WSOP 2021: Shaun Deeb, David Williams Denied As Rafael Lebron Wins Event #14
WSOP 2021: Shaun Deeb, David Williams Denied As Rafael Lebron Wins Event #14

The latest round of action saw two more bracelet winners take down titles and earn gold as Rafael Lebron conquered the final six of the Seven Card Stud Event #14, beating David Williams heads-up for the bracelet and Harvey Mathews also took gold on a busy day at the felt.

Rafael Lebron Outlasts Shaun Deeb, David Williams For Event #14 Title

Lebron’s achievement was a stunning one, as despite coming into the final table with the chip lead, he faced five experienced opponents including Shaun Deeb, the former WSOP Player of the Year. Deeb, however, was unable to really get going despite this positivity before the table kicked off.

Declaration of intentions might be more of a Negreanu-style tweet, but the former #1-ranked Deeb was unfortunate to slide out in fifth place after Nicholas Seiken busted first. With four players left, Christina Hill, who had come into the day very short-stacked, managed to get up to a cash worth $25,344. It was the turn of David Moskovitz to go in third place before Lebron got to take on a player he credits as having helped him get into the game.

Heads-up was an imbalanced fight from the beginning of the battle, with Lebron having used his stack to accumulate plenty of chips more than David Williams, with a chip lead of around 3:1. He put that lead to good use, getting over the line to win the second WSOP bracelet of his career, in doing so denying Williams the same achievement. The former Magic the Gathering player has now finished as runner-up in a WSOP event for a fourth time.

WSOP 2021 Event #14 $1,500 Seven Card Stud Final Table Results:

  1. Rafael Lebron – $82,262
  2. David Williams – $50,842
  3. David Moskowitz – $35,521
  4. Christina Hill – $25,344
  5. Shaun Deeb – $18,475
  6. Nicholas Seiken – $13,766
  7. Maurizio Melara – $10,490
  8. Hal Rotholz – $8,179
  9. Steven Albini – $6,528

Mathews Claims $3K Freezeout

Event #13 also concluded on Friday night, with Harvey Mathews the winner of what was his first-ever bracelet. The final day began with just seven players in seats and it wasn’t long before that number was reduced to six. Craig Mason busted first on the day for $49,238 when his 5h5c was looking good on the QcJc5d flop and all the money went in on the Td turn with Girish Apte holding just AhQs. But the Broadway straight came in on the gutting river of Kd for Mason in every sense.

It wasn’t long before two more bust-outs sent the table even shorter handed. David Lolis cashed for $65,072 in sixth place after calling off a couple of big blinds with Ad2d and losing to Mathews [AhQc. The board of QhTd9h8h4c had Lolis crushed to a chop from the turn.

Brandon Caputo had led the field into play, but he departed in fifth place for $87,288 when his AsAd was overtaken by Mathews’ 7d2d on a board of Ts3d2h8dQd which flushed him away on the river. Apte would join him on the rail with $118,815 just a few minutes later when his last three big blinds went into the middle with Kd9c only to be dominated then defeated by Michael Gathy’s Ad9s.

Gathy was the table’s most decorated player by far with the Belgian having won four WSOP bracelets in a stellar career. He would eventually bust in third place for $164,083 when Ah8d couldn’t overtake Mathews’ AcKc. The board of Qh9s4cKh8s has Gathy drawing dead from the turn.

Heads-up, Mathews had a better than 4:1 chip lead against Gabriel Andrade, and although Andrade almost levelled up the stacks at one point, he eventually slid back to the same level he started the duel with to bust. Andrade called off his stack with As9d and couldn’t hold against Mathews’ KhTd], the board of 8s8h5d2hKs ending the tournament on the river. Mathews won his first bracelet at $371,914, while Andrade had to settle for just $229,848 as runner-up.

WSOP 2021 Event #13 $3,000 NLHE Freezeout Final Day Results:

  1. Harvey Mathews – $371,914
  2. Gabriel Andrade – $229,848
  3. Michael Gathy – $164,083
  4. Girish Apte – $118,815
  5. Brandon Caputo – $87,288
  6. David Lolis – $65,072
  7. Craig Mason – $49,238

 

There was controversy on Poker Twitter, where, in the six-handed Event #15 professional player Adam Hendrix posted on Twitter that a ‘well-known pro’ asked to be unregistered then re-registered the same event.

The context for this was duly supplied by the pro in question, Kelly Minkin, whose explanation not only satisfied the original poster but most fans who arrived to find out the truth.

