Fixed-Limit poker games can last a long time. After all, you don’t have pre-flop all-ins everywhere you look. Thus, a heads-up match that lasted six and a half hours (counting dinner) doesn’t really seem that far-fetched. The way it all played out, though, was the strange part. Regardless of the twists and turns, it was Randy Ohel who emerged victorious at 2:00 Wednesday morning in the 2012 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #22: $2,500 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball, earning himself his first WSOP bracelet and $145,247.
Going into heads-up play, it looked like Ohel had solid command of the tournament. With 1.235 million chips compared to Benjamin Lazer’s 475,000 and betting levels at 15,000/30,000, it wasn’t going to take much for Ohel to lock down the bracelet. But just as betting rounds that steep could allow Ohel to win quickly, so could they give Lazer a chance to make up ground. It is the latter that happened. Lazer won pot after pot and took over the chip lead within about a half hour.
A bit after 10:00pm, it looked like the tournament was Lazer’s, as betting rounds were now at 25,000/50,000 and Ohel was down to just 210,000 chips. But back he came, chipping up and chipping up when, before the hour was up, he was back on top.
Back and forth it went. Lazer regained the lead with Ohel again falling to 200,000 chips. Not long after that, the stacks completely flip-flopped, but then Lazer again pulled even. Someone had to win, right?
Finally, Randy Ohel took over and didn’t look back. With less than one big bet remaining, Benjamin Lazer was all-in pre-flop with 8-6. Both he and Ohel took two cards on the first draw. Lazer stood pat on the second while Ohel took one more card. Ohel stood pat for the final draw, showing 9-6-4-3-2, while Lazer reversed course and took a card. He was trying to improve on 8-6-5-3, but he drew another 5 and the final pot of the night was shipped over to Ohel.
As already mentioned, this was Randy Ohel’s first WSOP bracelet. He now has four total cashes in his career at the WSOP, though prior to this, his most lucrative paycheck was $67,235, earned in the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em side event at the 2009 L.A. Poker Classic. The $145,247 win this morning almost doubled his lifetime tournament earnings, taking him up to $329,827 in his career.
2012 WSOP Event #22: $2,500 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball – Final Table Results
1. Randy Ohel – $145,247
2. Benjamin Lazer – $89,714
3. David Baker – $59,925
4. Farzad Bonyadi – $40,987
5. Jason Lavallee – $28,585
6. Shawn Buchanan – $20,332
7. Von Altizer – $14,725
8. Layne Flack – $14,725
9. Josh Arieh – $10,970
