Brent Wheeler
It took the better part of Wednesday night and 121 hands of heads-up play, but Brent Wheeler of Chicago, IL emerged a winner of a $1,500 Limit Holdem tournament at this years’ World Series of Poker collecting $191,605.
The final table of nine started last night with Mark Mierkalns a chip leader at 593,000 followed by, in the order stack size, Grayson Scoggin, Eric Froehlich, Brent Wheeler, Alex Queen, Brian Nichols, Malissa Zapata, William James, and Chiduziem Obi with 159,000 in chips.
Froehlich, having arrived at the final table as the third stack, lost most of it in the first couple of dozen hands, and was eliminated first. He received $14,585.
Just three hands later, next to go was Alex Queen, whose patience was not rewarded when he capped a four-bet from Wheeler for all his chips on A
K. Hitting a K on the flop against Wheeler’s KQ off-suited made him a better than 6:1 favorite to win the pot, but Q
on the river spelled his doom. Alex Queen picked up $18,703 for his 8th place finish.
Brian Nichols chose an unfortunate time to shove his JJ on 945 rainbow flop against 95 suited of Scoggin and was eliminated in 7th for $24,232 when turn and river did not improve him.
After some back and forth in the six-handed action, William James, having found himself a short stack, called a three-bet from Scoggin to Mierkalns’ open-raise for the rest of his stack on A7
. Mierkalns, who capped on t
7, won the checked down pot versus James and Scoggin’s A8 off-suit after pairing his ten. James collected $31,747 for reaching 6th in this tournament.
Two hands later, Scoggin four-betted allin on t9 from the button against Mierkalns’ aces, who dutifully called and flopped a set when J, 9, and A came. Scoggin, drawing dead after 6 on the turn, left the tournament with a $42,074 and a fifth place finish.
The remaining four took a dinner break and resumed play with Mark Mierkalns a chip leader at 1,138,000, followed by Brent Wheeler – 892,000, Malissa Zapata in third with 577,000, and Chiduzemi Obi fourth with 311,000. It took another thirty-some hands for next elimination, but Obi hit the rail going all in on Q4 off-suited against Mierkalns’ K9. Obi needed runner-runner non-spades to stay alive after K37 flop but was knocked out when the immaterial 3 and 9 followed. He received $56,485.
The only woman at the final table, Malissa Zapata, thus survived to reach the three-handed action, but was knocked out next going all in on the flop with two pair against Wheeler’s one pair. She had Q4 against his QsJc on 84Q flop, but Wheeler improved when J came on the turn. 5 on the river did not bail Malissa out and she received $76,904 for her efforts.
Mierkalns and Wheeler entered heads up at around 1.5 million apiece in chips and proceeded extremely cautiously at the beginning, somebody often folding to a preflop raise. Wheeler, however, gradually took a lead, which he then increased to around a million. Soon after he pushed the gap to almost two million chips but could not finish Mierkalns off, who fought all the way back and even took a million chip lead himself. Wheeler did not back down, waiting for his chance to shine again. Eventually, on hand #208 he took the lead for good and proceeded to eliminate Mierkalns 29 hands later. Mierkalns, sitting with AT, three-bet Wheeler’s raise, who then called on A3. The flop came 993. Mierkalns led out and, after a series of raises and reraises, went all in with 705,000 in chips. Turn 2 and river 8 did not improve his hand over Wheeler’s two pair, and he had to depart in second place with $118,300, which made Brent Wheeler a winner for a WSOP bracelet and $191,605 in cash.