After an eight hour battle on the tables, former “Octo-Niner” Jeremy Ausmus emerged as the champion of the €1500 Pot Limit Omaha event at the 2013 World Series of Poker Europe last night, while another champion is looking to add to his illustrious career in another No Limit Hold’em tournament.
Ausmus came to the six-handed final table second in chips only to Juha Helppi (and only about 24,000 chips behind), while Jan Jachtmann, Martin Kozlov, Jason Mercier and a short stacked Michael Schwartz fought to get back in contention. Jachtmann was the player making some moves in taking two of the first five hands, but it was Ausmus who would move into the lead when he was able to eliminate Schwartz in sixth place after Schwartz’ A-A-4-4 failed to catch on a 10-9-2-5-9 board against Ausmus’ 10-9-4-3.
The hands continued to come Ausmus’ way as he would win two of the next four hands to solidify his lead, but the players seemed quite content to play a waiting game rather than get overly aggressive. The five survivors would play over 40 hands with little to show for it other than Ausmus and Jachtmann extending their advantage over Mercier, Kozlov and Helppi, who literally couldn’t find a hand in the early going.
Helppi was able to find a key double up which would help him to eliminate the next player. Helppi would bet 12,000 and have Kozlov and Jachtmann come along with him to see the 4-J-3 flop. After Helppi fired again, this time for 19K, Kozlov moved a stack of 90K to the center and Jachtmann declined to participate. Helppi looked him up with an all-in move and Kozlov called off his few remaining chips. Helppi was in the lead with his A-K-Q-J, but Kozlov had draw options to the straight with his A-8-7-5. A pairing three on the turn and a Queen on the river weren’t what Kozlov was looking for as he exited the WSOP-E stage in fifth place.
Down to four top professionals, Helppi put his foot on the gas and retook the chip lead. On Hand 83, Helppi raised under the gun and saw Mercier make it 60K to go from the button. Helppi made the call and, after a Q-2-2 flop, check-called the all-in from Mercier. Helppi’s K-Q-10-9 was behind Mercier’s A-A-J-8, but he had draws at a diamond flush with his 10-9. That draw came home on the K♦ turn, leaving Mercier looking for an Ace or a deuce to retake the lead on the river. When that card hit the felt as a ten, Mercier was out in fourth and Helppi was back in the lead.
Helppi, Ausmus and Jachtmann then entered an extended battle that saw the skill of the professionals involved. Both Ausmus and Jachtmann didn’t have as many chips as Helppi at the start of three-handed play, but there were able to whittle the chips out of Helppi’s stack. Almost 60 hands were played before the next player would leave the green baize.
All three contestants yo-yoed during three handed play and it was just a matter of time before one of those survivor’s string broke. On Hand 140, Helppi limped in and Ausmus completed his small blind, but Jachtmann decided to push the action to 48K. Helppi made the call and, after a 6-7-2 flop, saw Jachtmann fire a 100K bet. Helppi then put the pressure back on Jachtmann, moving all in, and Jachtmann made the call after some deliberation. Jachtmann’s A-A-10-9 held top pair and a potential gut shot straight draw, but Helppi outflopped him with his Q-Q-7-6 for two pair. A trey on the turn and a five on the river didn’t change anything between the two and Jachtmann was eliminated in third place.
Helppi entered heads up play with Ausmus holding a sizeable lead (570K in chips to Ausmus’ 258K) as both players looked to grab their first WSOP bracelet. Helppi would push out to almost a 3:1 lead over Ausmus but, after a break and a level up, Ausmus was able to work the match back to nearly even. The final table reached its 199th hand before the logjam between the two players was broken.
On the final hand, Ausmus (who had worked into a slim lead at this point) checked a Helppi limp to see a 10-10-4 flop. Ausmus would push out a bet of 38K, only to see Helppi pop it up to 80K. Ausmus carefully considered his options before pushing out a three-bet of 140K but Helppi wasn’t going away. He potted to put his remaining chips in the center and Ausmus called.
Both men had surprisingly flopped the same hand; Ausmus’ A-Q-10-8 and Helppi’s A-10-7-2 used the same two cards (A-10) on the 10-10-4 flop and the tournament would be determined by who could pair up with another card in their foursome. An eight on the turn was the killer as it gave Ausmus a full house to leave Helppi looking for an Ace to split the pot (both players would then have Aces full of tens), but the river trey wasn’t it.
1. Jeremy Ausmus, €70,324
2. Juha Helppi, €43,441
3. Jan-Peter Jachtmann, €31,367
4. Jason Mercier, €23,036
5. Martin Kozlov, €17,210
6. Michael Schwartz, €13,077
Erik Seidel Leads €2000 NLHE, Hairabedian, Song, Watson in Pursuit
History could be in the making today in the €2000 No Limit Hold’em event as Erik Seidel looks to earn Bracelet #9. He’s in good position to do just that with his 711K in chips, but he is facing a strong field that is looking to deny him that goal.
Roger Hairabedian (a previous WSOP-E bracelet winner) is sitting in third place behind Kevin Song, while Mike Watson is on the lower end of the leaderboard at the start of play today. Erwann Pecheux, Matan Krakow and Max Greenwood complete the seven handed table that will determine the champion and the recipient of the €148,820 first place prize.
If Seidel is able to best this competitive field, only Phil Hellmuth (13), Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan (10) would be ahead of him. Seidel would join Phil Ivey and Johnny Moss with nine bracelets each.
