WSOP 2019: Campbell doubles, Baker binks and Schulman adds to career haul

Yesterday’s action has brought the best and worst of doubles to the fore, with one player taking his second runner-up spot of the series while another claims his second bracelet this summer. In addition, former bracelet winners have been getting busy, with two of them adding to their career collection in the last 24 hours. Here is the latest from the WSOP.

Event 67: Robert Campbell wins second bracelet of the series as Yueqi Zhu takes runner-up again

Not too many players get heads-up for a bracelet twice in one series, but in the $10,000 Stud hi/lo Championship events, both of the final two opponents found themselves in that exact situation. The event attracted 151 entries this year, with the prize pool growing to $1,419,400. As you might expect, there were countless big names scattered through the field. As the final table was set, Mike Matusow was perhaps, the most familiar name, but those paying attention to this series so far will have recognised Yueqi Zhu and Robert Campbell too. Both players had already been heads-up for a bracelet this summer, with Australian Campbell having claimed one title already. For Zhu, only a 2nd place had come his way this summer, in an event which he had won last year. With Matusow falling in 4th, Zhu and Campbell soon got the action down to heads-up, giving both players a second golden chance at a coveted golden prize.

This event did not see any levelling up of the fates however, as Campbell quickly surged into a lead, finishing Zhu off soon after. The Australian will no doubt be delighted but must also feel for Zhu just as the watching fans did. Despite his two near misses, Zhu has done wonders for his reputation in the last two years at the WSOP. If one Chinese player were to pick up multiple bracelets in the next few years your money would certainly be on him.

The final payouts are as follows:

1st – Robert Campbell – $385,763
2nd – Yueqi Zhu – $238,420
3rd – Mike Wattel – $164,647
4th – Mike Matusow – $116,255
5th – Ryan Hughes – $83,971
6th – Qinghai Pan – $62,079
7th – Andrey Zhigalov – $46,999
8th – Steven Wolansky – $36,460

Event 66: David “ODB” Baker wins his second career bracelet; Japan’s Ruiko Mamiya finishes 4th

Event 66 was the $1,500 Limit Holdem, and with limit not being the most popular form of poker, the field was unusually small for a $1,500 Holdem event, with just 541 entries. The prize pool reached $730,350, with $161,139 set aside for the eventual winner. At the end of each day of play, one name kept hitting the top of the chip counts. Bagging the lead on day 2 and 3, David “ODB” Baker always looked like the man to beat. At the final table, Chris Ferguson brought the most WSOP experience to the felt, but eventually bowed out in 5th place. Japan’s Ruiko Mamiya also put in a great shift but could not go any further than 4th. All the while, Baker continued to consolidate his dominant position. In the end, Brian Kim was the final player left to challenge him, but he could not turn the tide, exiting in 2nd place for $99,564. This brought Baker the second bracelet of his career, and $161,139 in prize money. According to Baker, he also had a nice prize money boost in the form of several bracelet bets he had with friends.

The final payouts are as follows:

1st – David “ODB” Baker – $161,139
2nd – Brian Kim – $99,564
3rd – Dominzo Love – $68,353
4th – Ruiko Mamiya – $47,747
5th – Chris Ferguson – $33,948
6th – Chicong Nguyen – $24,574
7th – Kenneth Donoghue – $18,118
8th – Danny Woolard – $13,609
9th – Greg Mueller – $10,418

Event 65: Nick Schulman wins third career bracelet as Hastings and Hachem go close

The $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better  brought 193 players to the table this year, resulting an eventual prizepool of $1,814,200. As the tournament approached the latter stages, there were still plenty of interesting stories to be told. Brian Hastings was bidding for his fifth career bracelet in the space of 8 years, Joe Hachem was looking to add to his Main Event bracelet from 2005 and Christopher Vitch was looking to add bracelet number three to his tally. Nick Schulman was also looking for his third, seven years after claiming his second. As the challengers melted away through the course of the final table, it soon became clear that the winner would provide an interesting story, with Hastings, Hachem and Schulman all vying for supremacy. Hachem’s bid for glory eventually crashed and burned, leaving two multiple bracelet winners to battle it out. Schulman began heads-up play with a 2 to 1 chiplead, but Hastings soon fought back, taking the chiplead for a brief moment. Despite rallying though, his joy was to be short lived. Victim of a cooler soon after, he finally hit the rail after losing a battle of the small aces.

The final payouts are as follows:

1st – Nick Schulman – $463,670
2nd – Brian Hastings – $286,570
3rd – Joe Hachem – $201,041
4th – Denis Strebkov – $143,700
5th – Chris Vitch – $104,688
6th – Corey Hochman – $77,763
7th – Michael McKenna – $58,918
8th – Bryce Yockey – $45,551

Other winners

Event – $1,000 ONLINE NLH Championship
Prize pool: $1,662,500
Entries: 1,750
Winner: Nicholas “Illari” Baris – $303,739