Two more first-time winners at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas. Philip Long won WSOP Event #22 $1,500 Eight Game Mix for his first bracelet and thwarted Daniel Negreanu's run for his seventh bracelet. Also, Jeremy Wien shipped WSOP Event #20 Big Blind Antes $5,000 NL. Wein, a derivatives trader from New York City had to call in sick to work to finish the marathon heads-up battle that lasted five-plus hours and extended the three-day tournament to an additional fourth day.
Manic Monday in Las Vegas. Two more bracelets were up for grabs at the Rio Casino with Daniel Negreanu chasing down a bracelet. A derivatives trader (a.k.a bankster from Goldman Sachs) from New York City extended his holiday in Las Vegas an extra day because he was at a WSOP final table. Event #20 Big Blind Antes $5,000 NL required a fourth day of action to accommodate the grueling heads-up battle between David Wien and young Spanish pro David Laka. Meanwhile, Philip Long won his first bracelet and denied Daniel Negreanu a seventh piece of bling. Long binked Event #22 $1,500 Eight Game Mix and defeated a final table that included both Kid Poker and John Racener.
Event #20 Big Blind Antes $5,000 NL - Final Results
They needed a fourth day of action to determine the Big Blind Antes winner. Jeremy Wien had to call in sick to work! He has a real day job back in New York City, but had a good excuse to miss work... he was in contention for a WSOP bracelet.
Wein swims with real sharks every day on Wall Street, but the trader survived a deep dive with couple of the best of the best.
The NYC derivatives trader (ho hum, Goldman Sachs... where they do some REAL gambling) made the stacked final table and somehow managed to outlast one of the greatest online players in the history of the universe in Shawn 'Buck21' Buchanan.
Oh, and Jake Schindler and David Peters were also at the final table. Yeah... that David Peters. Peters' run ended when he busted in seventh place. And Buchanan got picked off in sixth place, while Schindler went out in fifth.
Eric Blair was dunzo in third place, which set up a heads-up match between Jeremy Wien and David Laka. Laka is an online pro from Spain, who lived in the U.K. to take better advantage of the virtual games. Laka was seeking his first bracelet as well. You had the young gun with a big chip lead versus the bankster. The two dueled for over five hours before a winner was finally declared. Talk about one heck of a show. Wien and his short stack was not going to back down so easily. He battled back and pulled off the comeback.
Cooler time. That's how the final table ended. With Queens versus Aces. Wien shipped the tournament with Aces when they help up. Laka busted in second place but won $332,328 for a runner-up prize. Not too shabby for your first WSOP final table, eh?
Oh, and Wien banked $537,710... which is probably a week's salary down on Wall Street. He probably lost more money sticking around Vegas an extra day to play poker than he would have trading derivatives. I kid, I kid... maybe so, maybe not.
Notables who went deep in the $5K Big Blind Antes and cashed in Event #20 included... Jan Von Halle, Stevie Chidwick, Seth Davies, Kristen Bicknell, Dominik Nitsche, Justin Bonomo, James Alexander, Kev Law, David the Dragon, Bryn Kenney, Brent Roberts, Antoine Saout, Upeshka De Silva, Humberto Brenes, Erik Seidel, Taylor Paur, Kitty Kuo, Oliver Busquet, Ben Yu, and Toby Zeigler.
2018 WSOP - Event #20 Big Blind Antes $5,000 NL
Entrants: 518
Prize Pool: $2,408,700
Payouts: 78
Final Table Results:
1. Jeremy Wien (USA) $537,710
2. David Laka (Spain) $332,328
3. Eric Blair (USA) $228,307
4. Jake Schindler (USA) $159,575
5. John Amato (USA) $113,510
6. Shawn Buchanan (Canada) $82,199
7. David Peters (USA) $60,618
8. Richard Tuhrim (USA) $45,538
9. Patrick Truong (USA) $34,862
Event #22 $1,500 Eight Game Mix - Final Results
Ship it to England! Philip Long is the latest Brit to hoist a piece of bling over his head. Long outlasted a field of 481 mixed-game enthusists to win Event #22 $1,500 Eight Game Mix.
Long also survived a final table that included multi-bracelet winners John Racener and Daniel Negreanu. Racener is coming off one of his best and most consistent years on the circuit, and Negreanu is hell-bent on winning a bracelet this summer. Kid Poker couple of bracelet bets on the line, which is like the golden carrot dangling off a stick in front of the donkey cart.
Couple of blasts from the pasts went deep in this 8-game event with Mike "The Mouth" Matusow and RW3 looking to make final tables... but both were knocked out coming down the stretch. Mixed-games guru David Bach and Anthony Zinno were also among the final 16 players in the mix, but both busted before the final table.
Nick Derke was the first player to bust at the final table. Sweden's Per Hildebrand went deep in another event this summer, but he busted in fifth place.
Danny Boy earned a shade under $60K for third place, but the money didn't matter to him as much as the bling. Ah, Negreanu will have to wait another day to win his seventh bracelet.
With Negreanu's elimination, a heads-up battle was set between Kevin Malis and Philip Long. When the dust settled, Malis bounced in second place and Long shipped the tournament and bracelet. The U.K.'s Long earned $147,348 for first place, while Malis banked $91K.
Jean Montury bubbled off the final table in seventh place and Iori Yogo busted in eighth place.
Notables who went deep in the 8-game included... Mike Matusow (12th), Anthony Zinno (13th), Robert Williamson III (14th), David 'Gunslinger' Bach (16th), James Obst (20th), Ben Yu (22nd), Dylan Linde (24th), and Mark Gregorich (27th).
Other familiar faces who cashed in this mixed affair a.k.a. Event #22 included... Fabrice Soulier, Scott Seiver, Jon Turner, Chip Jett, Ian Johns, Vladimir Shchemelev, Cyndy Violette, Raf Lebron, Ylon Schwartz, Jake Schwartz, Fred Jensen, Benny Glasser, Alessio Isaia, and Amnon Filippi.
2018 WSOP - Event #22 $1,500 Eight Game Mix
Entrants: 481
Prize Pool: $649,350
Payouts: 73
Final Table Results:
1. Philip Long (U.K.) $147,348
2. Kevin Malis (USA) $91,042
3. Daniel Negreanu (Canada) $59,788
4. John Racener (USA) $40,151
5. Per Hildebrand (Sweden) $27,587
6. Nicholas Derke (USA) $19,404
