2011 World Series of Poker

Event #57: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-low Split-8 or Better
Day: 4
Event Info

2011 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a533
Prize
$397,073
Event Info
Buy-in
$5,000
Prize Pool
$1,654,400
Entries
352
Level Info
Level
30
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
0

Congratulations to Nick Binger, Event #57 $5,000 PLO Hi-low Split-8 of Better Champion ($397,073)

Nick Binger, Champion.
Nick Binger, Champion.

Day 3 of Event #57, the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-low Split-8 or Better, saw the final 25 players of a 352-player field return for their shot at the last non-Main Event bracelet up for grabs at the 2011 World Series of Poker. After 12 intense hours, play came to an end with only two players remaining: David Bach vs. Nick Binger.

The duo returned on Friday for Day 4 to play out the tournament, and in the end it was Binger who emerged victorious to win his first bracelet and the $397,073 first-place prize.

Binger’s path to victory did not come easy. On Day 3, he had to play his way through 23 tough competitors, many who fell long before the final table. Some of the notable players who fell on the road to the final table were Padraig Parkinson, Lee Watkinson, Grayson Nichols, David “Doc” Sands, and Kirill Rabtsov. Here is a full account of the payouts leading up to the final table:

Day 3 Eliminations

PlacePlayerPrize
25Joseph Marchal$12,623
24Padraig Parkinson$12,623
23Raymond Dehkarghani$12,623
22Fabrizio Gonzalez$12,623
21Lee Watkinson$12,623
20Tobias Hausen$12,623
19Marcelo Costa$12,623
18Grayson Nichols$15,915
17Anders Taylor$15,915
16Igor Sharaskin$15,915
15Alexander Dovzhenko$20,299
14David “Doc” Sands$20,299
13Peter Levine$20,299
12Austin Marks$25,874
11Kirill Rabtsov$25,874
10Brent Wheeler$25,874

Brent Wheeler’s elimination shortly after the dinner break left just nine players in the field, which comprised the official final that looked a little bit like this:

Final Table

SeatPlayerChip Count
1Phil Laak801,000
2Nick Binger936,000
3Bryce Yockey1,140,000
4Allen Kessler143,000
5Nick Schulman632,000
6Trevor Reader309,000
7Peter Charalambous145,000
8David Bach862,000
9Bjorn Verbakel312,000

It didn’t take long for things to heat up at the final table; in fact, a big pot developed when Phil Laak was on the button and potted to 52,000, which Bryce Yockey called from the big blind. It was heads up to the {6-Spades}{3-Spades}{3-Hearts} flop, which saw Yockey check-call a bet of 48,000. When the {9-Clubs} was put out on the turn, Yockey check-called another bet, this time 174,000.

The {A-Spades} completed the board and Yockey checked one last time. Laak thought for a few moments before sliding in the remainder of his stack . . . 527,000! Yockey snap-called only to muck when Laak rolled over {2-Hearts}{3-Diamonds}{4-Hearts}{Q-Clubs} for trip threes with the nut low. With that, Laak takes a commanding chip lead while Yockey was reduced to just 328,000.

The first elimination happened a short time later when Allen Kessler got all in preflop holding {a-Clubs}{a-Spades}{3-Hearts}{6-Diamonds} and was up against the {a-Hearts}{4-Hearts}{5-Diamonds}{j-Diamonds} of Laak. The board ran out {6-Hearts}{10-Clubs}{j-Spades}{5-Diamonds}{j-Clubs} and Kessler was sent to the rail in ninth place for $33,352. The next few eliminations took awhile to develop, but ultimately saw Bjorn Verbakel, Nick Schulman, and Peter Charalambous sent to the rail in eighth, seventh, and sixth places respectively.

After Trevor Reader made his exit in fifth place, the fan favorite fell. It happened after Laak, who couldn’t capitalize on the early chip lead and grew short stacked, raised to 80,000 under the gun, which David Bach called from the big blind. Both players checked the {8-Hearts}{4-Hearts}{8-Spades} flop, leading to the {10-Diamonds} on the turn. Bach checked for a second time, and after a moment's thought, Laak fired out 150,000. Bach thought for a bit and then check-raised enough to put Laak all in. A call was made and the cards were turned up:

Laak: {A-Diamonds}{J-Hearts}{Q-Clubs}{10-Clubs}
Bach: {A-Spades}{3-Diamonds}{4-Clubs}{8-Clubs}

The {Q-Spades} river didn't change a thing and Laak became the fourth-place finisher, worth $133,377.

Not long after, Yockey was sent packing in third place after failing to mount a comeback. That left Bach (3,010,000) to do heads-up battle against Binger (2,270,000). The latter was supported by a cheerful rail that included Michael Binger, Liv Boeree, James Dempsey, Darryll Fish, Matt Waxman, Xuan Liu, Dan Shak, Gloria Balding, Kevin MacPhee, and Jeff Madsen.

Final Table Payouts

PlacePlayerPrize
1stNick Binger$397,073
2ndDavid Bach$245,314
3rdBryce Yockey$180,180
4thPhil Laak$133,377
5thTrevor Reader$99,512
6thPeter Charalambous$74,845
7thNick Schulman$56,729
8thBjorn Verbakel$43,328
9thAllen Kessler$33,352

Congratulations to Nick Binger on winning his first WSOP bracelet!

That does it for our coverage from Event #57 $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-low Split-8 or Better; in fact, this will be the last recap resulting in a bracelet winner until November when the Main Event concludes. With 57 events down, be sure to follow along with our extensive coverage on the Main Event which will be running between now and July 19th.