Another champion has been crowned at the 2018 World Series of Poker as Jeremy Perrin emerged victorious in Event #6: $365 GIANT No-Limit Hold'em, taking home his maiden bracelet and a payday of $250,966 for his efforts.
"I actually thought it was the PLO GIANT. Then I got two cards instead of four, and I figured I might just ship it."
The event with the smallest buy-in of the entire schedule had five separate starting days and drew 8,920 entries with a total of $2,676,000 in prize money. Players could earn several cashes in their respective flights, and it was Perrin that came out on top, defeating Puerto Rican Luis Vazquez in heads-up play.
"I feel pretty good. I actually thought it was the PLO GIANT. Then I got two cards instead of four, and I figured I might just ship it," Perrin said, surrounded by his friends during the winner interview.
It was the first bracelet event he entered, and there was an additional incentive for him to do well with a very specific prop bet.
"If we play in a tournament together, a ring or bracelet event and we both play, and I win, or he wins, I get to pick a tramp stamp for him that he has to keep for a year. That is in stone. That's all I have played for. The money doesn't matter; I'm gonna take the bracelet and melt it down into gold fronts. I'll take the money, put it into a shredder. I just want to get his tramp stamp."
Perrin insisted on being serious about this, much to the laughter of the friends right next to him.
"Honestly, I played for sixth place, then I wanted to make third, and then for the win."
It wasn't an easy ride to victory for the Omaha cash game player, as Perrin was one of the shorter stacks at the start of the final table with just 19 big blinds. After barely playing any hands early on, he doubled with pocket jacks in the first orbit and was essentially aiming for pay jumps.
"I didn't play a hand for two hours. Honestly, I played for sixth place, then I wanted to make third, and then for the win."
Several double-ups later, Perrin was suddenly among the last three and second in chips when he clashed with eventual third-place finisher Svetlozar Nestorov in a crucial hand that would define the outcome of the tournament. Perrin moved all in with pocket aces and got the call he wanted to take an overwhelming lead.
"I already looked at my hand, knew what I had. I told him I was thinking about a chop, and they didn't want to chop. So fuck it, I am all in. Then he woke up with ace-king and popped it. That was bad for him. That was actually a pretty good one."
Among the notables to reach the final day of the event were WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Fuhs, who was eliminated in ninth place for $25,319, and Russia's Alexander Lakhov (fifth place, $69,571). It was Lakhov's second WSOP final table of the summer and third total.
Final Table Result
Position
Winner
Country
Prize
1
Jeremy Perrin
United States
$250,966
2
Luis Vazquez
United States
$155,478
3
Svetlozar Nestorov
Bulgaria
$118,444
4
Renato Kaneoya
Brazil
$90,599
5
Alexander Lakhov
Russia
$69,571
6
Kevin Rines
United States
$53,751
7
Lawrence Chan
United States
$41,953
8
Matthew Smith
United States
$32,433
9
Daniel Fuhs
United States
$25,319
Jeremy Perrin Wins Event #6: $365 GIANT No-Limit Hold'em
Action of the Final Day
Only nine players remained on the final day, and the only former WSOP bracelet winner among the finalists was sent to the rail first. Daniel Fuhs three-bet shoved with ace-king and initial raiser Luis Vazquez called with king-queen only to spike a queen on the flop, ensuring that a first-time champion would be crowned.
Just over an hour later, the field was reduced to the final four after several short stacks ran out of chips in quick succession.
Matthew Smith doubled early on, then called a shove by Renato Kaneoya blind-on-blind with ace-king suited. Kaneoya only had queen-eight, but an eight on the flop awarded the pot to the Brazilian.
"I'm gonna take the bracelet and melt it down into gold fronts."
Lawrence Chan lost a flip with pocket sixes against the king-queen of Kevin Rines when a king appeared on the river to become the next casualty soon after.
First Rines lost almost all of his chips to Alexander Lakhov when his jacks failed to hold up versus sixes, and Lakhov finished off the job the very next hand with ace-seven suited against jack-eight.
Lakhov became the fifth-place finisher not even twenty minutes later when his ace-six suited ended up second-best to the ace-jack of Vazquez.
Fifth place finisher Alexander Lakhov (left) and runner-up Luis Vazquez (right)
By then, a large rail had built in the corner section of the Brasilia room. The location was a good omen for Brazilian Kaneoya, but it wasn't meant to be for the fifth gold bracelet for his home country and second of the 2018 WSOP. Kaneoya's run came to an end in a dramatic flip against Svetlozar Nestorov when his ace-ten flopped top two pair against the pair of eights of Nestorov. A jack on the flop gave the Bulgarian more outs and the eight on the rail sent his rail into ecstasy.
"I'll take the money, put it into a shredder. I just want to get his tramp stamp."
Down to the last three, double-ups were traded several times, and Nestorov failed to hold onto a commanding lead. His downfall was almost complete after losing the vast majority of his stack when calling the shove of Perrin with ace-king only to run straight into pocket aces. Nestorov doubled once before ending up second-best with ace-five against Vazquez's ace-eight.
In heads-up, Perrin held an overwhelming lead, and Vazquez doubled once but eventually fell short in a coinflip with pocket fours against king-ten suited. Perrin was swiftly dubbed as “Jeremy the Giant” by his rail and even joked about jumping into the Pot-Limit Omaha version of THE GIANT soon after.
