Michael "TonyBandanas" Lavin Earns First WSOP Bracelet in Event #7: $600 No-Limit Hold'em Monster Stack ($39,642)
It was a monster day in the WSOP.com Pennsylvania Online Bracelet Series, as alongside Day 1b of Event #8: $1,000 No Limit Hold'em PA Championship, Deepstack lovers had a treat in Event #7: $600 No Limit Hold'em Monster Stack. With 40,000 chips to start, a total of 288 entrants fired away and built up a $155,520 prize pool. After a nearly ten-hour day, it was Michael "TonyBandanas" Lavin who earned his first WSOP Gold Bracelet and $39,642 after besting Matthew "RunGoodRick" Boulden in heads-up play.
Lavin, who hails from Beverley, New Jersey, already had a piece of WSOP jewelry to his credit, after winning a WSOP Circuit Ring in the 2020 WSOP Online Circuit Event #12 - $75,000 NLH 2x Re-entry for $29,800. Lavin now can lay to claim to owning both a WSOP Gold Bracelet and a WSOP Circuit Ring, and the win pushes him to nearly $100,000 in Hendon Mob reported tournament earnings for his career.
Event #7: $600 No Limit Hold'em Monster Stack Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael "TonyBandanas" Lavin | $39,642 |
| 2 | Matthew "RunGoodRick" Boulden | $24,494 |
| 3 | Robert “Badbeat1512” Sembler | $16,843 |
| 4 | Jesse "Diceluxovi" Baker | $11,804 |
| 5 | Greg "Donostia" Wish | $8,445 |
| 6 | Charles "pokervanman" Alex-Barton | $6,252 |
| 7 | Joshua "ClearEyes" Berardi | $4,681 |
| 8 | Brian "BigTIme2021" Cassel | $3,499 |
| 9 | Anthony "Ler0yBr0wn" Huntsman | $2,722 |
Thirty-six players earned a piece of the prize pool, including Ryan "CampPinebox" Pochedly (10th - $2,162), WSOP Main Event Champ Joe "ChilledChaos" McKeehen (16th - $1,462), and Brian "CleggsOnGG" Frasca ($1,089).
Final Table Action
Anthony "Ler0yBr0wn" Huntsman started the final table as the short stack, and quickly made his exit in ninth when his ace-nine failed to improve against the ace-queen of Jesse "Diceluxovi" Baker. Brian "BigTIme2021" Cassel started the final table in second chip position, but was the next to go, jamming nines into the kings of Robert “Badbeat1512” Sembler. There was a short lull in the action before Joshua "ClearEyes" Berardi made a great call with ace-jack against the jack-ten of Matthew "RunGoodRick" Boulden, but Boulden, much like his user name suggests, ran good and flopped a straight to end Berardi's run.
Charles "pokervanman" Alex-Barton lost a flip to Michael "TonyBandanas" Lavin to bust in sixth, and shortly after, Greg "Donostia" Wish called off his stack with king-eight on a king-high board, but was against the king-ten of Boulden to fall in fifth. A huge shift in the counts then ensued, as Lavin made quads at the same time that Boulden made the nut flush, and Lavin doubled into a big chip lead. Baker, who had been short for some time, then finally succumbed to Lavin to bring the field to three.
Lavin and Boulden traded the chip lead multiple times in three-handed play, while Sembler bided his time looking for a spot to double. Sembler finally got his last eighteen big blinds in with ace-ten, but Boulden flopped a set with pocket eights to bring action to heads-up play, with Boulden holding a nearly 2:1 chip lead at the start.
Lavin managed to make Broadway while Boulden was holding two pair early in heads-up play to double into the lead, and then on the last hand of the tournament, Boulden three-bet shoved his last twenty big blinds in with pocket nines. Lavin called with king-queen, and a queen high runout secured Lavin his first WSOP Bracelet, while Boulden had to settle for second-place and $24,494 for his efforts.