WSOP 2021: Kevin Gerhart Wins Fourth Career Bracelet, Eli Elezra Leads Final Five in $50K PPC
WSOP 2021: Kevin Gerhart Wins Fourth Career Bracelet, Eli Elezra Leads Final Five in $50K PPC

A dramatic day at the felt saw Kevin Gerhart claim his fourth WSOP bracelet with his second of this World Series in Event #62, the $1,500-entry Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better. Elsewhere, the Poker Players Championship reached its final five players as Eli Elezra grabbed the chip lead heading into the final day and there were bracelet wins for both Eelis Parssinen and Cole Ferraro.

Kevin Gerhart Wins Second Bracelet of the Series

It was all about Kevin Gerhart in Event #62 as the popular young pro won his second bracelet of the 2021 WSOP and the fourth of his career. Heading into the final table, the chips were remarkably even, with Gerhart marginally ahead of both Matthew Kaplan and Sterling Lopez at the top of the eight-man leaderboard.

The first player to bust at the official final table was Dylan Wilkerson as Kaplan, who led the field coming into the final day, vaulted back into the lead when his full house sent Wilkerson out for $18,278 in eighth place.

It took no time at all for the next player to leave the action, as Michael Trivett was shot down by Gerhart almost immediately for a score of $23,891 in seventh place. That hand gave Gerhart the lead back and he further strengthened his advantage of the rest of the field when he eliminated Roman Hrabec in sixth place for $31,733 when Gerhart won his second bust-out pot in a row with two-pair.

At that stage, Gerhart’s closest rival was hard to pick, with each of the other four men each sitting on roughly 60% of Gerhart’s stack, but Dustin Dirksen stepped forward as the likeliest heads-up opponent after busting Alexandr Orlov in fourth for $42,823. Orlov’s exit was enough to propel Dirksen off the bottom of the counts, but he had slipped slightly by the time he risked it all to double through Gerhart.

Once Dicksen doubled, the pressure ramped up on the other remaining players, and Lopez busted in fourth place for $58,695 as a result. Lopez was followed from the felt by Kaplan, as both of Gerhart’s earlier rivals moved to the rail, Kaplan cashing for $81,696.

Gerhart took on Dicksen and had a strong lead going into the heads-up battle, with 12.1 million chips playing Dicksen’s 6 million. Although Dicksen took the lead after some early pots, Gerhart grabbed a marginal advantage back by the time the final hand happened and virtually all of the chips were in the middle of the table.

Gerhart’s pair of kings was good enough against Dicksen’s jacks, which saw Gerhart’s rail celebrated a fourth WSOP bracelet title, the luckless Dicksen was commiserated in second by the runner-up prize of $115,440. Gerhart had prevented him winning a first-ever bracelet with the hand and took the top prize of $186,789 in the process.

WSOP 2021 Event #62 $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Final Table Results:

  1. Kevin Gerhart – $186,789
  2. Dustin Dirksen – $115,440
  3. Matthew Kaplan – $81,696
  4. Sterling Lopez – $58,695
  5. Alexandr Orlov – $42,823
  6. Roman Hrabec – $31,733
  7. Michael Trivett – $23,891
  8. Dylan Wilkerson – $18,278

Elezra Takes The Lead In $50K PPC

After an entertaining day where 10 players dropped to five, Eli Elezra finished the action top of the leaderboard with one day to go in the Poker Players Championship. The $50,000-entry event, which will conclude on Friday, November 5th after a day’s break, began the day with ten top players, all of whom had made it into the money.

Mike Wattel was the first player to be busted, exiting proceedings in 10th place for a min-cash worth $82,623 when he lost out to Paul Volpe and it wasn’t long before Daniel Negreanu busted too, leaving in ninth place for $91,595. ‘Kid Poker’ lost with pocket aces again after doing so on a dramatic Day 3, this time being shot down by Ryan Leng’s set of jacks.

With eight players left, Nick Schulman, who earlier in the day had spoken out against a perceived slowroll from Negreanu, who later tweeted about how he was happy the hand played out as it did.

Schulman’s exit for $106,120 in eighth took place against Chris Brewer, who seemed to grow in power throughout the day, while Matt Glantz, who busted in seventh for $128,256, may have gone out in a split pot by Leng and Elezra, but he was trolled by Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates on his way from the event.

That left just one man to leave the party and miss out on the final five. Unfortunately for him and his many fans and investors, that was Josh Arieh, who left in sixth place another great score of $161,422 when his pocket queens in PLO were toppled by Elezra’s two-pair tens and sixes on the turn.

With five men remaining, here are the payouts for the players who made it all the way to Day 4 of one of the most difficult tournaments this year’s WSOP will host.

