Another round up of the 48th Annual World Series of Poker including a second World Series of Poker bracelet for Ben Yu, and a first from the young German star Christopher Frank.
You know you deserve the win when you have overcome a final table containing nine gold bracelets and some of the very best poker players in the world.
Take a bow, Ben Yu.
The Las Vegas-based star has now won two Championship bracelets after taking down the $232,738 first prize in Event #34: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship.
Once again, the field was way down on last year with only 80 entrants representing a 36% drop, an alarming trend in this year’s series when it comes to mixed game interest.
A special hat tip should also go to Mike Matusow who continues to roll back the years with his third final table of the summer after finishing eighth in the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Championship, fifth in the $10,000 Dealers Choice 6-Handed, and now sixth in this one.
Yu defeated the two-time WSOP bracelet winner, Shaun Deeb, in heads-up action, to capture his second bracelet. Yu’s first victory came in 2015 when he won the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship. He has cashed in 49 WSOP events and made five final tables.
Final Table Results
1. Ben Yu – $232,738
2. Shaun Deeb – $143,842
3. Nick Schulman – $98,337
4. Mike Watson – $68,601
5. Shawn Buchanan – $48,854
6. Mike Matusow – $35,352
Other players to run further than Zola Budd included the former World Poker Tour (WPT) Player of the Year, Anthony Zinno (8th), Russian legend Konstantin Puchkov (11th), and the British star Adam Owen (12th).
Chris Frank Wins Event #33: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em.
Only the USA, Canada, and the UK have won more bracelets than Germany, but they closed the gap by one after Christopher Frank took down Event #33: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em.
Frank outlasted 1,698 players, a 5.46% dip on the 1,796 players who paved the way last season, and the final table was crammed full of quality, and more gold than you see oozing out of an old man’s catheter.
Arkadiy Tsinis earned a bracelet in 2011 when he beat 2,192 entrants to take down a similar event. The Italian Pirate Max Pescatori was making his bid for a fifth WSOP bracelet. Georgios Sotiropoulos was searching for his second after winning one in Berlin a few years back, and WSOP bracelet winner Michael Gagliano was making his second final table of the week after finishing third during Chris Moorman‘s win. Add Pratyush Buddiga and Noah Vaillancourt into the mix, and you start to see how the cream rises to the top.
The final table was a four-hour hike, and of the Wizards above only Tsinis made it to the business end of the tournament, finishing third. Ryan Leng had to try and overcome a near 3:1 chip deficit when heads-up and never came close in the fifteen hands, the pair traded.
It’s Franks first bracelet and largest score to date. The young German star’s previous best results were a World Poker Tour (WPT) National event in Vienna, and a sixth place finish in the Season 9 European Poker Tour (EPT) Main Event in London. Frank’s most recent score takes his live career earnings to a few grand off the $1.5m mark.
Final Table Results
1. Chris Frank – $384,833
2. Ryan leng – $237,776
3. Arkadiy Tsinis – $171,208
4. Pratysuh Buddiga – $124,615
5. Grant Dension – $91,699
6. Georgios Sotiropoulos – $68,226
7. Noah Vaillancourt – $51,332
8. Max Pescatori – $39,060
9. Michael Gagliano – $30,063
Other players who went deeper than a Welsh coal miner were the British star Tom Hall (13th), Mid-States Poker Tour supremo Blake Bohn (19th), and the former PokerStars Team Pro Jose Barbero (25th).
