After just seven hours of play on Day 2, 2021 World Series of PokerEvent #20: GGPoker $1,000 Flip & Go No-Limit Hold'em, a tournament that attracted 1,232 entries, came to an end Monday night with DJ Alexander capturing his first WSOP gold bracelet. Alexander took home $180,665 after defeating Jason Beck heads-up in just a few hands at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino.
In the last hand of the tournament, Alexander and Beck each picked up an ace and got all of their chips in the middle preflop. Alexander held a slight chip lead and was ahead with ace-jack against the ace-four of Beck. Alexander managed to turn a straight, leaving Beck drawing to just a chop which he could not do.
Alexander came close to a bracelet in 2017, finishing in second place in Event #20: $1,500 Millionaire Maker, but he was finally able to get over the hump in 2021 in an event that was largely considered a successful experiment.
"It's awesome! It might not look like it but I'm obviously happy," he said after the victory. "I've been here before but it feels great to get over the hump."
In what was a stacked final table with some big names, Alexander managed to come out on top against them all. The poker pro changed the direction of his tournament with a big call against David Peters with just four players remaining.
"If I call and I'm wrong here, I'll be left with like four big blinds," he said of the memorable hand. "I even still didn't want to call knowing that I beat a high percentage of his range but if I wanted to win the tournament, I needed to take a stand here."
Alexander clearly had the edge going into heads-up play with Beck, who was at the WSOP just to play in the GGPoker-sponsored tournament. Beck clearly enjoyed the moment of being at his first WSOP final table and Alexander gave him credit for a solid effort today: "It was just unfortunate for him that he had a hand to go with and I had a better one. He played well."
2021 WSOP Event #20: 1,000 Flip & Go No-Limit Hold'em Final Table Results
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1
DJ Alexander
United States
$180,665
2
Jason Beck
United States
$111,715
3
Jake Schwartz
United States
$82,675
4
David Peters
United States
$61,815
5
Huy Lam
Austrialia
$46,695
6
Corey Bierria
United States
$35,645
7
Rok Gostisa
Slovenia
$27,495
8
Fred Goldberg
United States
$21,435
Day 2 Action
There were just 23 players who returned to the felt for Day 2 and a shot at the gold bracelet. With only 30-minute blind levels and some short stacks in the field, there was no doubt the action would be fast-paced and the bust outs would come quick and often.
It took less than an hour for three tables to become two when Elio Fox and Krista Farrell ran into a big stack with pocket kings and were eliminated in the same hand. Daniel Weinman and Mark Ingram also joined the payouts list as just 11 players made it to the first break. After the break, Vojtech Ruzicka ran into a red-hot Peters and was sent home on the final table bubble.
Alexander and Koveh Waysei were the short stacks coming into the final table and it was Waysei who bowed out first, losing a coin flip for 12 big blinds. Alexander, on the other hand, won back-to-back pots against Peters, including a double-up where he spiked a three-outer on the flop. Fred Goldberg came into the final table as one of the leaders but took a couple of bad beats, which resulted in him exiting in eighth place.
David Peters
Rok Gostisa was pretty silent throughout much of the day, but he found a spot to get all of his chips in the middle with pocket jacks. Unfortunately for him, Jake Schwartz woke up with ace-king and hit two kings on the flop to eliminate Gostisa. The blinds and antes eventually caught up with Corey Bierria who found himself at risk in a dominated position against Beck. Bierria was unable to come from behind and wound up in sixth place.
The start-of-day chip leader, Huy Lam, also couldn't come out on the right end of a pot at the final table. His luck continued to spiral down when he ran his pocket nines into Schwartz's pocket threes where Schwartz flopped quads. Lam bowed out in fifth place and Schwartz held a small chip lead going into four-handed play.
The chips continued to bounce around throughout the next level with each player holding a brief chip lead. Peters got lucky to stay alive in a big pot against Beck, but the next hand changed the direction of the tournament. Peters jammed all-in from under the gun with king-jack and Alexander eventually called him off from the big blind with king-queen. Alexander held on to eliminate Peters and take a big chip lead with just three players remaining.
Schwartz and Beck were hovering around 15 big blinds apiece when the two clashed in a big pot. Schwartz bet-called off a shove from Beck with two pair but Beck held a small flush to eliminate Schwartz and set up a heads-up match against Alexander. It didn't take long for the match to finish as both players woke up with an ace, Alexander holding the better of the two which held on to bring an abrupt end to the tournament.
