2018 WSOP Event 4: Julien Martini Wins $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better ($239,771)
The 2018 World Series of Poker has crowned the fourth gold bracelet winner of the summer festival in Sin City, as Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better played down to a winner. Initially Scheduled as a 3-day event, the field size of 911 demanded a fourth day to finish the event.
An extra day was added with Julien Martini and Kate Hoang as the two big stacks, with Mack Lee and William Kopp returned on thin ice. It came as no surprise that Martini and Hoang ended up fighting for the title and their first bracelet with the better end for the Frenchman. The 24-year old Martini earned $239,771 for his efforts, the 18th WSOP bracelet for his home country and the 13th French bracelet in Las Vegas, while Hoang had to settle for a payday of $148,150.
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Julien Martini | France | $239,771 |
| 2 | Kate Hoang | United States | $148,150 |
| 3 | Mack Lee | United States | $104,016 |
| 4 | William Kopp | United States | $74,058 |
| 5 | Brandon Ageloff | United States | $53,482 |
| 6 | Chad Eveslage | United States | $39,182 |
| 7 | Rafael Concepcion | United States | $29,128 |
| 8 | Denny Axel | United States | $21,977 |
| 9 | Tammer Ilcaffas | United States | $16,832 |
Hoang already had six WSOP cashes to her name for a total of $252,466, all involving Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better events. She already finished runner-up once before; she came second in 2016 WSOP Event #64: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better. In 2017, she finished in 8th place in WSOP Event #51: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship. She works as a dental office manager and put up a fierce fight, the heads-up battle lasted almost three and a half hours in total.
Martini: "I was very short once, but always believed in it."
Asked about the heads-up duel with Hoang, Martini had the following to say: "Just being patient and taking my time on every decision, and otherwise tried to take my time on every decision. I was very short once, but always believed in it." It was the first bracelet for Martini, who had dreamed of this since he took on poker. "It was a dream when I was 14 years old. What kind of guy can win a $1,500 tournament or a $10,000? I was dreaming about this for seven years, and it is one of the best things in my life. I am very proud and super happy."
With the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship already underway on Day 1, Martini confirmed that he will be entering the competition to take another shot at glory. Whether or not he will face Hoang there once more, remains to be seen.
Martini noticed a particular playing style of Hoang. "I played with her a lot on Day 2 and Day 3. She is playing great, actually. She is very unconventional, I am not used to play this kind of player.
Of the final 16 players, 15 were from the United States and the sole non-American emerged victoriously. "Maybe it is because of the game. Hi-Lo is played mostly in the US, and I live in Asia, born in Europe, and I don't know anyone who plays Limit."
Martini was railed by Taiwan's James Chen, who was eliminated in 23rd place for $6,764 midway through Day 3 and ended up as part of the group winner shot.
About the Event
The event drew a total of 911 entries. Martini followed into the footsteps of Benny Glaser and Benjamin Zamani. Glaser defeated a 934-entry strong field back in 2016 before also claiming his third bracelet a few days later in the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship. Zamani won his second WSOP bracelet in 2017 after defeating a field of 905 entries.
Martini: "I was dreaming about this for seven years, and it is one of the best things in my life. I am very proud and super happy."
The money bubble of the 2018 edition burst mid-way through Day 2. Among those to bust in the money were Ryan Laplante (133rd place, $2,252), Chris Tryba (123rd place, $2,317), Robert Mizrachi (90th place, $2,595), John Racener (86th place, $2,595), John Monnette (67th place, $3,127), Benny Glaser (63rd place, $3,526), Perry Friedman (54th place, $4,046), Shaun Deeb (44th place, $4,723), and Peter Eichhardt (39th place, $4,723).
Only 36 players remained for Day 3 and four former bracelet winners were in contention. Mike Leah (30th place, $5,605), Jason Lester (28th place, $5,605), Mike Wattel (21st place, $6,764) and Chris Bjorin (17th place, $8,296) all fell short in their bid for another coveted gold bracelet.
Jeff Shulman (12th place, $13,091) narrowly missed out on the final table, and the final level of the night saw the departure of Chad Eveslage (6th place, $39,182) and Brandon Ageloff (5th place, $53,482).
Action of the Final Day
Julien Martini and Kate Hoang were the big stacks when action resumed while William Kopp and Mack Lee were fighting for the pay jump with just over two big bets each.
Martini: "She is very tough and very hard to play, and a great opponent."
It was Kopp that missed out on the extra money. Lee chopped with Hoang for his tournament life and the very next hand brought the next all in showdown only a few minutes into the day. Kopp three-bet preflop and jammed a jack-ten high flop with ace-queen-queen-ten for an overpair and gutshot straight draw. Hoang called with king-seven-four-deuce for bottom pair, backdoor low, and flush draw. Hoang turned two pair and the river was a blank to reduce the field to the last three.
What followed was a persistent fight by Lee, who tripled once and doubled twice, before losing half of his stack again. Ultimately, Lee got it in after a queen-jack high flop with kings and a straight draw. Martini looked him up with top set and improved to a full house on the turn, then dodged the two outer on the river to set up the duel for the bracelet.
