It was a busy Friday at the 2015 World Series of Poker as three tournaments handed out bracelets. It would have been four, but the final two contenders in that event played to the WSOP curfew before deciding to come back on Saturday afternoon to decide the champion.
Event #34 – $1500 Split Format Hold’em
After four days of battle through what is traditionally known as a “mix-max” tournament (for this event, Day 1 was a normal nine-handed table, Day 2 six-handed, Day 3 heads up and Day 4 eight handed), 2005 WSOP bracelet winner Andre Boyer added to his collection in winning Event #34.
The tightly packed field of eight men came to the tables on Friday with Denmark’s Jonas Christensen in the lead with his 929,000 in chips. Canada’s Boyer (851K), the United States’ Chris Bolek (849K), France’s Erwann Pecheux (831K) and Israel’s Idan Raviv (829K) were all close in pursuit. Even the short stack in the tournament, Belgium’s Isaac Kawa (721K), had enough ammunition to inflict pain as the cards hit the air.
Christensen’s stay atop the mountain didn’t last very long as, on Hand 14, he would push all in on a Q♥ 5♥ 2♣ flop. Bolek wouldn’t back off, putting himself at risk as he tabled pocket Kings against Christensen’s A♥ 3♥ (wheel and nut flush draws). A black Jack on the turn helped neither man and, once a 6♠ found the river, Bolek found the double up to take over the lead as Christensen plunged to the basement.
Boyer was also active in the early portion of the tournament. He would eliminate Kawa in eighth and Raviv in seventh to rise up as a challenger to Bolek. That twosome would be joined by Pecheux, who administered the coup de grace to Christensen in sixth place to put the three men – Bolek, Boyer and Pecheux – in firm command of the tournament.
Bolek would knock off Ireland’s Gavin O’Rourke in fifth place before a fateful move would end his tournament. Down to four-handed, the action came around to Boyer, who limped in on the small blind. Bolek mulled over his options and decided to move all-in to force Boyer out of the hand. Instead of getting that reaction, Boyer instead immediately called and tabled a pocket pair of Queens for battle. Bolek sheepishly turned up his 10♦ 5♦ and never got close on a 6-6-8-A-A board, leaving the Amazon Room in fourth place and pushing Boyer over four million chips.
Although he was now the dominant chip leader, Boyer didn’t have a smooth ride to the title. He doubled up the Philippines’ Andrew Gaw to fall back to the pack. Not one to let that slight go by, Boyer would return the favor and Pecheux would eliminate Gaw from the tournament in third place to set up the heads up match with Boyer in the lead. That didn’t last long either as Pecheux took over the lead in getting quad deuces but not getting the remainder of Boyer’s chips.
Boyer would retake the lead when he spiked a ten on the river to make trips against Pecheux’s pair of Jacks on Hand 172 and he would never let it go. Six hands later, Pecheux moved all in with a K-6 and Boyer made the call with an A-3. Once the board came Jack high, Boyer had claimed his second WSOP bracelet over a truly international final table.
1. Andre Boyer, $250,483
2. Erwann Pecheux, $156,098
3. Andrew Gaw, $109,015
4. Chris Bolek, $76,605
5. Gavin O’Rourke, $55,981
6. Jonas Christensen, $41,249
7. Idan Raviv, $30,053
8. Isaac Kawa, $21,096
Event #35 – $3000 H.O.R.S.E.
Pushing his way through some of the best mixed game players in the world, Canada’s Daniel Idema defeated a talented final table to pick up his third WSOP bracelet in winning the $3000 H.O.R.S.E. event.
Down to the final three players, Matt Vengrin (3.175 million chips) held a sizeable lead over Kevin Iacofano (1.39 million) and Idema (1.08 million) and the men were more than willing to wing the chips around the table. Unfortunately for Iacofano, that would result in his stack dwindling quickly. After shifting some chips to both of his opponents to get on an extremely short stack, he would get the remainder of his action in during Omaha Hi/Lo in a family pot.
After a 10♠ 8♠ 6♣ flop, Vengrin and Idema checked to see a 4♠ on the turn. Vengrin would check again but, this time, Idema dropped a bet in the center. Vengrin called and a 6♠ completed the board. Vengrin again check-called a bet out of Idema and, once Idema unveiled an A♠ Q♠ 4♦ 2♥ for the nut flush and the nut low, could only throw his cards in the muck. Iacofano started nicely with his A-A-J-J but was unable to find any help as he headed to the cage in third place.
Now only 400K in chips behind Vengrin, Idema didn’t waste any time in closing out the deal. He would take over the lead in Stud Hi/Lo and extend it during Limit Hold’em. Idema continually pounded on Vengrin, getting him on the short stack through the Razz segment and, once it hit Stud, Idema would finish him off in making Jacks up against Vengrin’s pair of Queens to allow Idema to win his third WSOP bracelet in four years (his previous victories were in 2011 and 2013…Idema must like the odd-numbered years).
1. Daniel Idema, $261,774
2. Matt Vengrin, $161,680
3. Kevin Iacofano, $104,280
4. John Racener, $75,559
5. Iakov Nepomnyashchiy, $55,553
6. Paul Sexton, $41,438
7. Randy Ohel $31,358
8. Taylor Paur, $24,070
Event #37 – $10,000 Six Handed No Limit Hold’em World Championship
In what was arguably the most talented final table of the WSOP to this point, Byron Kaverman earned his first major championship in winning the WSOP bracelet in the Six Handed No Limit Hold’em World Championship.
The final table featured talented players in every seat. Kaverman, with over $4 million in tournament winnings in his career (live, that is…his online stats are equally good), looked out at WSOP bracelet holder and fellow online wizard Doug ‘WCGRider’ Polk, current WSOP Player of the Year leader Paul Volpe, Austria’s all-time leading money winner Thomas Muehloecker, 2015 WSOP bracelet winner Sam Greenwood and Germany’s Fedor Holz as his opposition. With such strong opposition, it was virtually ensured that a well-played final table would be in store for the fans around “The Mothership.”
True to the nature of six-handed play, these guys were more than willing to mix it up even in the early going. Kaverman got a key double through Greenwood to become a contender only four hands into the final table, but Greenwood responded by knocking off Volpe in sixth place. Greenwood couldn’t seem to sustain his success, however, as he would turn around and once again double up Kaverman to push Kaverman to the lead. Once Kaverman took care of the remainder of Greenwood’s stack to push the Canadian out in fifth place, Kaverman held nearly half the chips in play.
Once he pulled away from the pack, Kaverman punished the opposition. He would take out Muehloecker in fourth and Holz in third to move to heads up against Polk as nearly a 6:1 chip leader. It would only take 10 hands before Polk pushed all-in with a Q-J and Kaverman looked him up with an A-5. The 10-7-5 flop gave Kaverman an even better lead, but Polk had six clear options plus some runner-runner potential. A four on the turn ended Polk’s runner-runner potential, but his outs to a Queen or Jack were still good. A second four on the river ended the proceedings, crowning Kaverman as the champion for his first major tournament victory.
1. Byron Kaverman, $657,351
2. Doug Polk $406,261
3. Fedor Holz, $268,463
4. Thomas Muehloecker, $182,448
5. Sam Greenwood, $126,745
6. Paul Volpe, $89,934
