Brandon Shack-Harris has become the latest player to capture a gold bracelet during this year’s edition of the WSOP. The poker professional from Chicago, Illinois triumphed in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship 8-Handed to collect his career second gold bracelet and the first-place prize of $894,300, his largest live cash ever.
Schack-Harris won his first WSOP gold piece two years ago for besting the field of another Pot-Limit Omaha event, although it was a lower buy-in one. When asked which one of his titles he considered more special, the Chicago resident said that it was his second one, mainly because he faced tougher competitors and he played much better. According to the player, the victory tastes much sweeter when achieved with good play.
The $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship was slated to run from June 29 to July 1. A winner could not emerge over the scheduled three days and nights and the tournament was extended into one more day.
The event attracted 400 entries who generated the overall prize pool of $3,760,000. The top 60 places were paid, with min-cash amounting to $15,113.
Day 4 of the tournament kicked off with six players coming back to determine the champion. Shack-Harris was the chip leader at that point. Of all 8 players seated at the official final table, it was only the eventual winner and his heads-up opponent – Loren Klein from Verdi, Nevada, who had previously won gold bracelets. Klein scooped his first one a few days ago for winning the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha tournament.
Two-handed play between the two former gold bracelet winners kicked off with Shack-Harris holding an almost 2 to 1 chip lead over his last remaining opponent. Although Klein emerged as the chip leader at some point, he could not maintain his advantage for a longer time. Heads-up match lasted about an hour and a half.
The moment of triumph came when Klein called on the button and Shack-Harris raised to 720,000. Klein called and the two saw the flop coming [As][10s][8c]. Shack-Harris bet 1,440,000 and Klein moved all in. Shack-Harris called instantly and tabled [Ad][10d][6d][4d] against his opponent’s [Ac][8s][6h][3h]. The [2d] came on the turn, followed by [Js] on the river, thus making Shack-Harris the winner. As for Klein, he took a consolation prize of $552,713 for his runner-up finish.
Tommy Le from Tustin, California took 3rd place in the event to take home the amount of $376,667. Melad Marji from Oneida Castle, New York finished 4th for $261,652. Matthew Parry from Fairport, New York received $185,337 for taking 5th place.
Harley Stoffmaker from Canada was the player to finish 6th in the prestigious tournament. His share of the prize pool amounted to $133,918. Junayed Khan from New York City took 7th place for $98,748. Dominique Mosley from Miami, Florida rounded out the official final table for a payout of $74,339.
