James Obst, a 26-year-old poker pro from Australia, eventually won his career first WSOP gold bracelet after the it evaded him several weeks ago, when he finished runner-up in the $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball.
Mere hours ago, the player emerged as the victor in the $10,000 Razz Championship to claim the gold piece of WSOP jewelry and a first-place prize of $265,138. Obst entered the unofficial final table of nine as the chip leader. However, he did not manage to maintain his momentum and it was another player who dominated final-table action.
Eric Kurtzman, who eventually finished runner-up, took the lead in the final table’s earlier stages and extended it significantly over the course of play. During three-handed play between him, Obst, and David “ODB” Baker, Kurtzman held 75% of all chips at the table, or what many would consider an almost unbeatable advantage.
At that stage of the game, both Obst and Baker were short-stacked and in a huge danger of being eliminated in any moment. To secure his seat into heads-up, Obst eliminated Baker, collecting his chips and improving his situation just a little bit. Yet, the eventual winner was still at a considerable disadvantage and was well-aware of the fact that he had to work hard for the gold.
Obst was apparently not discouraged by the 3-1 deficit he entered the concluding stage of the tournament with. On the contrary, he decided to heat up action by playing aggressively and putting great pressure on Kurtzman from the start of their duel until the very end. And some really good cards made their way to Obst to further help him achieve his goal and win the shiny gold bracelet.
The young Australian needed around a level to reduce his opponent’s advantage and to eventually claim the chip lead. From that point on, Obst was unstoppable and unbeatable. On the final hand of play, Kurtzman put all his chips into the pot on sixth street. Both players had good boards at the time, Obst holding [3x][2x][4x][4x] against Kurtzman’s [4x][3x][Ax][2x].
Kurtzman asked his opponent whether he had a wheel, to which Obst replied with a “No”, showing [Ax][8x]. Kurtzman himself had a surprise roll of [4x][4x]. Obst’s final card turned out to be an [Ax] to pair his hand, leaving him with eight-five low. Kurtzman’s last card was [Jx], busting him in second place for $163,867.
Obst’s triumph in the $10,000 Razz Championship brought his overall WSOP earnings to over $1.5 million. The player has cashed in 20 other tournaments in the Series over the past several years, making five final tables. As mentioned above, the young Australian almost took down the $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball almost two weeks ago.
He also came really close to winning a gold bracelet last summer, when he finished runner-up to Jason Mercier in the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship.
