That's a wrap from the secondary feature stage! The 50th bracelet winner of the 2013 World Series of Poker been crowned. In the end, it was Brandon Wong who was able to plow through Sebastian Saffari during heads up play to grab hold of the title, the coveted gold bracelet, and the $220,061 in first-place money!
The day began with 20 hopefuls returning to the felt chasing the dream of becoming the next WSOP champion and earning their place in the history books. One by one, however, notable names and amateurs alike found themselves without chips and forced to wait until another day to slap the bracelet around their wrist. Players like Konstantin Puchkov (18th), Robert Williamson III (17th), Tom McCormick (14th), Bruno Fitoussi (13th), 2004 WSOP Main Event champion Greg Raymer (11th), Mike Wattel (10th), and Brian Tate (9th) all fell before the final table was reached.
The players combined at the final seven and took their seats at the secondary feature table in the Amazon room. The official final table was reached rather quickly as Daniel Makowsky was eliminated after a series of 2-7 triple draw hands gone awry.
The players took a break and returned to finish out the 2-7 triple draw orbit. It was in these few short hands that Loren Klein saw his tournament come to an end. Klein fell at the hands of start-of-day chip leader Scott Abrams when the latter made eighty-six on the third draw, leaving Klein drawing dead before even sweating his final card. The field then played five-handed for some time before action finally came to a head. Unfortunately for Abrams, he was the next to fall when he could not improve against Saffari's flopped Broadway straight during a preflop all in in pot-limit Omaha.
Christopher George fell shortly after Abrams, having a relatively poor stud-8 round that ended with him being slain by Wong. George's fourth-place finish left the remaining competitors in a three-handed spar that lasted for quite some time. Philip Sternheimer was the shortest stack of the three for quite some time and continued to drop in the counts as the match went on. Despite doubling in limit hold'em he was unable to gain any momentum and lost many of those chips a mere few hands later. Sternheimer finally saw his tournament come to an unfortunate end during a hand of Badugi against Wong. Sternheimer continued to push and stayed pat since the deal, but tabled a hand with two spades once all of the money went in. Regardless of his misread of his hand, Wong made a on the final draw to finally send Sternheimer packing.
The heads up match between Wong and Saffari was suddenly in motion and Wong had a slight chip lead heading into a round of stud. Wong shot out of the gate and never looked back, winning two key stud hands that propelled him into a dominating chip advantage. The two continued to clash with Wong more often than not coming out on top. The match finally saw its end when a severely short-stacked Saffari shipped all in from the button in no-limit hold'em. Wong snapped him off and tabled two red aces - an absolute domination of Saffari's . Despite picking up an open-ended straight draw on the turn, Saffari did not improve and Wong became the latest champion of the 2013 WSOP.
Final Table Payouts
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1
Brandon Wong
USA
$220,061
2
Sebastian Saffari
UK
$135,932
3
Philip Sternheimer
UK
$87,397
4
Christopher George
USA
$57,954
5
Scott Abrams
USA
$39,564
6
Loren Klein
USA
$27,792
Here at PokerNews we extend our deepest congratulations to Wong for mastering versatility of play over ten different poker variants and conquering a stack field to win one of the most coveted bracelets of the 2013 WSOP. That does it for our coverage of Event #50, but that doesn't mean we're done! Be sure to check out the Live Reporting page for live updates for all of the remaining tournaments at this summer's WSOP.
Brandon Wong and Sebastian Saffari battled through the stud-8 round, with Saffari being all in at one point by third street and surviving with a chop. They then moved to no-limit hold'em, and had cycled through the first five hands with Wong failing to bite after a couple of all-ins from Saffari.
Then came the sixth hand of the round, which again saw Saffari open-pushing from the button, this time for about 180,000.
Wong checked his cards and having found a good calling hand called right away.
Saffari:
Wong:
Wong had woken up with the best hand in hold'em, and as both players' loud rails of supporters cheered their respective men on, the dealer spread the flop. The then came on the turn, earning some additional response as it gave Saffari a chance at a saving straight. But the river was the , and Wong's aces had held.
Saffari earns a nice $135,932 payday for coming on spot shy of the title, while Wong has won his first WSOP bracelet!
On the first hand of stud, Sebastian Saffari was the bring in and Brandon Wong completed. Saffari made it two bets and Wong called. Wong pair his tens on fourth street and led out. Saffari flat called and continued to call bets on fifth and sixth. Wong fired one last bet on seventh and Saffari threw away his cards.
Sebastian Saffari
/
Brandon Wong
/
The second hand saw another big victory for Wong. Saffari tossed out a bring in and Wong completed. Saffari called and led out after pairing fours on fourth. Wong called and Saffari fired again on fifth. Wong stayed the course and made a pair of his own, tens to be exact, on sixth. Wong took the initiative with a bet and Saffair tossed away his cards. By scooping these two pots, Wong is now up to about 2.19 million while Saffari has fallen to 600,000.
