The first “open” bracelet of the 2012 World Series of Poker has been handed out after an exciting day of play that saw notable names at the final table and a player finally achieving his lifelong dream of WSOP gold on his fourth effort.
The 2101 player field had been whittled down to just fifteen players at the start of action on Wednesday with Jacob Bazeley pacing the field. Sitting underneath Bazeley on the leaderboard were several threats in the forms of professionals who had already captured one of the greatest prizes in poker, the WSOP bracelet. JP Kelly, Vanessa Selbst and Andrew Badecker were arranged among the survivors and looked primed to strike if any of their fellow combatants faltered.
Slightly more than an hour into the proceedings, there were only ten players left, with the pros responsible for the knockouts of their lesser known foes. Selbst would take out Kwinsee Khoa Tran over the span of two hands to put Tran out in fourteenth, while Kelly and Badecker tag-teamed Todd Keikoan to eliminate him in thirteenth. Bazeley continued to rampage through the field as he knocked off Joseph Cino in eleventh to bring the count down to the unofficial ten handed final table.
Once Brent Hanks dismissed Kennii Nguyen in tenth place, the final table was set. Bazeley still held the lead, but Hanks had moved up to take the second spot. Badecker, Selbst and Kelly were in prime positions (third, fourth, sixth) to be a threat at the tables, while Ryan Schmidt (fifth) was poised to play spoiler and Michael Kaufman, Abdyl Konjuhi and Richard Park would need help to get into contention with their short stacks.
Kelly was active in the early action at the official final table, but not always to his benefit. He first doubled up Konjuhi to fall into the danger zone, then struck back by doubling up himself through Badecker when Kelly’s suited K-Q flopped trips against Badecker’s Aces. He would continue to yo-yo through the early hands, losing most of his stack to Kaufman before getting some chips back against Park. After Park was eliminated in ninth at the hands of Badecker, Kelly would hit the door on the next hand in eighth place when Hanks’ Big Chick squashed Kelly’s J-4 off suit.
Down to seven handed play, Selbst now began to go on the offensive. The 2008 WSOP bracelet winner (no woman has won a bracelet since) won three of the first four hands to work her way into second place behind Badecker, but would see some of those chips slip away in doubling up Konjuhi. In getting those chips back, she would be responsible for eliminating Kaufman in seventh place when her Big Slick outraced Kaufman’s pocket tens. Kaufman hit a set on the flop, but Selbst went runner-runner to make a straight for the elimination.
Hanks would move into the lead in a key hand against Selbst. After a raise from Selbst and a blind defense from Hanks, the duo saw an 8-6-2 rainbow flop, bringing a continuation bet from Selbst and a call from Hanks. A seven on the turn didn’t slow down Selbst as she fired a second bullet and Hanks, after a slight delay, made what looked like a reluctant call. On the river eight, Selbst once again went into her stack, this time pushing out a big bet and Hanks called again. Feeling victorious, Selbst slapped her 10-9 on the table for the turned straight, but Hanks had found a miracle on the river in the form of a boat for his pocket sixes. The nearly 750K pot pushed Hanks into the lead and put Selbst down the ladder a bit, although she would battle back to be in second place by the dinner break.
Following the sustenance, Hanks began to assert himself against the table. He would take down Konjuhi in sixth place to extend his lead while Badecker attempted to keep pace by showing Schmidt the door in fifth. Selbst’s pre-dinner slide continued after the break as she bled chips, eventually leading to her fourth place demise at the hands of Badecker.
The trio of men who were left – Hanks, Badecker and Bazeley – now set about the task of determining the champion of the event. Bazeley and Hanks teamed up to take down Badecker in rather cruel fashion. First, Bazeley would make a King high full house on a K-Q-10-8-10 board against the Queen high boat of Badecker, then Hanks would eliminate Badecker when Hanks’ Queens stood up to Badecker’s pocket tens. Down to heads up action, Hanks held a slightly more than one million chip lead over Bazeley.
Over the next three hours, the twosome would swap the chip lead back and forth, seemingly waiting for that inevitable massive showdown that would decide the champion. On the next to last hand, Hanks made the initial raise, only to see Bazeley push out a third bet. Hanks was undaunted, making it 780K to go and Bazeley, similarly brave, pushed all in. Hanks made the call and saw it was a race, Bazeley’s leading pocket nines against Hanks’ A-8 off suit. An Ace on the flop severed all the drama out of the hand and Bazeley, knocked down to less than a blind in chips, would be knocked out in second place on the very next hand.
1. Brent Hanks (Las Vegas, NV), $517,725
2. Jacob Bazeley (Ludlow, KY), $322,294
3. Andrew Badecker (Vernon, CT), $224,029
4. Vanessa Selbst (Las Vegas, NV), $161,345
5. Ryan Schmidt (Las Vegas, NV), $117,921
6. Abdyl Konjuhi (Anchorage, AK), $87,231
7. Michael Kaufman (Northborough, MA), $65,377
8. JP Kelly (Aylesbury, the United Kingdom), $49,621
9. Richard Park (Huntington Beach, CA), $38,106
This was Hanks’ third trip to a WSOP final table, but his first time walking away from the tournament with the WSOP gold. For his WSOP career, he has now earned twelve cashes (and lifetime career earnings of $1.16 million, according to the Hendon Mob database) and can join the pantheon of poker’s best who can call themselves a WSOP champion.
