Full Tilt Poker Pro Braz Bansi bested a field of 2,092 players to win the World Series of Poker (WSOP) $1,500 No Limit Hold ’em (Event #5) early Thursday Morning at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The 32 year-old pro from England defeated Vincent “Vluff” Jacques heads-up to earn $515,501 and his second career WSOP gold bracelet. He previously won a $1,000 No Limit Hold ’em event in 2006.
Bansi entered the final day fifth out of 23 players in chips and mostly stayed clear of danger once the final table was formed, but he began to take control of the tournament when he won a massive pot to eliminate David Tuthill in fourth place. Tuthill was all-in pre-flop with [Ah][Jd] against Bansi’s pocket kings and was unable to improve on the [7s][6s][4c][Td][Qd] board. That pot gave Bansi the ammunition necessary to win the tournament and after Jacques eliminated Calvin Kordus in third place, Bansi and Jacques played a two-hour heads-up match that generated a large gallery in a corner of the Amazon Room.
On the final hand of the tournament, Bansi raised the button and Jacques moved all-in over the top with [Ac][8s]. Bansi made the call with [As][Js] and his lead grew even stronger with the flop revealed [Qs][Qd][Jh]. Jacques picked up some outs on the [8d] turn, but the [2c] sealed the victory for Bansi and his thunderous cheering section.
With the win, Bansi joins Chris Bjorin and PokerStars Team Pro John-Paul Kelly as the only English players with two or more WSOP bracelets. When asked whether the first or second bracelet meant more, he replied, “That’s a tough one. I have not really thought about it yet, but I think this one means a bit more. There are quite a few guys in the U.K. who have one gold bracelet. But two is a rare thing.”
Here’s a look at the final table results from Event #5:
1. Praz Bansi — $515,501
2. Vincent Jacques — $320,913
3. Calvin Kordus — $223,069
4. David Tuthill — $160,654
5. Tomer Berda — $117,416
6. Donald Offord — $86,858
7. Hugh Bell — $65,097
8. David “Doc Sands” Sands — $49,409
9. Kyle Knecht — $37,943
The $1,000 No Limit Hold ’em (Event #3) also crowned a champion Wednesday evening. Canadian Aadam Daya was able to outlast a field of 4,345 players and fend off a raucous American final table rail to claim his first WSOP bracelet and $625,872.
Daya defeated Las Vegas poker pro Deepak Bhatti to win the bracelet. With the chip lead in hand when heads-up play began, Daya whittled away at Bhatti’s stack before finding himself in a great spot to end the tournament for good. Bhatti moved all-in pre-flop with [Kh][5s] and Daya called with pocket queens. The board brought no help to Bhatti, who collected $385,106 for his runner-up finish.
Said Daya about winning an event with such a massive field, “I really think I got pretty lucky to get through so many players. I was fortunate and I played well, but I also got lucky at the right times.”
Event #3 Results:
1. Aadam Daya — $625,872
2. Deepak Bhatti –$385,106
3. Gabe Costner — $279,327
4. Bart Davis — $206,904
5. Nick “agriffrod” Mitchell — $154,425
6. Cory Brown — $116,141
7. Isaac Settle — $88,025
8. Dash Dudley — $67,221
9. Richard Rice — $51,735
On Thursday, the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Shootout (Event #6) will crown a champion as six players will compete for a prize of $441,692 and their first gold bracelet. The final table, which gets underway at 2:30pm PT, will feature Brent “bhanks11” Hanks, Nicolas Levi, Stuart Rutter, Neil Channing, Josh Tieman, and Joe Elpayaa.
Also playing down to a winner Thursday is the $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw (Event #7), where seven players will take their seats at the final table at 4:00pm PT. David Chiu owns the chip lead going into the final day, but Peter Gelencser and Don Mcnamara are in close contention for the $180,730 first place payday.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for all of the updates on Thursday’s events at the World Series of Poker.
