We began Event 12, the $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em, with 152 players. After 151 matches, only one emerged with an undefeated record. 24-year-old Brian Hastings outlasted the field, capturing his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet and a $371,498 pay day. Known for his high-stake online cash-game wizardry, Hastings has certainly made his mark in the live poker scene with his triumph.
Let's recap his road to victory, shall we?
Hastings received a bye in the play-in round, automatically sending him to the round of 128. There he defeated James Rumptz and earned a spot in the round of 64. After defeating Emil Patel, Hastings not only earned a spot in the round 32, but also guaranteed himself his first WSOP cash on American soil.
On Day 2 he faced three opponents and one by one he took their chips. It started with a victory against Tommy Vedes after Hastings sprinted to a sizable lead. On the final hand, Hastings' held up against Vedes' to set up a match with Amritraj Singh. His longest match of Day 2, Hastings defeated Singh after the two got their chips in the middle after a flop. Hastings held for a flush draw against Singh's for a weaker flush draw and top pair. It wouldn't be a queen or flush that won it for Hastings, but rather the turn and river that gave him trips to earn a seat in the elite eight, where he faced Jeffrey Gross.
Despite finding himself down 4:1 in chips at one point (with one lammer behind), Hastings recovered to defeat Gross after the latter committed his last chips with . Hastings called with and punched his ticket to he final four when the board fell .
His Day 3 went about as smooth as possible. At no point did he have to use either of his lammers in his final four match against Tommy Chen and championship match against Jason Mo en route to his winning the bracelet. Within minutes of his match against Chen, Hastings took Chen's first buy-in and it wasn't long before he took the second. From there, Chen battled back with his last lammer to take the chip lead. However, Hastings doubled up with when it held against Chen's all in preflop. He closed out the match shortly thereafter with against Chen's all in preflop. The board ran out to pair Hastings' ten and give him a shot at winning the bracelet.
His final match against Jason Mo was mostly a one-sided affair. After falling behind in chips immediately, Mo used one of his two remaining lammers and cashed in his last one as his chips began to dwindle again. Just like the match against Chen, Hastings saw his chip lead disappear briefly before doubling with against Mo's . The match ended the following hand when Hastings shoved on the button with and Mo called all in with from the big blind. The final board came down , securing the victory for Hastings.
Congratulations to Brian on his amazing accomplishment!
It's all over! Jason Mo just lost back to back all ins, and with that Brian Hastings will take home his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet!
From the button Jason Mo raised to 160,000 after which Brian Hastings three-bet to 400,000. Mo asked for a count of Hastings' stack and he had right around 1.9 million left behind. Mo moved all in having his opponent covered and Hastings called right away.
Brian Hastings
Jason Mo
The flop brought out and didn't change the situation. The on the turn hit Hastings but Mo picked up some outs with his flush draw. Unfortunately for him the river was the and Mo was left behind with just 430,000 chips. On the very next hand Hastings put his opponent all in from the button and Mo made the call.
Brian Hastings
Jason Mo
The board ran out giving Hastings the winning hand, the knockout and the bracelet! Jason Mo finished in second place which gave him a $229,722 pay day. Brian Hastings will take home the top prize earning him $371,498.
Jason Mo raised from the button to 120,000 and Brian Hastings put him all in once again. Mo called for a total of 1.32 million and we got to see another all in showdown.
Jason Mo
Brian Hastings
The board ran out giving Mo a pair of queens and a much needed double up. Mo is up to 2.64 million while Hastings has 2.48 million with two rebuy lammers behind each worth 1.28 million.
On the final hand of this semi-final Jason Mo raised to 160,000 from the button and Brock Parker called. The flop came down and Parker checked. Mo threw out a 185,000 chip bet and Parker moved all in. Mo called right away and tabled . Parker was trailing with but he still had outs and a back door flush draw. The turn was the and Jason Mo's friend went from rooting for a deuce to shouting, "Oh my god, oh my god!".
