WSOP 2021: John Monette Wins Fourth WSOP Bracelet in $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship
WSOP 2021: John Monette Wins Fourth WSOP Bracelet in $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship

John Monette won his fourth World Series of Poker bracelet as he took down the $10,000-entry Limit Hold’em Championship at the Rio last night. At an entertaining final table that began 10-handed and finished with a thrilling heads-up, Monette won the $245,680 top prize and took home World Series gold. It marked his fourth victory in different poker variants with a Limit Hold’em crown to add to victories in previous events playing 2-7 Lowball Draw, Seven Card Stud, and 8-Game Mix.

John Monette Wins $10K Limit

It took no time at all for the first player of the final ten to bust as Ray Dehkharghani cashed for $18,506 in 10th place. Dehkharghani moved all-in for just two big blinds with Ad8s and was called by Eric Kurtzman with KhJs. The flop of Ks7s5c immediately put Kurtzman into the lead and that was the way it stayed through the 7h turn and 3h river.

Kevin Song became the second player to hit the rail when his AsJs was no good on a flop of AdJc8s, with Christopher Chung having flopped bottom set holding 8d8h. The money went in on the 4h turn, but after the 9h river, Song has sung his last, busting in ninth place for $21,149.

Despite winning that hand, a prolonged period of play would eventually see Chun himself eliminated next, when his shove holding As2s was called by John Racener with 5h5d. The board of Ah9d5cQd6d saw Chung raise-call his stack off on the turn, which led to his exit in eighth place for $26,561.

After Scott Tuttle got short to bust in seventh for $33,979, John Racener went for chip leader earlier in the event to on the rail in sixth place for $44,263. Racener had the best of it with JhJd, but Kurtzman called his shove on the QhQc8d flop with Kh8h and after the 5d turn, was fortunate to hit a Ks on the river.

It took a long time to bust a player in the second half of the final table, but Jason Somerville was eventually the unfortunate player to depart in fifth place for $58,697. Somerville was all-in and at risk for just four big blinds with AsKs and was called by Nate Silver, whose 7h7d prevailed across the QsJhTs7cTc] board.

Just a few minutes later, Terrence Chan was on the rail too in fourth place for $79,210 after his KhJh couldn’t overtake Monnette’s AhKd with an ace on the turn after a jack on the flop doing the fatal damage to Chan’s stack.

Three-handed player saw each man take the lead at a different stage, but when Eric Kurtzman re-raised all in on a flop of 5c4s4d, Nate Silver made the call with a gutshot and two overs, holding 8d7h. The 8h turn saw Silver move ahead, while Kurtzman cashed for $108,747.

Heads up, Silver went into play with a slight lead, holding 3.1 million to Monnette’s 2.5 million. That would grow to a point where Silver had almost double Monette’s chips, but the four-time winner did not earn his reputation from fading away when down to the final duel and ground his way to a point where he himself had a large lead of 5:1.

It was then that Monnette pressed home his advantage, and on a board showing Tc8c7cKs, a raising war on the turn saw all the chips go into the middle with Silver holding QcTs and Monnette with Kc8h. The 6d river changed nothing and Monnette was the champion.

With Silver earning a silver-place prize of $151,842, it was Monnette who took the bracelet and a victory worth $245,680

Event #16: $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship Final Table Results:

  1. John Monnette – $245,680
  2. Nate Silver – $151,842
  3. Eric Kurtzman – $108,747
  4. Terrence Chan – $79,210
  5. Jason Somerville – $58,697
  6. John Racener – $44,263
  7. Scott Tuttle – $33,979
  8. Christopher Chung – $26,561
  9. Kevin Song – $21,149
  10. Ray Dehkharghani – $18,506

After winning his first WSOP bracelet in the $25,000 Heads-Up Championship, Jason Koon thanked a poker legend for praising his – and others – achievements.

First Bracelet For Bradley Jansen

In Event #15, there was another bracelet winner as Bradley Jansen won his debut bracelet after taking down the final table of the $1,500-entry six-handed event. It was Jeremy Malod who went into play as the chip leader, but Jansen started like a train to push for a strong finish and it paid off handsomely for a top prize of $313,403.

The final table got underway with seven players, but Mark Liedtke lost his seat fairly quickly to Jansen. Liedtke was all-in with KdQd but couldn’t catch Jansen’s QsQh. French overnight chip leader Jeremy Malod was just as happy to win with queens, as he won a flip against Jesse Yaginuma to reduce the field to five when his QhQs held against the American player’s AcKh.

