The WSOP gold bracelet has long been considered one of the most wished-for non-monetary prizes in poker. This is why the WSOP gathers together thousands of players from all around the world in Las Vegas every summer, each of them sharing a single dream – to collect at least one gold piece.
The 47th Annual WSOP kicked off on May 31 and 13 tournaments on its schedule have already been completed. Rep Porter, a two-time gold bracelet winner from Woodinville, Washington, extended his collection by one piece last night after he topped the star-studded field of the $1,500 Seven-Card Razz. The player also captured a first-place payout of $142,624.
It is interesting to note that Porter collected one of his previous gold bracelets for winning namely a Seven-Card Razz tournament. That happened back in 2011. It is also good to mention that Porter has proved himself equally good in other poker formats. In 2008, the player won a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event, which actually brought him his first gold bracelet.
The 2016 WSOP $1,500 Seven-Card Razz saw 461 entries create a $622,350 prize pools. The top 70 finishers were the lucky ones to receive a share of the money.
Razz is a poker variant that many consider a bit strange. This is because the game’s goal is for a player to get the weakest possible hand. And as Porter himself commented shortly after he took down the event, a lot of people believe that Razz is purely a game of luck but, in fact, it requires a lot of skill (just as any other poker game).
The $1,500 Seven-Card Razz took place from June 9-11. There were only 12 players to return for the event’s final day, with absolute poker star Daniel Negreanu being among those. The player, who has accumulated live tournament earnings of more than $30 million, went for his gold bracelet number seven.
There were five former gold bracelet winners at the official eight-handed final table. And some of them have won multiple gold pieces over the years.
In the end, Porter faced Belgian Michael Gathy heads-up. Both players were going for their third gold bracelet last night. However, Porter was the one to eventually scoop it, after an hour-and-a-half-long two-handed battle.
On the final hand in play, with [10x][5x] and [9x] coming, Gathy was the bring-in. Porter with [Qx][4x] had an [Ax] and completed. His opponent re-raised and Porter four-bet to see the Belgian calling all in.
On fourth street, Gathy got [2x] and a [9x] appeared for Porter. On fifth street, Gathy had an [8x] and a [Jx] came for Porter. On the sixth street, Gathy was paired with a [2x] and Porter improved with an [8x]. Another pair came for Gathy on the final street as [5x] appeared. As for Porter, he hit a [10x], thus making [10x][9x][8x][4x][Ax] and besting his opponent’s [10x][9x][8x][5x][2x]. Gathy received the amount of $88,146 for his 2nd place in the tournament.
Russian Alexey Makarov finished 3rd for $60,309. Daniel Negreanu from Canada took 4th place for $42,030. Brendon Taylor from Pasadena, California collected $29,846 for his 5th place in the event.
Valentin Vornicu from San Diego, California was paid $21,604 for taking 6th place. Daniel Weinman from Atlanta, Georgia took 7th place for a payout of $15,945. Shaun Deeb from Las Vegas, Nevada was the one to round out the final table. His share of the prize pool totaled $12,006.
