The 2015 World Series of Poker is blowing past the halfway point as more than half of the scheduled events have either started or concluded. In two of those concluded events, a top professional was able to capture his third WSOP bracelet against a difficult field while a newcomer surprised the pros in the other tournament.
Event #32 – $5000 Six Handed No Limit Hold’em
The 550 player field was laden with pros from the start, so it was natural that the final table of the tournament would be the same. Mike Gorodinsky, who has two final tables to his credit already at the 2015 WSOP, would be the chip leader over a talented field that included Jason Mercier, James Obst, Simon Deadman, Dario Sammartino and Igor Dubinskyy. With a top prize of $633,357 and the WSOP bracelet awaiting the winner, the six men wasted little time in getting down to business.
Mercier was active as the final table started, taking the first three hands of play while also being responsible for the first two eliminations at the final table. On Hand 28, Mercier would open the action from under the gun and Obst, on the cutoff, decided to three-bet the action. Once the action returned to him, Mercier moved all-in and Obst immediately called, showing pocket Queens against Mercier’s A-K.
The classic race situation turned out to have a not so normal finish as Obst stayed in front with the 10-3-6 rainbow flop. A Queen on the turn was welcome to Obst as it now gave him a set and it closed some doors for Mercier to only a Jack to make a better hand. Stunningly, the Jack came on the river to give Mercier the Broadway straight and send a surprised Obst to the rail in sixth place.
There would be less drama for Mercier’s next elimination. Dubinskyy moved all in after a Mercier raise and, after Mercier called, Dubinskyy saw that he was behind with his A-2 against Mercier’s A-J. The 9-J-J flop left Dubinskyy essentially drawing dead and, after a five came on the turn, it was all over as Dubinskyy in fifth place as Mercier assumed the chip lead.
Mercier’s decimation of the final table wasn’t done yet. On Hand 38, Sammartino would get his final chips in good against Mercier, his K-6 holding a slim edge over Mercier’s 10-9 off suit. Once again, however, the board didn’t cooperate with the odds in coming J-7-8 to flop Mercier a straight and leave Sammartino drawing extremely thin. A ten on the turn brought some hope to Sammartino (a Queen would have made Sammartino a better straight), but the six blank on the river sent the Italian out in fourth place and set up an epic three-way fight.
Gorodinsky never found any traction at the final table, but he would fight hard before meeting his eventual demise. After more than 50 hands of play, Deadman was able to eliminate Gorodinsky in a bad beat after Deadman paired his hole cards (J-10) against Gorodinsky’s K-J on a J-6-9-3-10 board and send Gorodinsky out in third place for Gorodinsky’s third final table of the 2015 WSOP.
Going to heads up, Mercier held slightly more than a million chip lead over Deadman and never let him sniff the lead. In 23 hands, Mercier claimed all of Deadman’s chips but not without a little sweat on the final hand. After the chips went to the center, Mercier’s pocket sixes were ahead of Deadman’s K♣ Q♣, but the J-4-10 flop opened up a world of outs (13, to be exact) for Deadman. A seven on the turn wasn’t one of them and neither was a four on the river, earning Mercier the WSOP bracelet and a sizeable first place prize.
1. Jason Mercier, $638,357
2. Simon Deadman, $391,446
3. Mike Gorodinsky, $246,867
4. Dario Sammartino, $163,604
5. Igor Dubinskyy $111,672
6. James Obst, $78,428
Event #33 – $1500 Limit Deuce to Seven Triple Draw Lowball
Battling through some difficult pros, Benny Glaser was able to slay all the dragons that came against him to win his first WSOP bracelet in a discipline that isn’t the easiest in poker, Deuce to Seven Triple Draw Lowball.
At the start of the official six handed WSOP final table, Glaser was the dominant chip leader with 1.385 million in chips. Only three-time WSOP bracelet winner Brock Parker was close to him with 538,000 in chips, but Noah Bronstein, Sergey Rybachenko and Jon Turner were around to provide challenges also. As the only survivors left from the 388 player field, these six men would decide who would take the $136,215 in cash and the WSOP bracelet.
With high blinds putting an emphasis on each hand played, Glaser and Parker would be the most active players on the felt, with Parker knocking off Andrew Brown (fifth), Rybachenko (fourth) and taking the most of Bronstein’s chips (before letting Glaser finish him off) to take a slim chip lead going to heads up play against Glaser. On the very first hand of play, however, Glaser took over the lead and would never give it back, eventually locking down the title when he hit a 9-7 low against Parker’s paired eights to close the tournament.
1. Benny Glaser, $136,215
2. Brock Parker, $84,132
3. Noah Bronstein, $54,092
4. Sergey Rybachenko, $35,869
5. Andrew Brown, $24,487
6. Jon Turner, $17,201