WSOP 2021 Event #60 $50,000 Poker Players Championship Results:

6th – Josh Arieh – $161,422
7th – Matt Glantz – $128,256
8th – Nick Schulman – $106,120
9th – Daniel Negreanu – $91,595
10th – Mike Wattel – $82,623

Of the five remaining players, it is Elezra who has the chip lead going into Friday’s showdown for the gold. With a massive 10 WSOP bracelets already won by the five players who will compete to get their name on the Chip Reese Trophy, Elezra’s four is one ahead of Volpe and Leng, each of whom has three to their name.

Neither Cates nor Brewer have won WSOP gold so far in their careers but now sit just four opponents away from doing so.

WSOP 2021 Event #60 $50,000 Poker Players Championship Final Table Chipcounts:

  1. Eli Elezra – 4,620,000
  2. Paul Volpe – 4,360,000
  3. Chris Brewer – 4,325,000
  4. Daniel Cates – 3,875,000
  5. Ryan Leng – 1,625,000

Ferraro Digs Deep To Win Deepstack Championship

In Event #61, Cole Ferraro completed a massive comeback win to claim his first WSOP title and the top prize of over a quarter of a million dollars. Eclipsing the others at a dramatic final table, Ferraro’s victory came after the 22-year-old finished second in an event earlier this series.

Heading into the final table, Ferraro had a slight chip lead, but that was overtaken by Richard Dixon very quickly as he took out Ronald Slucker in ninth for $25,359. Slucker shoved on a flop of 6s5d4h with 5s5c for a flopped middle set. Dixon made the call with his overpair 7s7h, but that improved to a straight on 5th street as the As turn was followed by a 8d on the river.

There was a period of no eliminations, but as the blinds rose, that was followed by a number of quick bust-outs. Rubin Chappell left in eighth place for $32,169 when his pocket eights were topped by Bart Lybaert’s pocket queens, before Xiangdong Huang busted in seventh for $41,108 when his Ah8s couldn’t win a flip against Dixon’s 6h6d.

With six players remaining, Edgardo Rosario busted for $52,914 when he got unlucky post-flop having had the better of it before the community cards fell. Rosario’s AhQc was well ahead of Dixon’s Ad6d but the board of 7c6c2c4d6s managed to offer Rosario a flush draw from the flop yet instead give Dixon trips on the river.

It wasn’t long, however, before Dixon himself was on the rail, busting in fifth place for $68,604. All-in with AdQh on a queen-high flop Ferraro had found KdKc and held through turn and river to win with a set of kings and sneak up on Sami Rustom, who had taken the chip lead.

Out in fourth for $89,587 was Bart Lybaert, the Belgian player heading home after he thought he was bluff-catching with third pair on a king-high board but saw Ferraro turn over aces in the hole to go into three-handed play with a strong lead. Play was soon heads-up, as Sean Dunleavy was done and left in third place for $117,822. Dunleavy shoved on the river of a hand against Rustom with a set of jacks, but his opponent had rivered a runner-runner flush to take the lead right back.

With Rustom holding 70 million chips to Ferraro’s 47 million, it took a comeback win for the bracelet. Ferraro won a handful of important hands where he had to make tough calls before the final hand saw him taking a lead into the action at the crucial moment. Rustom shoved with 4h4s, and after a long time taking consideration of all factors, Ferarro called with TdTc.

After the board played out 9s5h2s5cTh, Ferraro had the win and a history-making first-ever bracelet, with the 22-year-old the youngest player to enjoy a first and second so far in the 2021 World Series of Poker. While Rustom won $156,056 for finishing as runner-up, Ferraro’s top prize of $252,491will see him in huge profit for the series and playing the Main Event later in the week. On this form, who would want to face him across the felt?

WSOP 2021 Event #61 $600 Deepstack Championship Final Table Results:

  1. Cole Ferraro – $252,491
  2. Sami Rustom – $156,056
  3. Sean Dunleavy – $117,822
  4. Bart Lybaert – $89,587
  5. Richard Dixon – $68,604
  6. Edgardo Rosario – $52,914
  7. Xiangdong Huang – $41,108
  8. Ruben Chappell – $32,169
  9. Ronald Slucker – $25,359

Eelis Parssinen Wins First WSOP Bracelet

Event #64 saw Finnish online crusher Eelis Parssinen claim a first-ever WSOP bracelet victory as he took the top prize at a final table including players such as Niklas Astedt and Joni Jouhkimainen.

With just eight players making the final table, it wasn’t long before the first player busted, with a fast structure to the $5,000-entry event throughout. Parssinen got off to the best possible start when he made quads in a PLO pot to double through Jouhkimainen and move up the ranks, and instead of the Finn floundering, he would continue to rise up the leaderboard during the remainder of the final day.

Vikranth Anga was the first player to leave the final table as he lost out with ace-king to Jouhkimainen’s pocket kings when all the chips went into the middle pre-flop. Anga’s exit was worth $53,824 and he was soon joined on the rail by Swedish online sensation Niklas Astedt in seventh place for $70,367 when his Qs5s couldn’t catch Noah Bronstein’s Ah6h, a board of As3h2d9d7h sending Astedt home.