After a slow start to the battle, the stacks and swings became bigger and both Martini and Hoang traded the commanding lead within the first half hour. Martini scooped two big pots in back-to-back hands to pull into a 5-1 lead. However, four pots in a row for Hoang nearly evened out the stacks once more.
It would take almost three and a half hours to finally crown a champion and Hoang lost a big pot before bet-folding a double-paired board with one third of a big bet remaining. One double up and a split pot later, Hoang ended up all in and at risk in the third consecutive hand and couldn't escape from her fate anymore.
That wraps up the PokerNews live coverage from the 4th bracelet event of the summer. The cards and chips are flying in several other tournaments at this very moment, so check out PokerNews' WSOP Live Reporting coverage in the PokerNews live reporting hub.
A former professional poker player with a background in sports marketing and journalism. Yori has been a part of PokerNews since 2016 and manages the content team.
In this Series
- 1 2018 WSOP Event 1: Jordan Hufty Wins First WSOP Gold in $565 Casino Employees
- 2 2018 WSOP Event 2: Elio Fox Wins First Ever WSOP $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty for $393,693
- 3 2018 WSOP Event 3: Joe Cada Wins 2018 WSOP $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em SHOOTOUT for $226,218
- 4 2018 WSOP Event 4: Julien Martini Wins $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better ($239,771)
- 5 2018 WSOP Event 5: Nick Petrangelo Wins WSOP $100,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller ($2,910,227)
- 6 2018 WSOP Event 6: Jeremy Perrin Wins The GIANT Turning $365 Into $250,966
- 7 2018 WSOP Event 7: Roberly Felicio Wins the 2018 WSOP COLOSSUS for $1,000,000
- 8 2018 WSOP Event 8: Johannes Becker Wins $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball ($180,455)
- 9 2018 WSOP Event 9: Paul Volpe Wins Third WSOP Bracelet in Omaha Hi-Lo Championship
- 10 2018 WSOP Event 10: William ‘Twooopair’ Reymond Wins $365 WSOP.com ONLINE Event ($154,996)
- 11 2018 WSOP Event 11: Tim Andrew Triumphs in the $365 PLO GIANT for $116,015, Mizrachi Fifth
- 12 2018 WSOP Event 12: Jeremy Harkin Wins $1,500 Dealer's Choice for $129,882
- 13 2018 WSOP Event 13: Benjamin Moon Wins $1,500 Big Blind Antes for $315,346
- 14 2018 WSOP Event 14: Daniel Ospina Wins First Bracelet for Colombia in 2-7 Lowball Draw
- 15 2018 WSOP Event 15: Andrey Zhigalov Wins $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. for $202,787
- 16 2018 WSOP Event 16: Justin Bonomo Wins Second WSOP Bracelet in $10K Heads-Up Championship
- 17 2018 WSOP Event 17: Ognyan Dimov Wins Third Bracelet for Bulgaria in Event #17 ($378,743)
- 18 2018 WSOP Event 18: Adam Friedman Wins Second Bracelet in $10K Dealer's Choice
- 19 2018 WSOP Event 19: Craig Varnell Wins $565 Pot-Limit Omaha ($181,790)
- 20 2018 WSOP Event 20: Jeremy Wien Conquers $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em for $537,710
- 21 2018 WSOP Event 21: Arne Kern Wins $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em MILLIONAIRE MAKER ($1,173,223)
- 22 2018 WSOP Event 22: Philip Long Wins $1,500 Eight Game Mix ($147,348)
- 23 2018 WSOP Event 23: Brian Rast Wins Fourth Bracelet in 2-7 Lowball Championship, Brunson 6th
- 24 2018 WSOP Event 24: Michael Addamo Wins Event #24: $2,620 MARATHON No-Limit Hold'em
- 25 2018 WSOP Event 25: Benjamin Dobson Wins First WSOP Gold in $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo
- 26 2018 WSOP Event 26: Filippos Stavrakis Dedicates WSOP PLO Bracelet ($169,842) to His Brother
- 27 2018 WSOP Event 27: John Hennigan Wins 2018 WSOP $10K HORSE for Fifth Bracelet and $415K
- 28 2018 WSOP Event 28: Fortunate River Gives Gal Yifrach First WSOP Bracelet & $461K Prize
- 29 2018 WSOP Event 29: Hanh Tran Wins First WSOP Bracelet in $1,500 2-7 Triple Draw ($117,282)
- 30 2018 WSOP Event 30: Ryan Bambrick Wins First Gold Bracelet in Dominating Fashion
- 31 2018 WSOP Event 31: Steven Albini Wins $1,500 Stud to Deny Jeff Lisandro 7th Bracelet
- 32 2018 WSOP Event 32: Matthew Davis Tops Biggest Seniors Event Ever to Win $662,983
- 33 2018 WSOP Event 33: Michael Mizrachi Wins His Third Poker Players Championship Title
