Another review from the World Series of Poker, this time focusing on a stacked final table in the Marathon, and the second bracelet for good old Britannia in the Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8-or-Better.
Australia frightens the crap out of me if I am honest. I can’t get past the insects that can kill you while taking a dump. And then you have all the silly laws.
It’s illegal to wear pink hot pants after midday on a Sunday.
You can’t possess more than 50kgs of spuds.
You can’t play online poker.
I don’t know if Michael Addamo has pink hot pants in his draw, or a cache of spuds in his garden shed, but I do know he emigrated to Thailand last year after the Australian government banned online poker.
I think the move has done him a world of good.
Addamo is a man of stamina.
Two birthdays ago, the Australian finished 3/2016 in a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event at the World Series for $196,202. Last Year, he beat 94 entrants, including Nick Petrangelo, heads-up, to take the $196,022 first prize in an HKD 82,400 (USD 10,000) event at the PokerStars Championship in Macau. And earlier this year, Addamo finished runner-up to Benedikt Eberle in the opening game of the Aussie Millions earning $154,925, outlasting 1,537 entrants before failing at the final hurdle.
So he wasn’t a bad bet to run deep in the event that stretched over five days, promising 100-minute levels and attracting 1,637 runners. But when you reach the final table; look around, and see the likes of Taylor Paur, Cate Hall and Martin Jacobson, knees wobble.
Michael Addamo is the Marathon Man.
The $2,620 outlay has produced a return on investment worth $653,581, easily the most significant score of Addamo’s career. After outlasting those titans as mentioned above, Addamo ended up facing the least experienced player, heads-up, for the bracelet.
Taylor Paur is a World Poker Tour (WPT) Champions Club member, and WSOP bracelet winner. Cate Hall is a multiple WPT Main Event Final Table combatant. Ihar Soika is a former European Poker Tour (EPT) Main Event winner. And Martin Jacobson is a former World Champ. But it was the name of Mark Sleet, and his six ITM scores, that produced the sternest test for Addamo.
Addamo began heads-up with a 25.7m v 17.2m lead, and he never relinquished it during an event heads-up contest that ended in your typical coin flip – Addamo’s AK spiking an ace to beat Sleet’s pocket sevens in the final race.
The win was Addamo’s sixth career title, and he has now earned more than $2m playing live tournaments.
It was also a great day for charity.
Cate Hall and Martin Jacobson are Raising for Effective Giving (REG) ambassadors and would have donated a chunk of their change to effective charities.
Final Table Results
1. Michael Addamo – $653,581
2. Mark Sleet – $403,870
3. Bart Lybaert – $290,315
4. Taylor Paur – $210,995
5. Martin Jacobson – $155,062
6. Ying Chan – $115,244
7. Anton Morgenstern – $86,631
8. Cate Hall – $65,875
9. Ihar Soika – $50,678
246 players received a minimum return on investment of $3,930 including former WPT Player of the Year, Faraz Jaka (35th), former WSOP Main Event winner Scotty Nguyen (46th) and Martin Jacobson’s stablemate Chris Moorman (60th).
Ben Dobson Wins Event #25: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8-or-Better
The Brits have their second bracelet of the summer.
Ben Dobson follows Philip Long into the 2018 WSOP record books with a victory in Event #25: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8-or-Better. Dobson loves a game of Stud but finds it difficult to get a game back home where he seems to spend a lot of time competing on the Dusk till Dawn (DTD) felts.
“Just don’t brick on 7th Street.”
That was the advice Dobson gave out after overcoming a final table that included the two-time bracelet winner Jesse Martin, and last year’s fourth-place finisher in this event, Timothy Finne.
The victory is Dobson’s tenth of his career, and his most significant to date, topping the $124,128 earned for winning the DTD 1000 event in 2017. Dobson’s lifetime live tournament earnings roll in at a million bucks.
Final Table Results
1. Ben Dobson – $173,528
2. Tim Finne – $107,243
3. Jesse Martin – $74,324
4. Richard Monroe – $52,359
5. Tom McCormick – $37,504
6. James Nelson – $27,321
7. Georgios Sotiropoulos – $20,248
8. Peter Brownstein – $15,271
90 people pressed the buzzer on this bus before the final stop including the three-time bracelet winner Eli Elezra (12th), World Poker Tour (WPT) Executive Tour Director Matt Savage (14th) and the actor James Woods (17th).