The river was the and that ended Parker's run in third place. Mo was very pleased with his victory and he will match up with Brian Hastings for a chance at winning a gold World Series of Poker bracelet!
Tommy Chen had the button and raised to 160,000 and Brian Hastings moved all in from the big blind. Chen called the all in for his remaining 900,000 and we were off to the races.
Chen:
Hastings:
Chen retained his lead when the dealer spread out a flop of . Hastings jumped ahead, however, when the peeled off on the turn and paired him up. The came on the river and was of no help to Chen, and he was eliminated in fourth place, taking home $130,606 in prize money.
Jason Mo raised the button and Brock Parker moved all in. Mo called and showed while Parker was all in for his first lammer with . The board ran out giving Parker the winning hand. He was all in for 283,000 chips and is now up to 566,000 with still two lammers left behind.
We are down to just four players in the $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship event, and today is the day where we're going to crown a new champion! Play will resume at 1:00 PM local time with two semi-finals to be played. To read and listen up on some heads up poker strategy you can take a look at this interview Kristy Arnett did with Jason Koon.
Let's take a look at the final four players who are gunning for that gold bracelet and a $371,498 first place prize.
The first player to make the semi-finals was Jason Mo. After beating Andrew Robl in the round of eight he is now facing a true World Series of Poker champion in two-time bracelet winner Brock Parker. Mo's biggest result in live tournament poker came in the 2010 World Series of Poker Circuit event in St. Louis when he finished second for $122,502. Today's result will mark Mo's third WSOP cash after finishing in the money twice during last year's WSOP.
Brock Parker will be facing Jason Mo after he beat Michael Drummond in the quarter finals. Parker is no stranger to big results as he won two WSOP bracelets in 2009. Parker won the $2,500 Limit Hold'em Six Handed event for $223,697 and just days later he won the $2,500 No Limit Hold'em Six Handed event for a grand total of $552,745. With cashing this event Parker will eclipse the two million mark in live tournament earnings. Parker is also one of the online legends playing under the handle "t soprano".
In the second semi final match up there we will see Tommy Chen and Brian Hastings clash. Making the semi final in this tournament marks Chen's biggest tournament result as his previous biggest cash was a third place finish in the 2011 Seven Card Razz tournament banking $83,895. Chen has five WSOP cahses behind his name and this could be his second final table.
Brian Hastings is probably the most known player left in the field. When looking at his live results you might not be as impressed, but Hastings is mostly known as an online cash game player. Last year in August Hastings did win his first big live tournament when he won the World Poker Tour Regional event in Hollywood taking down the $213,877 first place prize. This doesn't compare to his online results as he has won millions of dollars playing high stakes cash games. He is most famous for crushing none other than Viktor 'Isilidur1' Blom winning $4.18 million in a single session. Hastings has to be the favorite today as heads up is his bread and butter.
Make sure to follow all the action on PokerNews.com as we bring you the semi and final table of this tournament. The final is scheduled to start at 4:00 PM local time.
held up against Vedes' 
to set up a match with Amritraj Singh. His longest match of Day 2, Hastings defeated Singh after the two got their chips in the middle after a 
flop. Hastings held 
for a flush draw against Singh's 
for a weaker flush draw and top pair. It wouldn't be a queen or flush that won it for Hastings, but rather the 
turn and 
river that gave him trips to earn a seat in the elite eight, where he faced Jeffrey Gross.
. Hastings called with 
and punched his ticket to he final four when the board fell 
.
all in preflop. He closed out the match shortly thereafter with 
all in preflop. The board ran out 
to pair Hastings' ten and give him a shot at winning the bracelet.
against Mo's 
. The match ended the following hand when Hastings shoved on the button with 
and Mo called all in with 
, securing the victory for Hastings.
and didn't change the situation. The 
on the turn hit Hastings but Mo picked up some outs with his flush draw. Unfortunately for him the river was the 
giving Mo a pair of queens and a much needed double up. Mo is up to 2.64 million while Hastings has 2.48 million with two rebuy lammers behind each worth 1.28 million.