- 34 2018 WSOP Event 34: Robert Peacock Wins First WSOP Gold in $1,000 DOUBLE STACK
- 35 2018 WSOP Event 35: Yueqi Zhu Claims First WSOP Gold in $1,500 Mixed Omaha
- 36 2018 WSOP Event 36: Farhintaj Bonyadi Wins Event $1,000 Super Seniors ($311,451)
- 37 2018 WSOP Event 37: Eric Baldwin Wins Second Bracelet, Dedicates it to His Father
- 38 2018 WSOP Event 38: Yaniv Birman Wins First WSOP Gold Bracelet in $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship ($236,238)
- 39 2018 WSOP Event 39: Preston Lee Captures $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout Bracelet ($236,498)
- 40 2018 WSOP Event 40: Scott Bohlman Wins WSOP $2,500 Mixed Big Bet ($122,138)
- 41 2018 WSOP Event 41: Robert Nehorayan Wins $1,500 Limit Hold'em for $173,568
- 42 2018 WSOP Event 42: Shaun Deeb Gets Revenge on Ben Yu to Win $25K PLO for $1,402,683
- 43 2018 WSOP Event 43: Timur Margolin Takes Down $2,500 NLHE for $507,274
- 44 2018 WSOP Event 44: Nicholas Seiken Wins $10k 2-7 Triple Draw Championship for $287,987
- 45 2018 WSOP Event 45: Mario Prats Garcia Wins $1,000 Big Blind NLH For $258,255
- 46 2018 WSOP Event 46: David Brookshire Wins WSOP $2,500 Mixed Omaha/Stud Hi-Lo 8 ($214,291)
- 47 2018 WSOP Event 47: Matthew 'mendey' Mendez Wins First WSOP Online PLO Bracelet ($135,077)
- 48 2018 WSOP Event 48: Tommy Nguyen Wins Monster Stack for $1,037,451
- 49 2018 WSOP Event 49: Loren Klein Wins $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship for $1,018,336
- 50 2018 WSOP Event 50: Jay Kwon Wins $1,500 Razz ($125,431)
- 51 2018 WSOP Event 51: Ryan Leng Ships First WSOP Gold in $1,500 BOUNTY ($272,504)
- 52 2018 WSOP Event 52: Scott Seiver Wins $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship ($296,222)
- 53 2018 WSOP Event 53: Couden Tops Elezra, Matusow, Negreanu, and Fitoussi to win $1,500 PLO8
- 54 2018 WSOP Event 54: Portugal's Diogo Veiga Wins $3K Big Blind Antes ($522,715)
- 55 2018 WSOP Event 55: Giuseppe Pantaleo and Nikita Luther Win the $1K Tag Team for $175,805!
- 56 2018 WSOP Event 56: Calvin Anderson Wins His Second Bracelet in the $10K Razz ($309,220)!
- 57 2018 WSOP Event 57: Jessica Dawley Wins the WSOP Ladies Championship for $130,230!
- 58 2018 WSOP Event 58: Tribe Has Spoken: Jean-Robert Bellande Wins First Bracelet for $616K
- 59 2018 WSOP Event 59: Mike Takayama Makes History as the First Filipino to Win a WSOP Bracelet
- 60 2018 WSOP Event 60: Galfond Wins 3rd Bracelet in $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Championship
- 61 2018 WSOP Event 61: Ryan 'Toosick' Tosoc Wins WSOP.com $1,000 Championship ($238,778)
- 62 2018 WSOP Event 62: Galen Hall Wins $888 Crazy Eights No-Limit Hold'em for $888,888
- 63 2018 WSOP Event 63: Chance 'BingShui' Kornuth Wins Second Bracelet in WSOP.com Online High Roller for $341,598
- 64 2018 WSOP Event 64: Matsuzuki Wins First WSOP Gold Bracelet in $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo
- 65 John Cynn Wins the 2018 WSOP Main Event for $8,800,000!
- 66 2018 WSOP Event 66: Longsheng Tan Wins $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em for $323,472
- 67 2018 WSOP Event 67: Anderson Ireland Wins $1,500 PLO Bounty for First Bracelet and $141K
- 68 2018 WSOP Event 68: Guoliang Wei Wins Fourth Chinese Bracelet in The Little One for One Drop ($559,332)
- 69 2018 WSOP Event 69: Ronald Keijzer Wins $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed for $475,033
- 70 2018 WSOP Event 70: Yaser Al-Keliddar Wins Event #70: $3K Limit Hold'em 6-Handed for $154K
- 71 2018 WSOP Event 71: Phil Hellmuth Wins 15th Career Bracelet in $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em!
- 72 2018 WSOP Event 72: Jordan Polk Wins $1,500 Mixed NLH/PLO for $197,461
- 73 2018 WSOP Event 73: Denis Timofeev Bests Leo Margets to Win the $1,000 Double Stack Turbo
- 74 2018 WSOP Event 74: Shaun Deeb Wins Second Bracelet of the Summer in $10,000 6-Max ($814,179)
- 75 2018 WSOP Event 75: Joe Cada Wins His Fourth Career Bracelet in The Closer ($612,886)
- 76 2018 WSOP Event 76: Brian Hastings Wins the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E and 4th Bracelet
- 77 2018 WSOP Event 77: Ben Yu Wins Third Bracelet in $50,000 High Roller $1,650,773
