The Canadian was a popular winner. After winning over the crowd and fellow players with his table talk throughout the day, he pocketed $207,064 for first place and, of course, a coveted WSOP gold bracelet.
Smashing last year's already impressive numbers, the event was another record-breaker, with a turnout of 3,351 entries, which generated a prize pool of $1,709,010.
Event 30 Final Table Results
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1
Alen Bakovic
Canada
$207,064
2
Brian Keith Etheridge
Latvia
$138,051
3
Olegs Buiko
United States
$101,682
4
Sergio Benso
Italy
$75,518
5
Quan Tran
United States
$56,557
6
Marcus Ruiz
United States
$42,715
7
Joseph Couden
United States
$32,537
8
Daniel Goldberg
United States
$24,997
9
Jianqiang Yu
China
$19,371
Bakovic started the day with 1,460,000 and continued to grind towards the final table. Chips moved around the final table until, finally, Bakovich and Etheridge started to pull away from the pack. Once heads up, the two traded chips while laughing and joking in a show of good sportsmanship. Ultimately, it was Bakovich who finished the day to take down his maiden WSOP Bracelet.
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It was an emotional scene as Bakovic was surrounded by friends and mentors as he added a bracelet to his already impressive cabinet of WSOP Rings.
"These guys made it easy for me," said Bakovic, referring to his rail who cheered him on to victory. "I remember thinking, why am I so calm? And I knew it was because of them."
Bakovic told PokerNews that he plans to stay for the whole WSOP. He even won a Main Event seat through an online satellite and was hugely grateful for the support and guidance from his friends and family.
"I've been playing poker since 2006. Pot-Limit Omaha is kind of new to me, but I love the challenge of learning new games. There are so many people who helped me become the player that I am today."
Alen Bakovic
Final Day Action
Just 145 players returned for the final day, and the field was down to three tables after just five hours. Bakovic was the second-shortest stack at the three-table redraw but battled his way back into contention.
In addition to his poker skills, Bakovic's humor was also on display as he shared stories and jokes with those around him. Many of the players he was competing against saw his jokes and humility as a breath of fresh air under normally intense circumstances.
And by the time the final table was reached, Bakovic sat atop the pile, with clear water to Brian Keith Etheridge in second place. Bakovic eliminated Jianqiang Yu in ninth to extend his chip lead, before Daniel Goldberg hit the rail in eighth.
Joseph Couden and Marcus Ruiz both then hit the rail in quick succession as they failed to run up their short stacks.
Brian Keith Etheridge
Bakovic would see Olegs Buiko double through him before Quan Tran scored a double of his own. Tran had sent Goldberg to the rail, but he finally hit the rail at the hands of Etheridge in Pot Limit Omaha.
Etheridge then finished off another short stack, as Sergio Benso was eliminated before Bakovic soared into the chip lead once more after tripling through Etheridge after rivering a flush in Pot Limit Omaha.
However, Etheridge would find himself only slightly out-chipped heads-up, after notching another elimination as Buiko hit the rail in third. However, Etheridge's run would come to an end heads-up, with Bakovic flopping a set to end the tournament and seal victory.
This ends PokerNews coverage of this event, but be sure to stay tuned as we bring you all the action for the rest of the World Series of Poker.
