Event #17 was a NL Holdem event with a buy in of $1,500. This 3-day event attracted 2,105 players, creating a prizepool of $2,841,750 with the winner receiving more than half a million dollars!
The man who just missed the final table this time was Paul Francoi Tedeschi, who fell victim to a bluff gone wrong. With a little more than 15 big blinds, Paul was in the big blind when Manuel Mutke raised it up to 50,000 from middle position. The action folded to Paul and he put in a 3-bet to 135,000. That did not impress Mutke as he made a 4-bet to 240,000, but Paul decided to make a stand, shoving all in. After a brief though, Mutke called and turned over T 
T 
while Paul showed Q 
3 for a very mistimed bluff.
The flop game Paul plenty of hope, bringing a flush draw with 9 7 9 , but just like that, the turn took it all away with another 9 
, giving Mutke a full house and leaving Paul with 3 outs. The river did not deliver and Paul Francoi Tedeschi was eliminated in 10th place receiving $29,980.
Chip counts at the start of the final table:
Athanasios Polychronopoulos 1,971,000
Manuel Mutke 1,705,000
Joe Cada 1,492,000
Samuel Taylor 1,081,000
Joe Ward 853,000
David “Bakes” Baker 836,000
Michael Kurth 578,000
Everett Carlton 513,000
Thomas Nicotera 449,000
The first casualty of the final table came right at the start. In hand 5 the chip leader Athanasios Polychronopoulos raised to 45,000 from early position and got shoved on by the short stacked Thomas Nicotera for 389,000. Athanasios quickly called and tabled K K and Thomas was in bad shape with A 6 . A 6 J 7 flop brought Thomas a few more lifelines, but the turn and river bricked and Thomas Nicotera was eliminated in 9th place, earning $38,178.
When the tournament was down to 20-ish players, David Baker was comfortably in the chip lead, looking for at least a top 3 run, but while closing in on the final table, David could not get any traction as his chip stack was getting ever smaller, and now with 8 players remaining he has found himself on the short stack with 490,000 chips and sitting in the big blind with A 4 . In front of him Athanasios Polychronopoulos has raised to 70,000 from the cut off and Everett Carlton called from the button. David decided to shove but was very disappointed after Carlton snap called him with A A . The flop brought David a 4 , but that was the last help the board would bring him in this tournament as David Baker was eliminated in 8th place, earning a well deserved $49,716.
While Everett Carlton was building up a nice stack, Joe Ward was bleeding chips from the start of the final table and now was in critical condition with only 290,000 chips. In hand 67 he shoved all in from the cut off with J 7 , but was quickly called by Samuel Taylor from the small blind who was holding A Q . The flop was one of the worst possible for Joe as it ran out 5 T A , cementing Taylor’s lead. The rest of the board did not bring any help and Joe Ward was out in 7th place, $65,502 richer.
Michael Kurth entered the final table as one of the short stacks and was fairing pretty well, but in hand 83 he was eliminated by Manuel Mutke. Mutke raised to 80,000 from the small blind and Michael called from the big blind. The flop brought 8 5 5 and Mutke lead for another 65,000. Michael was not ready to give it up as he popped it up to 200,000. After some consideration, Mutke announced that he was all in and Michael called. The hands which the players revealed were somewhat unexpected, as Mutke turned over Q 7 and Michael was chasing hearts with 3 4 . Even more surprising, neither the 6 on the turn or the T on the river brought any help to either of the players and Mutke took down a huge pot with Q high.
By hand 117 Samuel Taylor was crippled after some big pots that did not go his way and was down to just a few big blinds. In his last hand he moved in with K J and was called by Athanasios Polychronopoulos with A 9 . The board did not bring any help to Taylor and he had to settle for 5th place and $118,145 for his efforts.
At this point 2009 WSOP Main Event winner Joe Cada was remarkably close to his second bracelet, but it was not meant to be this time as Joe got the tabled turned on him in hand 162. Athanasios Polychronopoulos opened to 190,000 from under the gun and Cada re-raised all in for just over a million chips. Athanasios called, but was in bad shape with A J against Cada’s A Q . The 8 2 7 flop brought Cada very close to a double up, but the turn was a J , turning his chances upside down. The 6 on the river did not help and Joe Cada was gone in 4th place with a score of $161,642.
At this point Athanasios Polychronopoulos was unstoppable and his next target was Everett Carlton. In a blind versus blind confrontation, Athanasios opened with a raise from the small blind and Everett shipped all in from the big blind. Athanasios snap called with A J and was in very good shape against Everett’s A 6 . The flop brought Everett some chop possibilities, as it rolled out 3 3 9 , but the turn and the river bricked out as Everett Carlton was sent to the rail in 3rd place, earning and impressive $224,455.
In a very dramatic fashion, the heads up match of Manuel Mutke and Athanasios Polychronopoulos was over in just 3 hands. In hand 185, after the pot was raised and 3-bet preflop, Athanasios shoved all in and was quickly called by Manuel with A J who was delighted to see Athanasios turn over Q J . The flop hit both players, bringing J 5 3 , but Mutke was well ahead. The 2 on the turn brought him even closer to a huge double up, but the river was a dagger, bringing the Q and sending Mutke packing in 2nd place.
Congratulations to Manuel Mutke, who received $322,908 for his runner up performance and congratulations to Athanasios Polychronopoulos for winning his second WSOP bracelet and a nice $518,755 payday!
Athanasios Polychronopoulos
Final table payouts:
1. Athanasios Polychronopoulos $518,755
2. Manuel Mutke $322,908
3. Everett Carlton $224,455
4. Joe Cada $161,652
5. Samuel Taylor $118,145
6. Michael Kurth $87,398
7. Joseph Ward $65,502
8. David Bakes Baker $49,716
9. Thomas Nicotera $38,178