After Kyle Arora went out in sixth for $93,425, Jouhkimainen busted in fifth for $125,940. The Finn called off his stack from the big blind with 9d7s only for Ezra Abu Gazal’s AsQs to eliminate his micro stack. Soon, only three remained after the overnight chip leader, David Prociak, busted for $172,332.

Gazal would bust in No Limit Hold’em, when his QdTc lost to Parssinen’s 5c5d on a nine-high board, with the American earning $239,231 for the run to the podium places. That gave Parssinen 20.6 million chips, almost three times as many as Bronstein who had 8.4 million.

Heads-up was a short affair as the Finn wrapped up victory with a flopped set of sixes good enough for Parssinen to claim gold and the top prize of $545,616, while Bronstein cashed for $337,216 as runner-up.

WSOP 2021 Event #64 $5,000 NLHE/PLO Mix Final Table Results:

  1. Eelis Parssinen – $545,616
  2. Noah Bronstein – $337,216
  3. Ezra Abu Gazal – $239,321
  4. David Prociak – $172,332
  5. Joni Jouhkimainen – $125,940
  6. Kyle Arora – $93,425
  7. Niklas Astedt – $70,367
  8. Vikranth Anga – $53,824

In Event #63, the $500-entry Salute to Warriors, just nine players remain from 169 combatants on the penultimate day of the event. Bradley Rogoff leads the final table with 8,800,000 chips, a fair distance ahead of Eric Zhang with 7,175,000.

Elsewhere at the final table, there were stacks in bags for Chris Corbo (4,475,000) and Chulhan Choi (3,900,000) among others, but some weren’t so fortunate as to make the final day, with stars of the game such as Taylor Pollard, Lisa Roberts and Chris Bibb all going close to the final day but eventually missing out.

WSOP 2021 Event #63 $500 Salute to Warriors Final Table Chipcounts:

  1. Bradley Rogoff – 8,800,000
  2. Eric Zhang – 7,175,000
  3. Guy Hadas – 5,500,000
  4. Christopher Corbo – 4,475,000
  5. Mitch Garshofsky – 4,475,000
  6. Chulhan Choi – 3,900,000
  7. Hlib Kovtunov – 3,475,000
  8. Anthony Mccurdy – 3,350,000
  9. Marty Zabib – 2,700,000

The kick-off of Event #65, the Mini Main Event, is something thousands of players were looking forward to, as evidenced by the 3,821 players who played the freezeout tournament that apes the structure and style of the WSOP Main Event, which kicks off on Thursday.

After starting at 11am, the tournament enjoyed a busy opening day, with players such as the Player of the Year favorite Shaun Deeb busting out before the day was through. Others such as WSOP world champion Joe McKeehen went the same way, but some survived, with Thomas Boyden the pick of the 282 who made the cut.

Others to feature in the top ten included Farid Jattin (2,240,000) and two-time WSOP winner Georgios Sotiropoulos (2,135,000), while the highest other former WSOP bracelet winner in the counts was Ismael Bojang (1,850,000).

WSOP 2021 Event #65 $1,000 Mini Main Event Top 10 Chipcounts:

  1. Thomas Boyden – 3,325,000
  2. Giorgii Skhulukhiia – 3,150,000
  3. Nicholas Verderamo – 2,560,000
  4. Farid Jattin – 2,240,000
  5. Jinkwang Do – 2,150,000
  6. Georgios Sotiropoulos – 2,135,000
  7. Gareth Devereux – 1,995,000
  8. John Longowa – 1,995,000
  9. Nana Sanechika – 1,955,000
  10. Ye Yuan – 1,925,000

Finally, in terms of poker events that is, the $10,000 PLO Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship kicked off and saw 194 players reduced to just 101 on Day 1 of the event. Brian Hastings (447,000) leads the field, but he is in illustrious company in a top 10 that includes Chip Jett (308,500), Nick Schulman (295,000), GGPoker ambassador Felipe Ramos (282,500) and two-time 2021 WSOP winner Ari Engel, the Canadian sitting on 224,000 chips.

Players to bust included Yueqi Zhu, David Benyamine, Bradley Ruben, Rep Porter, Chris Vitch, Robert Campbell, Randy Ohel, Daniel Zack and Joao Vieira.

WSOP 2021 Event #66 $10,000 PLO Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship Top 10 Chipcounts:

  1. Brian Hastings – 447,000
  2. Tommy Chen – 377,500
  3. Chip Jett – 308,500
  4. Nick Schulman – 295,000
  5. Matt Livingston – 289,000
  6. Felipe Ramos – 282,500
  7. Ward Crane – 240,000
  8. Esther Taylor-Brady – 240,000
  9. Ari Engel – 224,000
  10. Dan Colpoys – 223,000

Despite positive actions, not everybody’s WSOP is going to plan. Ronnie Bardah’s luck isn’t changing any time soon by the looks of it.

Finally, is there a Player of the Year curse to legends of the past? Current combatant Ari Engel thinks so!