World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) Event #3: €5,300 Mixed Max, has reached its epic conclusion, and its the Ultimate Poker Pro Dan O’Brien who is favorite to win his first gold bracelet with a 3:1 chip advantage over Darko Stojanovic.
Dan O’Brien is going to hate me for saying this but he is the ‘nearly man’ of the poker news headlines. The Ultimate Poker sponsored pro has over $2.1m in live tournament earnings, but has so far come up short when it really mattered, with six major final table appearances and still no hardware.
Tomorrow, O’Brien has a chance to change all that as he enters the final heads-up match of Event #3: €5,300 Mixed-Max with a 3:1 chip lead over the capricious Frenchman Darko Stojanovic.
But before we get to the all-important encounter, the pair has some sleep to catch up on. In the meantime, let’s run through the main talking points of eight hours of pulsating poker.
Level 16: The Two Nov Niners Are Expunged
Marc McLaughlin was the first player to be eliminated and when the Grim Reaper reached for his scythe it was under unfortunate circumstances. The Nov Niner getting it in with ace-jack against the ace-five of Joe Kuethner, but two pair on the flop sent the French-Canadian packing.
Marc Trijaud lost a race against Stojanovic: QJ v AK to leave in 15th place, and he was soon followed away from the table when the Frenchman eliminated his second consecutive opponent Wai Kin Jong; this time K9 doing the damage against Q8 when a king planted his feet firmly onto the flop.
Jason Mann found an ace on the river to break the heart of Nikolaus Teichert, when ace-jack beat pocket nines; and our final Nov Niner, Mark Newhouse was also eliminated when Jeremy Joseph found pocket kings, and a jamming Newhouse holding just second pair and a gutter.
Level 17: The IveyPoker Representatives Are Gone
Both of the IveyPoker pros were eliminated in the 17th level of action. Firstly, James Dempsey ran pocket nines into the pocket queens of Stojanovic to leave the contest nursing a very sore head; then his gaffer, Mr. Phil Ivey, followed suit when his [Kc] [Qc] couldn’t find the rub of the green against the two little ducky’s of Noah Schwartz.
Shannon Shorr eliminated Ville Mattila in ninth spot when the pair got it in on a [Th] [9c] [8d] flop. Shorr was holding [7c] [6c] for the low end of the straight, Mattila was holding [Qd] [Td] for top pair – and a gutter – and the turn and river conveniently bricked.
The final elimination of the level belonged to Joe Kuethner and it was time for Dan O’Brien to start making headway. The snowmen melting against the might of pocket tens to send O’Brien into an 18th level of play positively buzzing.
Level 18: Jake Schwartz and Jeremy Joseph Jump Ship
Jake Schwartz had to settle for seventh and once again it was Dan O’Brien causing all the trouble. Schwartz making his move with KJ; O’Brien fancying his chances with A4, and an ace on the flop and river handing him trips.
Then Jeremy Joseph looked down to see ace-jack, planted his chips into the middle and Jason Mann had saliva dribbling down the side of his lips when he saw pocket kings.
Bish…bash…bosh…Joseph was out.
Level 21: The Final is Set
That left just one more elimination before we entered the heads-up phase of action and it was Shannon Shorr who would leave the party in fifth place, running his king-ten into the pocket kings of Dan O’Brien, to hand O’Brien a huge chip advantage moving into the heads-up phase of the tournament.
Heads Up Semi Finals
Dan O’Brien (1,412,000) v Jason Mann (182,000)
Darko Stojanovic (318,000) v Noah Schwartz (189,000)
Jason Mann pulled the short straw by just 7,000 chips to be left facing the might of O’Brien and his huge stack, but it was Noah Schwartz who would be eliminated first when he ran his pocket nines into the ace-five of Stojanovic only for the Frenchman to flop an ace to head into the final.
Then we lost Jason Mann in third spot when he shoved with [Kc] [2c] and once again, O’Brien found pocket kings, to end the nights play with just two players remaining in the competition.
Final Heads Up Chip Count
Dan O’Brien (1,594,000) v Darko Stojanovic (507,000)
