The North Americans showed their class in the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) mixed game genre, but a South American ended up on top.
Alex Komaromi becomes the first player from Uruguay to win a WSOP bracelet after beating a field of 113 entrants in the 8-Game Mixed Event. The former Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) Main Event champion outstripped an impressive final table containing three former WSOP bracelet holders.
When it comes to mixed games, there aren’t too many players in the world who can pull the wool over the eyes of Scott Clements and Shaun Deeb. Former WSOP Main Event champion, Jonathan Duhamel, has also proved his mettle in this format over the past few years.
Clements was cashing in a WSOP event for an impressive 44th time. It was his 14th final table, and he owns two bracelets, won in 2006 & 2007. The American is also a World Poker Tour (WPT) Champions Club member after winning the North American Poker Championships back in 2006.
Not many people can mix it up with Clements and escape unbruised, but Shaun Deeb is one of them. The mixed game specialist won his first gold bracelet in the summer and joined Calvin Anderson as the most successful PokerStars COOP champion of all-time with eight bracelets, earlier this year.
Duhamel is no slouch in this format, and he arrived in Berlin on a high. The Canadian can certainly pick them. He won close to $9m when he captured his first bracelet, and close to $4m when he won his second in the summer. He came into Berlin on the back of an impressive side event victory at the recent WPT Borgata Poker Open.
Noah Bronstein doesn’t own a bracelet, but he can still hold his own in this exalted company. Bronstein is having a fabulous time in Berlin. The only event he has not finished ITM was Event #1. He was featuring in his fifth WSOP final table.
The final table would play out over two days. Jens Lakemeier (6th), Shaun Deeb (5th) and Jonathan Duhamel (4th) didn’t make it into the third and final day.
Here were the chip counts at the end of Day 2:
Seat 1: Alex Komaromi (Uruguay) – 549,000
Seat 2: Noah Bronstein (USA) – 194,500
Seat 6: Scott Clements (USA) – 387,000
The first of the three to hit the rail was Bronstein. The game was No-Limit Hold’em. Bronstein opened the action to 15,000 from the button, and Komaromi defended the big blind. The flop was [Tc] [3d] [2h], Komaromi checked, Bronstein bet 18,000 and Komaromi called. The turn was the [8h], and Komaromi took the betting lead for 30,000, Bronstein moved all-in for 110,000 and Komaromi called. Bronstein showed [Qc] [Th] for top pair, and he was drawing dead after the Uruguayan showed deuces for the set.
That handed Komaromi an 810k v 320k chip lead against Clements and that gap never shortened. The final hand coming in Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO). The pair got it in on [9s] [7c] [3c], with Clements holding [Qc] [Jc] [7d] [4d], and Komaromi holding [Ac] [Qs] [9c] [5s]. It was a pair of nines versus a pair of sevens, and it stayed that way as two bricks hit the turn and river.
Final Table Results
1st. Alex Komaromi – €65,740
2nd. Scott Clements – €40,645
3rd. Noah Bronstein – €29,200
4th. Jonathan Duhamel – €21,065
5th. Shaun Deeb – €15,235
6th. Jens Lakemeier – €11,025
Other notables to record an ITM cash were Igor Yaroshevsky (8th), Mohsin Charania (10th) and Bryn Kenney (12th).
