Online poker pro Carter “bdybldngpoker” Phillips picked up his first bracelet on Wednesday evening by winning the $1,500 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em (Event #16) at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). The 21 year-old bested a field of 1,663 players to collect a payday of $482,774 and earn bragging rights as one of the youngest players to ever win a gold bracelet.
The largest six-handed field in live poker tournament history whittled down to nine on Tuesday, with Phillips entering the final table with the chip lead. His merciless pre-flop aggression carried him to a heads-up duel against Switzerland’s Samuel Gerber, where Phillips induced a 4bet shove from Gerber’s Qc-8d on the final hand of the match. Phillips’ Ad-Kc held up and the celebration began.
Phillips is a rising star in the game, now having won a WSOP bracelet and a PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) title. He won the 2009 EPT Barcelona Main Event in September for $1,212,263 to put him on the map among live tournament pros and now has another major score to add to his resume. Phillips joined Jeff Madsen, Steve “MrSmokey1” Billirakis, Joe Cada, and others to win a bracelet at the ripe age of 21.
Event # 16 Results:
1. Carter Phillips – $482,774
2. Samuel Gerber – $298,726
3. Craig Bergeron – $189,661
4. Hugo Perez – $124,690
5. Russell Thomas – $84,256
6. David Diaz – $58,483
Also wrapping up on Wednesday was the $1,000 No Limit Hold’em (Event #13). Poker pros Jared “TheWacoKidd” Hamby, David Baker, and Matt Vance headlined the final table of nine, but in the end it was lesser-known pro Steven Gee who claimed victory and the bracelet, beating Vance heads up for the title. Gee, 54, got his first ever WSOP cash out of the way in Event #11 and collected another $472,479 in Event #13.
Considered a lowball specialist, Gee weaved his way through a field of 3,042 players to win the four-day event. On the final hand of the tournament, Gee opened on the button to 300,000 and Vance moved all-in for 1.5 million. Gee made the call with Ah-Kh, which was favored over Vance’s Qd-Jh. The board ran dry for Vance, sending him to the rail with $292,232 for second place.
Event #13 Results:
1. Steven Gee – $472,479
2. Matthew Vance – $292,232
3. David Baker – $206,813
4. Nicholas Heather – $149,702
5. Jeffrey Gross – $109,621
6. Daniel Thomas – $81,203
7. Kyung Han – $60,833
8. Jared Hamby – $46,077
9. Mats Gavatin – $35,290
One tournament will award a bracelet on Thursday and it’s an event that should draw a large crowd at the ESPN Tournament Arena in the Amazon Room. The $5,000 No Limit Hold’em (Event #17) played down to 18 players early Thursday morning and those remaining will return at 2:30pm PT to play down to a champion. Jason “TheMasterJ33” DeWitt is the chip leader going into the final day with 1,873,000, while Jeff “yellowsub” Williams, DoylesRoom’s Amit “amak316” Makhija, and Victory Poker Team Pro Antonio Esfandiari are all among the chip leaders. The winner of Event #17 will take home $818,959, one of the richest paydays of the year.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the 2010 WSOP.
