After a long Day 4 of action, Mike Gorodinsky was finally able to break through at the 2015 World Series of Poker, defeating Jean-Robert Bellande heads up early Friday morning to win arguably the most prestigious bracelet on the WSOP schedule, the $50,000 Poker Players’ Championship.
Six men returned on Thursday afternoon to battle for the bracelet with David ‘ODB’ Baker atop the standings as the men came together with his 3.227 million in chips. The field beneath him was hungry for his stack with Gorodinsky lurking in second with 2.589 million in chips and Bellande (2.188 million) looking to end his “broke living” by winning the event. Rounding out the final table were Chris Klodnicki (2.13 million), online wizard Ben Sulsky (1.462 million) and Dan Kelly (1.003 million).
With such deep stacks, the players could be very strategic with their play and, in some cases, wait for one of their stronger games to come around in the 10-game rotation. Sulsky first and then Kelly would drop into six figures for a spell before they would make a slight comeback to get over the million chip mark. As Baker maintained his stack, Bellande would be the one who shot past him, taking over the lead after a little more than 2½ hours of play.
Another hour later, Bellande would be responsible for the first elimination of the day. In Badugi, Kelly would get in a battle with Bellande that would find Kelly’s final chips in the pot by the second draw. After both men stood pat on that final draw, Kelly showed a Q-6-3-2 that wasn’t good enough against Bellande’s 10-5-3-2, ending Kelly’s tournament in sixth place.
Bellande would continue to roll along, becoming the first player to crack the five million chip mark (almost half the chips in play) and cracking the six million mark in eliminating Klodnicki in fifth place during the Badugi round once again. Baker, after being fairly quiet through much of the early action, finally came to life in sending Sulsky to the cash out cage in fourth.
By the time the players reached the end of Level 24, Gorodinsky and Bellande were neck-and-neck for the chip lead (with each holding over five million chips) while Baker looked to get himself back in the match with his 1.5 million stack. Realizing he had to make a move, Baker would take his shot in No Limit Hold’em, pushing his stack in against Gorodinsky. After a moment of thought, Gorodinsky called and tabled pocket Kings for the match while Baker could only mutter, “I’m in bad shape,” as he unveiled an off suit K-J. A Jack came on the flop but nothing else on the turn or river, sending Baker out in third place and sending Gorodinsky to heads up play against Bellande with a 2.5 million chip lead.
Over the span of the next 3½ hours, the two men would battle back and forth, swapping the lead between each other frequently. As the clock struck midnight, Gorodinsky began to slowly pull away from Bellande and would put the tournament away during a hand of Pot Limit Omaha. On that hand, Bellande opened the betting to 300K and, following a call from Gorodinsky, saw a Q-9-8 flop. On that very wet flop, Gorodinsky checked his option but, after Bellande bet the pot, Gorodinsky repotted him for the remainder of Bellande’s chips. Bellande made the call and tabled a strong A-Q-10-9 for two pair, but Gorodinsky had him outdone with his double-suited 10-8-8-3 for a set. Needing any nine, Jack or Queen to take the hand, Bellande instead saw two Kings come on the turn and river, ending the tournament and crowning Gorodinsky the champion.
1. Mike Gorodinsky, $1,270,086
2. Jean-Robert Bellande, $784,828
3. David ‘ODB’ Baker, $514,926
4. Ben Sulsky, $353,928
5. Chris Klodnicki, $251,314
6. Dan Kelly, $184,222
After having final table finishes at the 2015 WSOP of second and third, Gorodinsky captured the elusive brass ring in perhaps the most respected tournament held during the schedule. In taking his second WSOP bracelet (Gorodinsky won his first in 2013), Gorodinsky will also take over the lead in the 2015 GPI/WSOP Player of the Year race.
