A Winner Will be Crowned Today in Event #81: $1,500 50th Annual Bracelet Winners Only No-Limit Hold'em
Welcome to the third and final day of Event #81: $1,500 50th Annual Bracelet Winners Only No-Limit Hold'em!
Out of a field of 185 players, only 8 players will return to the felt today to continue to battle it out until one of them add a second bracelet to their collection.
Leading the way coming into the final day is Tommy Nguyen with an impressive stack of 2,910,000. Nguyen claimed his first bracelet last year after winning Event #48: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Monster Stack. He has already secured three cashes this summer including a third place finish Event #17: #$1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout for $106,351. He will be trying to come on top this time to win his second bracelet.
Nguyen is followed by Shankar Pillai with 2,425,000. Pillai won his first bracelet in 2007 and got very close to his second one in 2016 in Event #25:$2,500 No-Limit Hold'em but got third and couldn't close it out as it is Michael Gagliano who took it down for $448,463. Gagliano will try to outlast Pillai at another WSOP final table today and sits in third with a stack of 1,500,000.
Next in line is Brett Apter with 995,000. Apter claimed his first bracelet a little over a month ago after winning Event #17: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em shootout. He has been having a great summer with 8 cashes and will try to end it with a second bracelet.
Andreas Klatt (440,000) remain in contention as well. Klatt took down his bracelet in 2017 after winning Event #2: €550 Pot-Limit Omaha and will try to win his second bracelet in Vegas this time.
Kevin Gerhart and Thom Werthmann will both start the day with 370,000. Gerhat has been having of the best summer of his career with 9 cashes in the bag including a victory in Event #54: $1,500 Razz. Him and Apter both have a shot at winning two bracelets in one summer. As for Werthmann, he took home his first bracelet in 2005 in Event #3: $1,500 Pot-limit Hold'em and will try to grab hi second one in his first cash of the summer.
Scott Bohlman (260,000) rounds up the final eight. Bohlman has over $1,600,000 in total earnings at the WSOP including 12 cashes this summer. He claimed his first bracelet last year after winning Event #40: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet. Can he top his great summer with a bracelet?
Stay tuned to PokerNews to follow all the action until one of these eight champions will add a second gold bracelet. to his collection.
Action will get resume at 2 p.m. local time at Level 21 with the 10,000/25,000 blinds and a 25,000-ante.
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brett Apter | United States | 995,000 | 40 |
| 2 | Scott Bohlman | United States | 260,000 | 10 |
| 3 | Kevin Gerhart | United States | 370,000 | 15 |
| 4 | Andreas Klatt | Germany | 440,000 | 18 |
| 5 | Michael Gagliano | United States | 1,500,000 | 60 |
| 6 | Tommy Nguyen | Canada | 2,910,000 | 116 |
| 7 | Shankar Pillai | United States | 2,425,000 | 97 |
| 8 | Thom Werthmann | United States | 370,000 | 15 |
and Bohlman finished with king-high flush, losing to Werthmann's ace-high flush.
giving Pillai an open-ended straight draw but the 
turn and 
river completed the board and Gerhart stayed ahead with his pair of aces to double up.
river. Nguyen showed 
and Pillai mucked.
was checked by all players and Gagliano led out 110,000 on the 
for a straight wasn't good enough. Gagliano turned the nut straight and rivered a flush and Nguyen had to ship another 850,000 Gagliano's way.
and Werthmann let Nguyen bet 55,000 and then check-raised to 155,000. Nguyen called.
was good against 
and Nguyen was eliminated in third place.
and Gagliano checked to Pillai who bet 225,000. Gagliano called.
and Gagliano checked one more time. Pillai paused for a moment and then announced he was all in. Gagliano double-checked his hand and then called.
for a turned straight and rivered flush and Gagliano flipped