The same night that Phil Hellmuth was in the process of winning his record twelfth World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet, Phil Ivey looked like he was going to stay within some semblance of striking distance and win his ninth. But a funny thing happened on the way to building his legend: Phil Ivey ran into Andy Frankenberger. It was Frankenberger, not Ivey, who won Event 17: $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em, navigating a very difficult final table and nabbing $445,899.
Frankenberger was up until recently a successful equity derivatives trader on Wall Street. He came to the realization, though, that while he enjoyed his work, he wasn’t growing personally, so he left his job and began to dabble in poker. It was just two years ago that he began to play full time and in that short span, he has become one of the best tournament players in the world.
This is Frankenberger’s second WSOP bracelet. His first came just last year in $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em, his only cash of the 2011 World Series of Poker. Frankenberger won the World Poker Tour’s Player of the Year title thanks to a win at the Legends of Poker, a 5th place finish in the Festa al Lago, and a 16th place finish in the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic. Counting last night’s win, he now has over $2.5 million in career earnings on the live tournament circuit.
But to win that second bracelet, he had to get past a rough final table which included Ivey, Shaun Deeb, Ali Eslami, Hoyt Corkins, and Matt Marafioti. After eliminating Eslami in 3rd place, Frankenberger started almost dead-even in chips with Ivey at a bit over 2.5 million a piece. While Frankenberger was able to take down the first pot of heads-up, he soon watched Ivey scoop pot after pot after pot and found himself quickly in big trouble.
He climbed out of his hole, though, and around an hour into heads-up, found himself at the turning point of the match. Ivey raised to 240,000 pre-flop and Frankenberger made the call to see a flop of 4♠-A♥-K♠. Frankenberger check-called another 240,000 chip bet, bringing on the Q♦ on the turn. Both players checked that card and when the 2♣ fell on the river, Frankenberger took the initiative and laid out a 450,000 chip bet. Ivey pondered his move for some time, finally making the call. Frankenberger showed J-T for a turned straight, Ivey mucked, and Frankenberger had himself a healthy score.
On the final hand, Frankenberger raised pre-flop to 300,000 and was called by Ivey. Frankenberger bet the flop of A♠-5♦-4♥ after Ivey checked and then quickly called when Ivey moved all-in. Ivey had 7♦-6♦ for an open-ended straight draw, while Frankenberger held A♥-J♦ for top pair. Both the turn and river were 5’s, busting Ivey’s draw and giving Andy Frankenberger his second WSOP bracelet.
2012 WSOP Event #17: $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em – Final Table Results
1. Andy Frankenberger – $445,899
2. Phil Ivey – $275,559
3. Ali Eslami – $199,623
4. Alexander Venovski – $147,345
5. Manuel Bevand – $110,731
6. Shaun Deeb – $84,668
7. Matt Marafioti – $65,840
8. Daniel Weinman – $52,059
9. Hoyt Corkins – $41,829
