WSOP
Belgian pro Michael “Timmy” Gathy joins his countryman David Kitai as a two-time WSOP bracelet winner after beating a field of 1,629 in Event #34, $1,000 Turbo No-Limit Holdem, winning $278,613.
The final table was reached late on day two and consisted of the following players:
Player Chip Count
Daniel Bishop 1,408,000
Jake Cody 740,000
Michael Gathy 492,000
Jason Duval 486,000
Yueqi Zhu 477,000
Benjamin Reason 443,000
Sergey Rybachenko 345,000
Russell Crane 343,000
Noah Vaillancourt 157,000
The first exit happened on the very first hand of the final table action. Holding 8
8
in late position, Russell Crane pushed preflop his stack of 407,000, which equaled about 25 big blinds when he saw raise/call/reraise in front. Jake Cody, who made the reraise, had J
J
and quickly called. Needing some serious help from the board, Crane had to bid farewell when the board ran out 56910Q, picking up $19,748 for his 9th place finish.
The play continued for another thirty hands before the next elimination occurred. Noah Vaillancourt pushed from under-the-gun plus one and Zhu, sitting in the spot immediately to his left, reraised all in as well. It was a coin flip when players showed their cards after everyone else folded: Zhu’s 99 versus Vaillancourt’s KQ. Pocket pair prevailed this time sending Vaillancourt home in eighth for $33,456.
Jake Cody, a popular British pro, was eliminated next when, at blind level 23: 10,000-20,000, 3,000 ante, he answered a three-bet all in from Gathy with a call for all of his 417,000 stack. Gathy held 1010 and Cody AJ. No amount of cheer from the rail for Cody could help him pair one of the high cards and Gathy’s pair stood on the 496QQ board. With that, Jake Cody was eliminated in 7th for $33,456.
Only three hands later, Jason Duval, who currently holds the tenth position on the WSOP leaderboard and had high hopes of climbing further, had to put his plans on hold after moving all in on Q8, only to be called by QQ of Benjamin Reason. The queens were an 85% favorite and held and Duval had to depart in sixth place with $44,422.
The remaining five played for another thirty-some hands before achieving the next elimination. On hand #100, Daniel Bishop called Zhu’s 60,000 button raise on the big blind holding A9. The flop fell 9310 and Bishop instantly moved all in for 450,000 in chips. Zhou tanked for a few minutes but made the call on K2. He spiked K on the turn to take the lead and held when 6 fell on the river. Bishop was eliminated in 5th for a payday of $59,816.
Rybachenko was nearly eliminated several hands later and was left with just about a big blind worth of chips when he lost a coin flip against Reason. However, he managed to double up four times and ended up with 650,000 in chips for a healthy 20+ bb stack. His amazing ran came to an end and he was still eliminated in fourth when he moved all in against Gathy on Q10. Gathy, holding AJ, snap-called and did not even need to pair his cards as his ace-high took the pot on the K9468 board. Sergey Rybachenko busted out and left with $81,720 and a nice comeback story to tell.
The three-handed action lasted only one orbit as Yueqi Zhu was shown the door just three hands later when he shoved 109 on the 96K board only to run into Gathy’s K5 for top pair. Gathy’s King held after 3 and 2 were dealt out and Zhu was eliminated in third for $113,358.
Michael Timmy Gathy
Gathy had an sizeable 4:1 chip lead going into heads-up and managed to finish off his opponent, Benjamin Reason, in just over 20 hands of play. Reason four-bet all in preflop on KJ for 905,000 in chips. Gathy held A9 and contemplated his decision for a minute but eventually called. A nine on the 983 flop put him firmly in the lead and 9 on the turn clinched the victory for him. Benjamin Reason was ousted and received $172,252 as a runner-up. Michael Gathy, meanwhile, made an almost three hundred-fold return on his initial investment of $1,000 by winning $278,613 and added a second bracelet to his WSOP collection.