Philip Sternheimer raised from the small blind and Brandon Wong called from the big blind. Sternheimer stood pat while Wong took two cards. Sternheimer fired another bet and Wong called. Sternheimer stayed pat and Wong took one card this time.
Sternheimer fired his last 17,000 all in and Wong announced a call. Sternheimer stood pat for the last draw and Wong announced he was drawing one card.
Sternheimer stood up and fanned his cards: . He looked down at the felt.
"Oh, f***. I misread my hand," he sighed. "F***."
A surprised Wong tabled . He pulled his last card, the .
"Oh, I made it anyway," said Wong.
Sternheimer quickly gathered his belongings and left the tournament area. He will take home $87,397 in third-place tournament winnings.
The stud-8 round started with Christopher George having to bring in twice and fold to completions, then came a big hand in which George ended up battling all of the way to seventh street with Brandon Wong with George going all in on the end and Wong calling.
In that one George managed to chop to survive, showing for the high while Wong won the low with .
The next hand, however, didn't go as well for George, another one in which he was pitted against Wong.
In that one George again had to bring in with the , and when Wong completed with the , George called.
It was Wong check-calling on fourth, then leading with bets on the next three streets. George called each time except the last when he raised all in for just 3,000 more and Wong called.
Wong was showing , and his down cards included both the and to make jacks full of fives for his high hand. Meanwhile George had been showing , and his down cards were for trip deuces and no low.
The first hand of the second PLO round of the final table saw Scott Abrams raise to 35,000 from under the gun, then Sebastian Saffari reraise to 95,000 from the small blind, forcing a fold from Philip Sternheimer in the big blind. Abrams called with his remaining chips and the pair tabled their cards.
Abrams:
Saffari:
"Ace from space!" cried Abrams's rail, and when the flop came their initial reaction was positive, but then they saw Saffari had flopped a straight. The turn was the , leaving Abrams with still a few outs for possible survival. But the river was the , and Abrams left the stage with a fifth-place finish.
In what was the final hand of a rather uneventful round of stud-8, Sebastian Saffari brought in and Scott Abrams completed. Christopher George called and Saffari stuck around.
Abrams checked on fourth street and George fired out a bet. Saffari called and Abrams called as well. George was first to act on fifth and checked his option. This time it was Saffari who led out and Abrams called once more. Geroge stayed the course and Saffari paired up his sevens on sixth. He led out once again and received two callers.
Saffari led out one last time on seventh and Abrams mucked his hand. George tossed out a raise and Saffari called.
"Straight to the seven," said George, fanning .
Saffari looked stunned as he flashed for two pair and an eight-low. George was able to scoop up this massive pot and now sits on about 630,000 in chips.
On the second hand of the final table, Loren Klein opened with a late position raise and it folded to Scott Abrams who three-bet from the small blind. Klein called with 2,000 behind and both players drew one. Abrams bet out and Klein called.
Abrams stood pat on the second draw and Klein drew one. He took one once more during the third draw.
Abrams fanned for an eighty-six.
"I'm dead," said Klein, flashing that he was drawing to a nine.
Kelin was eliminated in 6th place and will take home $27,792 in prize money. Abrams now has about 535,000 in chips.
Daniel Makowsky opened with a raise from the button and Philip Sternheimer called from the big blind. Makowsky stood pat and Sternheimer took one card. Sternheimer checked and called a bet from Makowsky.
Sternheimer took one again while Makowsky stood pat. Sternheimer fired out a bet and Makowsky called for his last 8,000.
"I have the nuts," said Sternheimer immediately. He rolled over and Makowsky simply flipped his cards over and tossed them into the muck.
With Makowsky's elimination, the field is down to the final table of six. Official chip counts will be posted momentarily.
Thomas Kettel battled with a short stack for much of Level 21, but finally lost the last of his chips to Daniel Makowsky in a limit hold'em hand.
We arrived as the final cards were being dealt, with Kettel already all in with and Makowsky holding . The board ended up , the river card making a flush for Kettel but completing a full house for Makowsky.
The last seven players are now redrawing to be seated around the not-quite-final final table.
on the final draw to finally send Sternheimer packing.
. Despite picking up an open-ended straight draw on the turn, Saffari did not improve and Wong became the latest champion of the 2013 WSOP.
flop. The 
then came on the turn, earning some additional response as it gave Saffari a chance at a saving straight. But the river was the 
, and Wong's aces had held.
/ 
. He looked down at the felt.
for the high while Wong won the low with 
, and when Wong completed with the 
, and his down cards were 
/ 
for two pair and an eight-low. George was able to scoop up this massive pot and now sits on about 630,000 in chips.
and Makowsky simply flipped his cards over and tossed them into the muck.
