Joao Vieira has come through a record-breaking 815 entrant field in Event #70: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed at the 2019 World Series of Poker to win his first piece of WSOP jewelry and the impressive first-place prize of $758,011. Vieira beat none other than 2009 Main Event champion and four-time bracelet winner Joe Cada heads-up to claim the title and only the fourth bracelet for Portugal.
"On a crucial moment, in a crucial hand of the biggest tournament, on the biggest day of my professional career; I found a call based on all the hard work I have done over the past four years."
Vieira ended Day 2 with the chip lead, and he was still on top of the leaderboard at the start of the final table. A hero call with pocket kings on an ace-high board against Ankush Mandavia on Day 3 was partly to thank for that.
Vieira commented that it felt like the turning point in his tournament. "I have been trying to develop my live reads for such a long time. On a crucial moment, in a crucial hand of the biggest tournament, on the biggest day of my professional career; I found a call based on all the hard work I have done over the past four years."
A friend and teammate of Vieira joined him on the final table. Pierre Calamusa, who ultimately busted in fourth place, was eliminated by Vieira himself. Vieira told PokerNews after the tournament: "If I sit at the poker table; he's just another opponent. Whether the board is favorable or unfavorable, I have to play a hand when it's over. I love the guy, he is a great guy, but when you sit down, it's just business, and you try to do the best you can and compete to your full abilities."
Event #70: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed Final Table Results
Position
Player
Country
Prize
1
Joao Vieira
Portugal
$758,011
2
Joe Cada
United States
$468,488
3
Jamie O'Connor
United Kingdom
$317,956
4
Pierre Calamusa
France
$219,468
5
Olivier Busquet
United States
$154,112
6
Barry Hutter
United States
$110,127
Event #70: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed Final Day Action
The day started in the highest gear possible as it only took two hands for the first elimination to take place. Barry Hutter started the day as the short stack, and he was the first player eliminated only a couple of minutes into the day. He got his chips in the middle with second pair against the top pair of Jamie O'Connor. Hutter hit two pair on the turn but was counterfeited when the board paired on the river to award O'Connor with a better two pair. Hutter played two hands on day four and was eliminated in sixth place for $110,127.
"I don't believe in justice, but I believe in hard work."
The action did not slow down right away because three hands after that, it was Calamusa who was at risk of elimination and it didn't look good for the Frenchman. Calamusa had to come from behind with pocket jacks against the pocket queens of O'Connor. The flop brought a jack right away, and he managed to double up.
Vieira's chip lead was in no danger in the beginning, but when Cada doubled through him, the former Main Event champion took over the chip lead.
Olivier Busquet then busted out. After a series of unfortunate hands, he ended up jamming king-four from the small blind, and he was called by O'Connor in the big blind with king-queen. Busquet busted out in fifth place as he wasn't able to come from behind. He was sent to the cashier to collect his $154,112.
Olivier Busquet
Eventual champion Vieira busted his teammate Calamusa in fourth place. Vieira had the better hand with ace-king against the ace-seven of Calamusa, but the Frenchman managed to hit a seven on the flop. Vieira hit a king on the river to eliminate Calamusa as the latter collected $219,468.
"Winning five bracelets is one of my main goals. This is the first one, and it's a huge burden off my back."
The three-handed battle went on for a little while, and stacks evened out. Cada at one point had the shortest stack with seven million, but Vieira only had a marginal chip lead with 8.3 million himself. Cada then took over the chip lead by winning a big pot off of O'Connor and Vieira delivered the knock-out punch. O'Connor wasn't able to fade a king or queen on the board when he was at risk of elimination with ace-four against Vieira's king-queen. A queen hit the river, and O'Connor busted in third place, missing the heads-up match. He cashed for $317,956.
Cada started the heads-up match with the lead, but it was the fourth hand of the heads-up where it all switched. Cada faced a river raise from Vieira on a board that read five-four-deuce-king-ace. Cada called after a couple of minutes but mucked when Vieira showed him four-trey for a wheel.
Runner-up Joe Cada won $468,488
They got their chips in the middle another four hands later, and Cada finished in second place when his ace-queen couldn't win against the king-queen of Vieira. Cada had to settle for $468,488 while Vieira won his first WSOP gold bracelet and $758,011.
When asked about his victory, Vieira answered the following: "I'm very happy. I don't think it has settled in yet. I've been having a lot of patience, and the road hasn't been easy. I don't believe in justice, but I believe in hard work. Winning five bracelets is one of my main goals. This is the first one, and it's a huge burden off my back."
Vieira joins the club of bracelet winners while Cada has to wait a little longer for number five. Joao Vieira now has $3,370,037 in live tournament earnings and sits in first place on the Portuguese All-Time Money List. If you want to read the full reporting from this event, check out the Event #70: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed Live Reporting page.
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Milko van Winden has been a part of the poker media corps since 2017. Starting out as [I]PokerNews[/I] contributor and live reporter, Milko is now the Digital Media Manager at [i]PokerNews[/i].
