Jeffrey Dobrin Wins Event #80: People's Choice Event [Pros Vote] ($189,666)
Jeffrey Dobrin kept giving himself a chance, and it finally paid off big.
One of the most persistent grinders throughout the online bracelet events on both WSOP.com and GGPoker this year, Dobrin racked up an impressive 15 cashes over the course of the dozens of tournaments held on the two sites. However, none of the runs were particularly deep, with the best of the bunch being a 31st-place finish back in early July.
Finally, Dobrin had the breakthrough he undoubtedly craved. It came in Event #80: People's Choice Event [Pros Vote], which turned out to be a $600 six-max event. Dobrin won $189,666 and a WSOP Europe package thanks to beating a field of 2,408 for his first bracelet.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jeffrey Dobrin | USA | $189,666* |
| 2 | Idris Ambraisse | France | $144,998 |
| 3 | Vahe Martirosyan | Armenia | $104,255 |
| 4 | Joao Santos | Brazil | $74,960 |
| 5 | Marc MacDonnell | Ireland | $53,897 |
| 6 | Sergio Veloso | Croatia | $38,752 |
| 7 | Arvhin Malinab | Canada | $27,863 |
| 8 | Hiroki Morishita | Japan | $20,034 |
| 9 | Chris Ferguson | USA | $14,404 |
*also won a WSOP Europe package
Dobrin was certainly far from the headliner at the final table, despite coming in with a slight chip lead. All eyes were on Chris Ferguson, gunning for bracelet No. 7, with some of those eyes undoubtedly anti-sweating the veteran pro. However, Ferguson attempted a sizable hero-call with ace-high that went awry, leading to his early bust.
Meanwhile, Dobrin chose to take a very aggressive approach. As chip leader, he got the option to choose his seat last, and he made what looked to be a very prudent choice to put most of the other big stacks on his right. This frequently allowed him to just shove and put everyone behind him at risk, padding his stack without much fight.
However, the tournament looked to be Vahe Martirosyan's to lose as he had about half of the chips four-handed.
That's when Dobrin revitalized himself after having sunk below an average count. He picked up nines to double through Joao Santos, who was dealt eights. Then, he and Idris Ambraisse left Martirosyan in their dust three-handed to set up a fairly even heads-up match.
The shallow stacks meant the first heater might take it and that went to Dobrin as he turned a gutshot to the nuts versus top two pair and then rolled from there, with a kings-over-nines cooler to finish it.
Dobrin can put his freshly won bracelet on the trophy case next to his two WSOP Circuit rings, which he won in 2012 and 2016. And the way Dobrin's been grinding, expect to see him stay in contention for more cashes as the GGPoker bracelet series winds down in the coming days.