Alex Epstein outlasted 114 runners to win Event #8 $10,000 Short Deck NL. Epstein binked the WSOP's first-ever Short Deck event. Epstein banked $296,227 for first place and simultaneously knocked out Thai Ha and bracelet winner Anson Tsang on the final hand. Meanwhile, Daniel Park outlasted a field of 2,452 runners to win Event #12 $1,000 NL Super Turbo Bounty for a score worth $226,243.
So, a PLO walked into the WSOP and took down a Short Deck bracelet. You gotta love stories like that at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas. I guess that's part of the beauty of the World Series of Poker. You really just need the buy-in and cojones and make a few adjustments along the way. Heck, Johnny Bax won a Stud bracelet learning the rules in the hallway before the cards went in the air at the 2005 WSOP.
Stuff like that happens all the time in Vegas, which is why the WSOP is a brutal yet magical place in the same breath. Sometimes noob luck is the best luck. Then again, any luck is awesome luck at the WSOP.
The first-running of a Short Deck event at the WSOP was also a 10K affair. A total of 114 runners took a shot at the Short Deck bling. Andrew Robl bubbled the final table in seventh place.
The final six included Chance Kornuth, Anson Tsang, Thai Ha, Yong Wang, Rene van Krevelen and Alex Epstein.
China's Yong Wang was the first player to exit the final table in sixth place. The lone European at the final table, Holland's Rene van Krevelen, busted in fifth place.
Chance Kornuth attempt to win another bracelet to add to his collection. Alas, the American pro busted in fourth place, which paid out $93K.
With three to go, the final table saw some fireworks. How about a 2-for-1 bustout? Yup.
Anson Tsang, Thai Ha, and Alex Epstein were battling for the bling and nearly $300K in cash. Then it happened. Two bustouts on the same hand. Simultaneous eliminations. Alex Epstein flopped a joint and it held up.
Tsang exited in third place (with the shortest of all three stacks), while Thai Ha hit the bricks in second place. Tsang won $130K for third place and Ha earned a runner-up score worth $183K. Not too shabby, eh?
For winning the first WSOP Short Deck event, Alex Epstein won a first-place payout worth $296,227. The PLO cash game guru also binked his first bracelet.
Only the top 18 places paid out in Event #8 10K Short Deck. Among the notables were Ji Liu, Galen Hall, Eric Kurtzman, Justin Bonomo, Alex Foxen, Dustin Dirksen, Nikolai Yakovenko, Kane Kalas, Martjin Gerrits, Bill Perkins, and Matt Gonzales.
2019 WSOP - Event #8 $10,000 Short Deck NL
Entrants: 114
Prize Pool: $1,071,600
Payouts: 18
Final Table Results:
1. Alex Epstein (USA) $296,227
2. Thai Ha (USA) $183,081
3. Anson Tsang (Hong Kong) $130,482
4. Chance Kornuth (USA) $93,593
5. Rene van Krevelen (Netherlands) $67,566
6. Yong Wang (China) $49,095
Meanwhile, over in Event #12 $1,000 NL Super Turbo Bounty, Dan Park from Bayside, New York (Yo, Queens!) defeated Canadian Eric Cajelais to win his first bling. Event #12 attracted a massive field of 2,452 entrants and a prize pool worth $1.47 million. A total of 368 players were paid out in the Super Turbo Bounty.
The final table consisted of Daniel Park, Erik Cajelais, Jennifer Dennis, Emil Tiller, Marcelo Giordano Mendes, John Yelaney, Travis Sargent, Lian Lui, and Ferit Bulutogl.
Cajelais was seeking to add another piece of bling to his collection, but he could not overcome Park. Cajelais hit the bricks in second place, yet still banked nearly $140K for a runner-up finish. Not too shabby, eh? For a first-place finish, Dan Park earned a payday worth $226,243.
Roberto Valdez bubbled the final table in tenth place. Notables who went deep in WSOP Event #12 $1,000 included Dan O'Brien, Hong Li, Dan Zack, Brock Wilson, Michael Woo, Alex Bolotin, Ray Chan. Noah Bronstein, Jameson Painter, Ajay Gnanasambanthan
Cory Albertson, Porter Lambert, Trent Smith, Richard Fuller, Jason Hames, Matt Silva, Maria Konnikova, Brett Murray, James Little, Brent Roberts, Laura Eisenberg, Brandon Shack-Harris, Barny Boatman, Marvin Lewis, Jordan Young, Will the Thrill, Trung Pham, Matt Glantz, Billy Corvino, Bobby Bognar, Eric Wong, Jason Gooch, Brian Altman, and Fred Li.
