Preflop action had Santiago Plante raising to 1,500,000, leaving just a couple chips behind. Axel Hallay shoved over top and Plante tossed in the rest of his chips to call.
Santiago Plante:
Axel Hallay:
As Plante's rail cheered him on, the board came down . Hallay's pocket nines held to take down the pot and send the friendly Canadian out of the tournament in sixth place.
Sebastien Aube opened to 500,000 from under the gun before Leandro Vlastaris jammed for 1,700,000 from the big blind.
Leandro Vlastaris:
Sebastien Aube:
The jacks were still in front after the flop but Vlastaris had a flush draw on the turn. The river completed the board and Vlastaris was eliminated in fifth place.
Axel Hallay raised to 600,000 from under the gun and Brian Keith Etheridge three-bet to 1,450,000. Action folded back around to Hallay who sat in the tank for a minute before deciding to call.
The flop came down and Hallay checked to Etheridge, who swiftly moved all in. Hallay snap-called and the cards were turned up.
Axel Hallay:
Brian Keith Etheridge:
A showed up on the turn and the on the river gave Hallay a set, solidifying him taking down the hand and getting a double up.
With 900,000 in the middle and a flop of showing, the blinds were the only ones in the hand. Sebastien Aube checked to Axel Hallay who bet 400,000 which Aube then called.
The turn was a and had Aube check-calling once again, this time for 1,300,000.
A showed up on the river and Aube checked to Hallay who bet 3,600,000 which was most of his stack. Aube moved all in and Hallay tossed his remaining chips in to make the call.
Axel Hallay:
Sebastien Aube:
Hallay had top pair and had Aube until the river when the ten showed up to give him two pair to take down the monster pot and knock his opponent out of the tournament in fourth place.
In a blind versus blind battle, Brian Keith Etheridge opened to 900,000 before calling the all-in from Julien Loire.
Julien Loire:
Brian Keith Etheridge:
The jacks were immediately outflopped as the dealer fanned the flop which was followed by the turn and river.
After the stacks were counted, Etheridge only had 600,000 left. He then doubled up through Sebastien Aube the very next hand.
Now in the big blind, the short stack moved all in for 1,800,000 and was called by Loire, who opened from the button.
Brian Keith Etheridge:
Julien Loire:
Loire would go on to make Broadway on the runout to set up heads-up play.
As Etheridge left the table, the remaining players congratulated the TV Writer and Producer on his deep run and impressive skills. Etheridge had been a favourite of many tablemates throughout the last three days and now walks away with a $222,762 payday and WSOP top three finish.
After three long days of play in a brand new event stacked with notables, Sebastien Aube has joined the ranks of WSOP bracelet winners. Aube bested a field of 1,364 entries in Event #78: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em to take home a first place prize of $499,636 and the coveted WSOP gold bracelet.
Aube was in the top five chip counts to begin Day 3 and although it got a little rocky for a while in the earlier levels of the day, he slowly climbed back up. Heading into the final table, Aube had a dominating chip lead that he never relinquished throughout the rest of the day.
There were many big names and former champions in this tournament including James Gilbert ($20,585), Kenny Hallaert ($20,585), David Miscikowski ($25,474), Ran Koller ($52,240), Matt Berkey ($68,102) and Brian Keith Etheridge ($222,762) who all cashed in the top 25.
Event #78: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Results
Place
Player
Country
Prize (USD)
1
Sebastien Aube
Canada
$499,636
2
Jilien Loire
France
$308,817
3
Brian Keith Etheridge
United States
$222,762
4
Axel Hallay
France
$162,627
5
Leandro Vlastaris
United States
$120,177
6
Santiago Plante
Canada
$89,905
7
Matt Berkey
United States
$68,102
8
Ran Koller
Israel
$52,240
9
Jonathan Zarin
United States
$40,588
Winners Reaction
This was Aube’s first WSOP bracelet and only the second cash of his poker career, the first one being $2,815. “I played recreationally in my 20’s and when I opened my last business in the pandemic, I came upon the MasterClass of Daniel Negreanu. I always liked the guy so was like alright, let's go. He really psyched me up. It’s the same recipe to succeed in poker as it is in business so it really called to me.”
Aube came out to test the skills he picked up in his studies at the WSOP Main Event. It was his first time playing in the series and while the cards didn’t fall right for him in the Main, they sure did in this one. He was radiating happiness and excitement after his win, “I’m extremely psyched. I was in it for the bracelet mostly and I’m very glad that I got it. I’m so excited, it’s a very good accomplishment for my second live cash in a tournament; a pretty good one to do it in.”
His girlfriend and his 11-month-old child are back at home in Montreal, Canada, and were getting updates on his status throughout the day. “I can’t wait to celebrate with my friends and family. My girlfriend is asleep now but she is going to wake up and be so excited with the amazing news of my win.”
Final Day Recap
WSOP bracelet winner Miscikowski was the chip leader heading into Day 3. Six other players busted out within the first two levels and the remaining 16 played for another few hours before Hallaert was eliminated in 16th place. Miscikowski was taken out in 13th and, within an hour, the remaining ten went over to the unofficial final table.
Brien Lee was the first one knocked out when his queen-high straight was beaten by Aube’s king-high straight. Jonathan Zarin followed shortly after when an unlucky river gave Etheridge a straight, running over his ace-king (top two pair).
Koller was next to go when the bracelet winner was taken out by Berkey's runner-runner two pair. After the dinner break, Berkey was eliminated by Aube in a race with ace-ten which ended with Aube hitting a set to knock him out.
Another player from Montreal, Santiago Plante, was short-stacked throughout most of the final table play but managed to capture sixth place when he came up against pocket nines and the deck didn’t give him any help.
Leandro Vlastaris was knocked out in fifth after a roller coaster ride of highs and lows throughout the day, ending up all in against Aube who knocked him out with pocket jacks.
The final four went rather quickly with Axel Hallay going up against and losing to Aube and his monster stack. Etheridge busted out shortly after Julien Loire hit Broadway against him in an all-in hand.
On the final hand, the seven on the river hit for both Aube and Loire. When Aube moved all in, Loire quickly called and tabled his straight. Aube flipped over nines full of sevens and that was it as he took down the hand and the tournament.
Stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring you all the action from the last handful of 2022 WSOP bracelet-awarding events.