Congratulations to Michael Malm, Winner of Event #8: $2,500 Eight-Game Mix ($225,104)!
The 8th event of the 2013 World Series of Poker is officially in the books. After three grueling days of mixed game play, it was Michael Malm who rose above the star-studded field to claim the title, the gold WSOP bracelet, and the $225,104 in first-place prize money.
Malm's story proves the old adage that is so frequently spoken at the WSOP that "Anyone can win,". Malm, who recently chopped a Daily DeepStack tournament here at the WSOP, was going to register for another but found himself too late. Registration for this event, however, was still open. He decided to hop in and give it a go. Little did he know three days ago that he would be the one to rise above some of the top professional mixed game players in the world and earn himself his first WSOP championship.
The third and final day of Malm's journey began with a grand total of 19 runners returning to the felt. One by one the professional players began to hit the rail. The likes of Josh Arieh, Robert Mizrachi, Chris Reslock, Randy Ohel, and Chris Tryba all fell before the final table was reached. Travis Pearson became the official final table bubble boy during a hand of No-Limit Hold'em where he lost a coin flip to Eric Crain in dramatic fashion.
Marco Johnson was eliminated in eighth place just a few hands later when his ace-king was outdone by last year's runner-up Greg Mueller's ace-queen. Shorty thereafter, Mike Wattel was also slain by Mueller and had to settle for a seventh place finish.
The next casualty came just a few mere moments later when Crain made a wheel in Omaha Eight-or-Better to bust Dario Alioto in sixth place. Michael Hurey was next to follow when he ran into Steven Wolansky's pocket aces in limit hold'em.
The final four played for quite some time before Crain found himself the fourth-place finisher. The last casualty before heads up play was none other than last year's runner-up Mueller. Mueller was looking to improve on his finish and clinch the bracelet, but was unfortunately forced to settle for third place after a hand of limit hold'em resulted in his demise.
Malm and Wolansky began heads up play virtually even in chips and it was actually Wolansky who was the first to pull away. Wolansky had Malm down to just around two big bets at one point. After a key double up and a a grueling few levels of play, the match finally came to a head during a pot-limit omaha round. After a preflop all in, Malm was able to make the nut flush on the river and clinch the bracelet, eliminating Wolansky in second place in the process.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Malm | $225,104 |
| 2 | Steven Wolansky | $139,034 |
| 3 | Greg Mueller | $89,673 |
| 4 | Eric Crain | $64,975 |
| 5 | Michael Hurey | $47,771 |
| 6 | Dario Alioto | $35,634 |
| 7 | Mike Wattel | $26,966 |
| 8 | Marco Johnson | $20,699 |
PokerNews extends its congratulations to Malm on his spectacular run and first WSOP victory. Be sure to stay tuned to our Live Reporting page as we continue to provide live updates from the tournament floor of the WSOP!