Hand #5: Matt Salsberg opened for 65,000 from the hijack, Thad McNulty called from the big blind, and the flop came down . McNulty checked, Salsberg bet 75,000, and McNulty called to see the on the turn. McNulty check-called another bet, this time 100,000, and the completed the board on the river. McNulty opted to lead out for 200,000 and Salsberg released his hand.
Hand #6: Action folded to Sam Cohen on the button and she moved all in for 275,000. The blinds folded and Cohen won the pot.
Hand #7: Justin Oliver opened for 65,000 from the hijack only to have Sam Cohen three-bet all in for 360,000 from the cutoff. The button and blinds all folded, and then Oliver thought long and hard before making the call.
Oliver:
Cohen:
It was a race situation, but Cohen was the one that needed to improve. She didn't do it on the flop, and the turn was equally as useless. Cohen needed either a king or queen on the river to stay alive, but it wasn't in the cards as the blanked.
Hand #8: Thad Mcnulty raised to 70,000 in the cutoff and received no action.
Hand #9: Andy Phan raised to 80,000 in the small blind and Barry Hutter defended his big blind. Both checked to the turn of a board where Hutter bet 90,000. Phan called, the river completed the board and Phan checked. Hutter bet 220,000 and Phan quickly folded.
Hand #10: Justin Oliver raised to 65,000 in early position and Daniel Laming three-bet shoved for 360,000 from the hijack. Matt Salsberg called in the big blind and Oliver folded.
Laming:
Salsberg:
The flop fell to give Salsberg a flush draw to go along with top pair. The turn kept Laming ahead, but the river fell to give Salsberg trip queens to eliminate Laming.
Hand #35: Andy Phan raised to 80,000 under the gun and Barry Hutter three-bet to 200,000 from the next seat. Action folded back to Phan who four-bet shoved for 890,000. Hutter called.
Phan:
Hutter:
The board ran out , giving Hutter aces and nines on the river to eliminate Phan in seventh place.
Hand #73: Pierre Milan opened for 100,000 under the gun. Thad McNulty called from the cutoff, and then Jamie Armstrong moved all in for 630,000 from the button. Milan folded and McNulty did the same.
Hand #74: Thad McNulty opened for 110,000 from the hijack and Pierre Milan called from the big blind. Milan then check-called a bet of 135,000 on the flop, which was followed by checks on the turn and river. Both players held an ace, and with the queen on board they chop.
Hand #75: Thad McNulty opened under the gun and took down the blinds and antes.
Hand #76: Barry Hutter raised to 100,000 and Matt Salsberg moved all in from the cutoff for 800,000. Hutter folded.
Hand #77: Justin Oliver limped the button and Jamie Armstrong moved all in from the big blind for 985,000. Oliver tanked for a couple of minutes before making the call.
Oliver:
Armstrong:
Armstrong was well out in front, and his position got even stronger when the flop gave him top pair. The turn made things interested as Oliver picked up an open-ended straight draw, and wouldn't you know it, the spiked on the river to complete it.
Armstrong, who began the day as the chip leader, was eliminated in sixth place for $83,486.
Hand #92: Barry Hutter shoved from the hijack for about 370,000 and Thad Mcnulty called in the big blind.
Hutter:
Mcnulty:
The flop fell to give Mcnulty top pair, though Hutter caught middle pair and a flush draw. However, the turn and river were no help to him, ending his run in fifth place.
Hand #127: Pierre Milan raised to 200,000 from the small blind and Justin Oliver defended the big to see a flop of . Milan continued for 245,000 and Oliver folded.
Hand #128: Pierre Milan raised to 160,000 from the button and Matt Salsberg moved all in for 795,000 from the button. Milan folded.
Hand #129: Justin Oliver raised to 200,000 from the button and Matt Salsberg moved all in for 1.015 million from the small blind. Pierre Milan called from the big blind, and Oliver got out of the way.
Milan:
Salsberg:
Milan had woken up with a monster in the big blind, and Salsberg was in a bad spot. The flop did little to give Salsberg hope, and neither did the turn. The would be the final nail in Salsberg coffin, and he earned $207,842 for his third-place finish.
Hand #131: Justin Oliver raised to 200,000 on the button, Pierre Milan three-bet to 525,000 from the big blind and Oliver called to see a flop.
Milan continued for 425,000 and Oliver called. The landed on the turn and Milan bet 1,225,000. Oliver raised all in and Milan called immediately with the slightly smaller stack.
Milan:
Oliver:
The river was the and Milan's rail exploded as their man scored the double up. The all-in amount was 3.295 million.
It took three days of intense play, but a winner has finally emerged in the 2014 World Series of Poker Event #29: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em. After 30 total levels of play, Pierre Milan topped a field of 1,165 players to capture the $536,768 first-place prize and his first gold bracelet.
Interestingly, Milan defeated Justin Oliver heads up to win. Oliver took down the 2013 WSOP Event #38 $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Four Handed for $309,071 and ended up giving that gold bracelet to his dad for Father’s Day. Unfortunately for him he was denied his second bracelet on Father’s Day.
Day 3 action saw the final 20 players return to Level 21 (5,000/10,000/1,000), and it didn’t take long for the first elimination of the day to occur. It happened when Jamie Armstrong opened for 20,000 under the gun and Richard Kirsch called him from the small blind. The big got out of the way and it was heads-up action to the flop. Kirsch was first to act and wasted little time in moving all in for right around 135,000. Armstrong called.
Kirsch:
Armstrong:
Kirsch flopped a flush draw and decided to play it strong. Unfortunately for him it did pan out as the blanked on the turn followed by the on the river. Kirsch became the day's first casualty and took home $16,220 for his 20th-place finish.
From there ten others followed him out the door before the final table was set including William Reynolds (19th - $16,220), Rep Porter (18th - $19,718), Joseph Brattole (17th - $19,718), Justin Kindred (16th - $19,718), Marius Pospiech (15th - $24,277), Grayson Nichols (14th - $24,277), Yong Lu (13th - $24,277), Scott Davies (12th - $30,267), Chris Johnson (11th - $30,267), and David Benefield (10th - $30,267).
After a short-stacked Hutter fell in fifth place, the four-handed battle waged until Thad McNulty and Matt Salsberg, who were the short stacks, fell in fourth and third place respectively. That left Justin Oliver and Pierre Milan to battle heads up essentially even in chips.
Even so, it took just three hands for a winner to emerge. That’s because the two played a big pot on the second hand of heads-up play, which went to Milan. One hand later and it was all over.
Place
Player
Prize
1st
Pierre Milan
$536,768
2nd
Justin Oliver
$332,198
3rd
Matt Salsberg
$207,842
4th
Thad McNulty
$150,859
5th
Barry Hutter
$111,368
6th
Jamie Armstrong
$83,486
7th
Andy Phan
$63,502
8th
Daniel Laming
$48,952
9th
Sam Cohen
$38,244
Congratulations to Pierre Milan, winner of Event #29: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em for $536,768.