Jeremy Malod would eliminate two of the next three players to go into heads-up with a 3:1 chip lead over the eventual winner, but Jansen managed to turn a straight to win a decent pot to move to within a double-up of the chip lead. As it happened, that took place after a flop of Qc9s4c provoked action, with Malod check-raising before a turn card of 2s got another big bet and call. On the Jh river, Malod moved all-in, with Jansen snap-calling with KcTc for a rivered straight, way better than Malod’s Qh9d for top two pair from the flop.

It was all over a short time later, with Malod’s Kh3h initially taking the lead against Jansen’s AhTd on the Kc9s7d flop with the players committed pre-flop. The turn of 8h changed little, but the 6s on the river gave Jansen a straight and the bracelet along with the $313,403 top prize. The overnight chip leader going into the final day, Malod had to settle for being runner-up and winning $193,711.

WSOP 2021 Event #15 $1,500 6-Handed NLHE Final Table Results:

  1. Bradley Jansen – $313,403
  2. Jeremy Malod – $193,711
  3. Ryan Pedigo – $136,070
  4. Sean Hegarty – $96,919
  5. Ryan Andrada – $70,013
  6. Jesse Yaginuma – $51,305
  7. Mark Liedtke – $38,146

Stephen Song Soars To Milly Maker Chip Lead

Event #17 saw a bumper day of action at the felt on Day 1b of the Millionaire Maker. Stephen Song was singing at the end of Day 1b, with the chip lead in the room of 431,000 ahead of Michael Nia (405,000) and Clement Van Driessche (397,000). Others to book a seat on Day 2 included Faraz Jaka (311,000), Maria Konnikova (243,000), Sam Abernathy (229,500) and WSOP Main Event runner-up Tony Miles (201,000).

Big names busted, with some of the famous face on the rail being Ronnie Bardah, Ian O’Hara, Sam Razavi, Shaun Deeb and Sofia Lovgren among others.

WSOP 2021 Event #17 Millionaire Maker Day 1b Top 10 Chipcounts:

  1. Stephen Song – 431,000
  2. Michael Nia – 405,500
  3. Clement Van Driessche – 397,000
  4. Russell Clayton – 394,500
  5. Boris Akopov – 347,000
  6. Sebastien Comel – 338,000
  7. Nabil Cardoso – 337,000
  8. Pierre Calamusa – 337,000
  9. Kou Vang – 334,000
  10. Hayato Nagasawa – 330,000

12 Remain in $2,500 Triple Draw

There were 104 survivors to Day 2 of the Mixed Triple Draw Lowball event, but at the end of the penultimate day, only a dozen players made the cut for the final day. With players such as Johannes Becker (13th for $6,579), James Woods (14th for $6,579), and David Benyamine (20th for $5,121) all going close to making the final two tables, stars of the game such as Joao Vieira (435,000) and Mike Gorodinsky (130,000) both snuck into the final day’s play.

Chip leader heading into the last day of action is Jason Daly, who stack of 1,595,000 dwarfs even his closest rivals, with Brian Yoon (1,080,000) and Aaron Rogers (1,025,000) closest to hanging onto his coattails.

WSOP 2021 Event #18 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball Final 12 Chipcounts:

  1. Jason Daly – 1,595,000
  2. Brian Yoon – 1,080,000
  3. Aaron Rogers – 1,025,000
  4. Gary Benson – 935,000
  5. Vladimir Peck – 870,000
  6. Michael Trivett – 750,000
  7. Carlos Rodriguez – 675,000
  8. Brian Tate – 475,000
  9. Hal Rotholz – 455,000
  10. Joao Vieira – 435,000
  11. Venkata Tayi – 390,000
  12. Mike Gorodinsky – 130,000

Zinno, McCelland, Martini Move On In $10K Stud

Finally, Event #19 saw 46 players reduced to just 18 as those playing the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship battled for a Day 2 berth. Jose Paz leads the field with 341,000 chips, from top 10 players such as Anthony Zinno (282,500) and Jack McClelland (178,500), with players such as Eli Elezra, Daniel Negreanu, Shaun Deeb, Scott Seiver, Andre Akkari, and David Singer all busting before the end of the days play.

WSOP 2021 Event #19 $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship Top 10 Chipcounts:

  1. Jose Paz – 341,000
  2. Jason Gola – 292,500
  3. Adam Friedman – 291,000
  4. Anthony Zinno – 282,500
  5. Thomas Butler – 195,500
  6. Jack McClelland – 178,500
  7. Matt Grapenthien – 168,500
  8. James Chen – 152,000
  9. Paul Mangine – 150,000
  10. Julien Martini – 132,000

Don’t ever tell the poker world that WSOP bracelets don’t matter. As Ryan Laplante exemplified, players who haven’t won one before can feel the importance of such an achievement when it happens, just like multiple winners can.