Joao Simao Takes Down Second Bracelet For $686,242 In $5,000 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha
From a field of 788, who created a prizepool of $3,634,650, it was Brazilian poker pro Joao Simao who bested Marius Gierse heads up to take down his second WSOP bracelet for $686,242 in Event #53: $5,000 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha at Bally's and Paris in Las Vegas Nevada.
“I had some very hard spots at the final table,” said the pro shortly after his victory, “some players were better than me in Hold’em, others were better than me in Omaha but I felt that on average I had an edge because I play both well.” The man who once said that the Brazilian storm is coming is more confident than ever that poker will continue to be popular in Brazil. “Every time a Brazilian wins a bracelet, it makes our community grow, more and more, which is good for us and good for the poker world in general.”
Coming into the day as the chip leader, Simao kept his foot on the gas the whole day and found himself knocking out six of the nine players at the final table. He was surrounded and embraced by a large rail of Brazilian supporters including his wife. Afterwards, he and the rail went over the to Event #54: $2,500 Nine-Game Mix to support Brazilian poker pro Andre Akkari, who is at the final table. “We’ll do a party here and a party in Brazil to celebrate!”
Event #53: Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Payout |
| 1st | Joao Simao | Brazil | $686,242 |
| 2nd | Marius Gierse | Germany | $424,122 |
| 3rd | Ryan Riess | United States | $302,980 |
| 4th | Dante Goya | Brazil | $219,472 |
| 5th | Aden Salazar | United States | $161,239 |
| 6th | Joshua McSwiney | Australia | $120,165 |
| 7th | Fred Goldberg | United States | $90,864 |
| 8th | Cody Rich | United States | $69,727 |
Final Day Action
Many players found themselves falling throughout the day including Stefan Schillhabel (68th - $10,724), Ben Diebold (48th - $12,977), Mustapha Kanit (28th - $19,650), Brian Rast (22nd - $23,327), and David Williams (18th - $23,327). The final table bubble boy was Randall Brooks who ran his two pair and flush draw into the set of Dante Goya in a Pot-Limit Omaha round. The flush draw did not hit and Brooks exited the tournament in tenth place for $42,953.
Final Table Action
Last year's fifth place finisher in this event, Joni Jouhkimainen, managed to do the rare feat of final tabling once more. It was a short-lived visit to the final table as, during a No-Limit Hold’em round, he ran his pocket eights into the pocket tens of Simao and found no improvement on the runout. Simao added to his final table lead while Jouhkimainen ended his run in ninth place for $54,313.
Cody Rich started the final table as one of the middle stacks but ran into a cooler in Pot-Limit Omaha when his straight and flush draw combination ran into the better straight draw and overpair of Simao. The board ran out with no help to Rich and he ended his run in eighth place for $69,727.
Fred Goldberg saw his stack dwindle to just under one big blind in a bizarre hand where he thought he was calling all in, but ended up having some behind. He laddered once but found himself out shortly after that when, in a Pot-Limit Omaha round, he ran his suited kings into the suited aces of Gierse. No help was given to him and he left the tournament in seventh place for $90,864.
After that, a break in eliminations as the short stacks doubled a few times. But it was a No-Limit Hold’em round that would see an elimination when Joao Simao raised from the button and was called by Gierse in the small blind. In the big blind, Joshua McSwiney moved all in, which folded out Simao but Gierse called with two sevens. McSwiney’s king-queen suited found a flush draw on the flop, but no further improvement as he would leave the tournament in sixth place for $120,165.
After losing a big flip in Pot-Limit Omaha to Gierse, Aden Salazar found himself all in for his remaining five big blinds in a No-Limit Hold’em round with nine-ten suited against the jack-ten suited Simao held. The flop came out favorably for Salazar, but the river gave a pair of jacks to Simao and Salazar exited the tournament in fifth place for $161,231.
Goya ended up being eliminated in fourth place for $219,472. In a No-Limit Hold’em round, Goya moved all in over a raise made by Simao with ace-ten offsuit and Simao looked him up with pocket sevens. Simao made a set on the turn leaving Goya drawing dead and the Brazilian tablemates embraced as Goya left the tournament area.
WSOP 2013 Main Event Champion Ryan Riess started the final table as the shortest stack, but through careful maneuvering, managed to find himself in the final three. He saw his run come to an end when, in Pot-Limit Omaha, he got in his remaining chips against Gierse holding the better hand preflop. Gierse flopped a straight draw and a flush draw, but the turn gave Riess a better straight, leaving Gierse to draw only to the flush. The river completed the flush for Gierse and the 2013 Main Event champion shook hands with his opponents as he left the tournament in third place for $302,980.
Gierse started heads up against Simao with Simao holding a two-to-one chip lead, but it quickly grew to an eight-to-one chip lead as Simao pulled away. The final hand was in Pot-Limit Omaha when Simao raised his big blind and Gierse called. The flop of five, eight, eight with two spades saw all the chips get in, with Gierse holding the nut flush draw and overs and Simao holding pocket queens and a worse flush draw. The turn and river ran out as two clubs and Simao ran to his rail of supporters as they all cheered joyfully. He turned back and embraced his opponent and Gierse ended his run in this tournament in second place for $424,122.
Congratulations to Joao Simao for winning his second WSOP bracelet in Event #53: $5,000 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha. Thank you to all who entered the tournament and thank you who read along. Stay tuned to PokerNews for updates on all events regarding the World Series of Poker.