for Jaconetti, but a four on the river ended the tournament as Sean Dempsey took down the title.
1. Sean Dempsey (United States), $548,460
2. Ryan Jaconetti (United States), $339,440
3. Jake Schindler (United States), $212,373
4. Ryan Olisar (United States), $154,148*
5. Ryan Laplante (United States), $113,796*
6. Nam Le (United States), $85,307*
7. Layne Flack (United States), $64,887*
8. Takashi Yagura (Japan), $50,015*
9. Andrew Becker (United States), $39,078*
* – Eliminated on Friday
Event #40 – $10,000 Heads Up No Limit Hold’em
The final twosome of Sam Stein and Davide Suriano had battled their way through the 136 competitors to square off on Saturday for the championship of this heads-up match. Stein had worked his way through David Schnetter, Bryn Kenney, Sam Trickett, Max Silver, Scott Baumstein and Scott Davies, while Suriano defeated Scott Seiver, Dan Cates, Shane Moran, Serkan Kurnaz, Ankush Mandavia and Daniel Colman in earning his seat.
Suriano would come out of the gates quickly and never look back in the match. After 10 hands of play, Suriano had moved out to a 600K chip lead that he would maintain throughout the heads-up match. He put Stein down to only 1.76 million in chips when, on an A-4-A-A-Q board, he was able to get paid off by Stein with Suriano’s 5-4 making a full house. On Hand 36, Suriano would end the tournament when, after Stein moved all in pre-flop, Suriano called and showed a leading A-10 against Stein’s K-7. The flop brought a ten and the turn brought an Ace, but Suriano had to fade a Queen to beat Stein. That Queen didn’t come as the board finished out 3-10-J-A-5 to put the championship in Suriano’s hands.
1. Davide Suriano (Italy), $335,553
2. Sam Stein (United States), $207,347
3. Daniel Colman (United States), $111,942
4. Scott Davies (United States), $111,942
5. Scott Baumstein (United States), $54,736
6. Ankush Mandavia (United States), $54,736
7. Tommy Chen (United States), $54,736
8. Dee Tiller (United States), $54,736
Event #41 – $1500 Six Handed Dealer’s Choice
Ten players came back on Saturday to decide the championship of the unique Dealer’s Choice tournament, in which the player holding the dealer button would choose from a list of poker disciplines and one round would be played in that format. Robert Mizrachi was the leader at the start of the day, with Daniel Idema, Bill Chen, Frank Kasella and Jennifer Harman looking to take him down.
Mizrachi got off to a fast start in knocking Idema down early in Seven Card Stud 8 or better, while Harman would go in the other direction. During the same discipline, Harman would be eliminated by Aaron Schaff and Melissa Burr followed her out in ninth place (at the hands of Shane Abbott) to set the official final table.
Once the eight men were seated, Schaff began to mount a charge. He knocked out Arthur Morris in eighth place in PLO Hi/Low to take a huge lead but Mizrachi attempted to keep pace. He eliminated Marco Johnson in seventh to draw closer but, just as he did that, Schaff kept up the pressure in eliminating Kasella in sixth. After Schaff pulled a double knockout of Chen and Idema in PLO, he was the only player above one million chips with Mizrachi and Abbott struggling to keep up.
Mizrachi brought it to heads-up play in defeating Abbott in a round of NLHE, but he was still a 2:1 chip underdog to Schaff. After playing through a round of Razz, PLO (twice) and Limit Omaha Hi/Low, however, Mizrachi was able to eke out a slim lead against Schaff. Schaff, who was selecting PLO, lost many chips in that discipline against Mizrachi (whose previous bracelet win was in that style of poker) as Mizrachi rotated his games and continued to win.
On the final hand, Mizrachi selected Ace to Five Triple Draw as the game and, after drawing two cards on the first draw, got Schaff to put his remaining chips in the center. Standing pat, Mizrachi watched as Schaff drew one and, for the third draw, the pattern repeated itself. With all the draws now complete, Mizrachi turned up his 6-5-3-2-A for the second best hand in the game while all Schaff could put up was a drawing-dead 7-5-3-A (his final draw card paired his five) to give Mizrachi his second career WSOP bracelet.
1. Robert Mizrachi (United States), $147,092
2. Aaron Schaff (United States), $90,854
3. Shane Abbott (United States), $58,414
4. Bill Chen (United States), $38,735
5. Daniel Idema (Canada), $26,444
6. Frank Kasella (United States), $18,575