As Day 2 played down to a final two tables of eight players, it was Jeremy Malod who led the last eight players with a stack of 7,570,000, while Bradley Jansen was his closest challenger on just over six million chips.

WSOP 2021 Event #15 $1,500 NLHE Six-Handed Final Table Chipcounts:

  1. Jeremy Malod – 7,570,000
  2. Bradley Jansen – 6,075,000
  3. Jesse Yaginuma – 5,415,000
  4. Ryan Andrada – 4,495,000
  5. Ryan Pedigo – 4,270,000
  6. Mark Liedke – 2,950,000
  7. Jon Baylor – 2,130,000
  8. Sean Hegarty – 1,450,000

John Racener, Jason Somerville, Terrence Chan Make $10K Limit FT

A whole host of familiar names grace the final table of Event #16 ($10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship) with former Main Event final tablist John Racener leading the way as the only player with over 1 million in chips. He’s joined by Jason Somerville, who has come out of semi-retirement to make an appearance, Nater Silver, and Limit Hold’em legend Terrence Chan.

WSOP 2021 Event #16 $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship Final Table Chipcounts:

  1. John Racener – 1,090,000
  2. Eric Kurtzman – 975,000
  3. Jason Somerville – 670,000
  4. Scott Tuttle – 650,000
  5. Kevin Song – 515,000
  6. Nate Silver – 440,000
  7. Terrence Chan – 350,000
  8. Ray Dehkharghani – 315,000
  9. John Monnette – 270,000
  10. Christopher Chung – 250,000

Would-be Millionaires Kick Off Event #17

The popular $1,500 Millionaire Maker got underway on Friday with 2568 runners taking a shot at the $1,000,000 guaranteed first-place prize. By the end of the night, just 567 remained with Yiming Lee holding the chip lead, followed closely by Donovan Dean, and Mark Dube. The $1,500-entry Millionaire Maker saw 2,564 players reduced to only 567 players as Yiming Li bagged up the biggest total of 487,000 chips. That was some way clear of Donavan Dean (391,500) and Mark Dube (375,000) who will go into Day 2 second and third in chips respectively.

With players such as Chance Kornuth (324,000), Kitty Kuo (276,500), Anton Wigg (178,500), Shannon Shorr (101,000), Ryan Riess (97,000), and Adrian Mateos (70,000) all making the cut, another massive day will take place on Saturday as Day 1b brings thousands more players into what could be a record-breaking field in the event which guarantees the winner will become a millionaire.

WSOP 2021 Event #17 $1,500 Millionaire Maker Top 10 Chipcounts:

  1. Yiming Li – 487,000
  2. Donavan Dean – 391,500
  3. Mark Dube – 375,000
  4. Shan Jing – 374,500
  5. R.A. Villaluna – 366,000
  6. David Siegel – 363,000
  7. Nicholas Lebherz – 360,000
  8. Frank Bonacci – 352,500
  9. Keyu Qu – 347,500
  10. William Nguyen – 341,000

The final event of the day to kick off was Event #18, the $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball event, which enjoyed a showing of 253 entries overall. Of those, just 104 players made it through to Day 2, with only 38 of those going to cash.

Robert Mizrachi bagged up the chip lead of 201,000 chips, but he is joined by some legends of the felt, with last year’s winner of this event, Dan Zack, taking through 127,500 and other luminaries of live poker such as Julien Martini (180,000), Scott Seiver (177,000), Benny Glaser (129,000), David Benyamine (112,000), Daniel Negreanu (61,000) and Steve Zolotow (37,500) all zipping up their chips and preparing for a push towards the final table on Day 2.

Mizrachi, Martini Mix it Up in Triple Draw

A star-studded field took their seats for Event #18 ($2,500 Mixed Triple Draw) on Friday with Robert Mizrachi bagging up the chip lead at the end of the day. Right behind him was PSPC runner-up Julien Martini and high-stakes crusher Scott Seiver.

WSOP 2021 Event #18 $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball Top 10 Chipcounts:

  1. Robert Mizrachi – 201,000
  2. Julien Martini – 180,000
  3. Scott Seiver – 177,000
  4. Carlos Rodriguez – 174,500
  5. Domnick Sarle – 173,500
  6. Brian Tate – 173,000
  7. Philip Sternheimer – 168,000
  8. Schuyler Thornton – 166,500
  9. Craig Love – 161,000
  10. Steve Lee – 160,000

Finally, Anton Wigg isn’t just a poker boss at the felt, he’s picked up on one of the most satisfying moments in the game whether you’re at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas or just your home game.