It may have taken a bit longer than planned, but the bracelet was finally awarded in Event #20, the $1500 Omaha Hi/Lo tournament, while the action in Event #21 at the 2013 World Series of Poker awarded its bracelet as planned on Thursday night.
Event #20 – $1500 Omaha Hold’em Hi/Lo
After battling through ten levels of play on Wednesday and into Thursday morning, the final two men left in the Omaha Hi/Lo event – Can Kim Hua and Calen McNeil – came back on Thursday afternoon to finish up their business.
McNeil came to the heads up match with a 3:1 edge on Hua, but that would disappear within moments of the restart on Thursday. McNeil took down the first pot, giving the impression that he would make quick work of the heads up match, but Hua had other ideas. Hua slowly worked his way back into the match and, within 40 minutes of play, actually had moved into a slight chip lead over McNeil.
Hua would extend that lead, eventually pushing it to twice McNeil’s stack, before a key double for McNeil would essentially seal the deal. McNeil would check-call a 6♠ 2♠ K♥ flop, then check-raise Hua on a Q♠ turn. When the 4♠ hit the river, McNeil led out and Hua made the call. Tabling an A♠ 5♠ 4♥ 4♣ for the nut flush and the second best low, McNeil was rewarded with the entire pot when Hua could only show him a J♠ 7♠ for a beaten flush and no low draw.
The twosome would continue to fight over a two hour span, swapping the lead back and forth, before McNeil was able to start to put some distance between him and Hua. On the final hand, McNeil raised from the button and Hua made the call to see an 8-K-4 flop. Hua would bet out and, after a raise from McNeil, called to see a ten on the turn, where he sent in the remainder of his chips. Hua’s 10-K-9-7 was way behind McNeil’s K-K-A-3, looking for only a six or Jack on the river to make a straight, and after the river deuce, the tournament was over and McNeil was the champion.
1. Calen McNeil (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada), $277,274
2. Can Kim Hua (Las Vegas, NV), $177,577
3. Todd Brunson (Las Vegas, NV), $107,349
4. Joe Ford (Eau Claire, WI), $77,917
5. Hieu “Tony” Ma (South El Monte, CA), $57,521
6. Stephen Chidwick (Deal, the United Kingdom), $43,120
7. John Monnette (Palmdale, CA), $32,798
8. Won Goag (Lakewood, WA), $25,283
9. Dao Bac (San Diego, CA), $19,753
Event #21 – $3000 Six Handed No Limit Hold’em
Thirteen players came back on Thursday to finish off the Six Handed No Limit Hold’em event with Matt Stout looking to claim his first major championship of his career. Although he was the only player over the million chip mark, there were plenty of challenges behind him in David “The Dragon” Pham, Dan Kelly (making his sixth cash of the 2013 WSOP), European Poker Tour champion Martin Finger, eight-time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel and Nick Schulman.
Finger would get off to a good start on the day, chopping a huge stack of chips from Kelly, while Stout abused the players on his patch of felt to lengthen his advantage. Kelly was never able to recover from the clash with Finger, eventually departing in tenth place at the hands of Matt Berkey and, after Seidel (ninth) and Schulman (eighth) were eliminated moments later, the unofficial seven handed final table came together.
Although Stout came to the start of the action with a nice advantage, that quickly disappeared when he lost a hand to Finger that saw the Austrian pro nearly draw even with him. Pham, lurking in the shadows, was another player who made a big move, eliminating Benjamin Pollok in seventh place to set the official WSOP final table.
Within moments of the open of the official table, Andrew Dean was able to seize the lead over Finger and Stout. That would disappear quickly, though, as he doubled up Stout and sent the remainder of his chips to Nikolai Sears to finish in sixth place. That wasn’t enough to keep Sears in the tournament, however, as Berkey would knock him off in fifth place to create a logjam atop the leaderboard.
After shuffling chips around for another ten hands, the dam broke in a clash between Pham and Finger. After opening the betting, Finger saw Pham move all in and reluctantly made the call. His K♣ Q♣ was behind Pham’s pocket tens, but two clubs on the flop (4♣ 4♠ 2♣) put Finger mathematically ahead in the hand. He would seize the lead on an 8♣ turn and, instead of receiving a ten or four on the river, Pham saw his tournament existence end in fourth place with an A♦.
The three men remaining took a dinner break and, once their hunger was satiated, Stout was hungry for chips. He battered his tablemates, eventually knocking off Berkey in third, to set the heads up battle with Finger holding a four million chip lead.
Over 30 hands of heads up play, Stout actually had Finger down to only 850K in chips, but he couldn’t put the Austrian pro away. The next 30 hands saw Finger work his way back into the match, eventually taking over the lead, before the twosome would eventually meet with big hands. On the final hand, Finger three bet Stout and, after Stout moved all in, made the call and tabled pocket Queens against Stout’s A-7 off suit. When no Queen came on the board, Finger had captured his first WSOP bracelet after a stirring fight.
1. Martin Finger (Vienna, Austria), $506,764
2. Matt Stout (Las Vegas, NV), $313,370
3. Matt Berkey (Las Vegas, NV), $199,733
4. David Pham (Cerritos, CA), $131,679
5. Nikolai Sears (Davisburg, MI), $89,402
6. Andrew Dean (Feeding Hills, MA), $62,458
