WSOP
In the biggest starting or, should we say, startling, field of 2,100 in the 2013 edition of WSOP, Hungarian Norbert Szecsi took it all to capture the title, his first bracelet, and $345,037 in cash. At a relatively quick final table that lasted only 132 hands and less than five hours he went on a good run that catapulted him to the top of the counts and allowed to enter heads-up as a dominant stack. From that point, it took Norbert only seven hands to dismiss his adversary and grab the winner’s take of a huge $2 million prize pool.
Here are the players that entered the final table, at blind level 22: 8,000 – 16,000, 2,000 ante.
Ariel Celestino 1,102,000
Dana Buck 869,000
Rory Mathews 808,000
Kirby Martin 760,000
Denis Gnidash 675,000
Chris DeMaci 612,000
Norbert Szecsi 510,000
Bryce Landier 495,000
Jonathan Bennett 464,000
With more or less even stacks, several players tried to take the initiative and we saw a lot of aggression early on, but it was not until hand #20 that the first elimination occurred. Jonathan Bennett, decimated to 249,000 in chips by then, moved all in on A
J. DeMaci, who was next to act, moved all in over the top and, when everyone else folded, tabled A
K. The Big Slick stood against the lower ace and Bennett was knocked out in ninth place for $25,392.
Exactly one orbit later, on hand #28, Dana Buck pushed his last 283,000 to an early raise. The raiser, Bryce Landier, had the goods and called on JJ
. Buck, obviously hoping to get a fold, had to show his meager 108, which predictably gave way to the big pair on the AA
1053 board. Buck was eliminated in eight and collected $33,065.
The play went on for nearly thirty more hands when Ariel Celestino jammed from the cutoff on pocket threes, 33. Landier found himself at the right place, right time again with a premium hand, KK, and made the call. The 10Q585 delivered no upset and the ship went on sailing without Celestino. Ariel Celestino picked up $43,564 for his 7th place finish.
Landier soon was dealt pocket kings again, but ran into a cooler in the hands of Gnidash with bullets. After raise-reraise preflop Gnidash called on AA to see the flop come 2QJ. Landier led out on his KK, which Gnidash called to see the 7 turn. Here, Landier shoved for the rest 475,000 of his stack and Gnidash instantly made the call. There was no deliverance from the 2 on the river for Bryce Landier and he hit the rail finishing in sixth for $58,126.
The next two eliminations followed in quick succession. Rory Mathews got crippled on the next hand and shoved Q5 from the button just two hands later for the remaining 85,000. He got called by DeMaci’s K9 and was sent home after the board ran out A39610. He pocketed $78,576 for finishing in the fifth place.
Kirby Martin was eliminated soon after in a postflop clash when, holding A8 on the 6A8J board he moved all in against Szecsi. Szecsi contemplated his chances with KJ and made the call after a two-minute think. This worked out beautifully for Szecsi when 10 fell on the river. Martin was sent home in fourth for a $107,512 payday.
The three-handed play went on for 32 hands – the longest stretch without an elimination – when DeMaci pushed all in on A10 from small blind into Szecsi. Szecsi woke up with pocket kings KK and made the call with no hesitation. The board was dealt out 8492 and, finally, 2, putting an end to DeMaci’s run. His reward for the third-place performance was $149,281.
Heads up play was non-illustrious and short-lived as Szecsi, the big stack, wrapped it up only seven hands later. On hand #132, he raised on A10 and called Gnidash’s three-bet. Flop came 910A, which Gnidash lead out on with a half-pot bet. Szecsi called. Gnidash checked when 3 fell on the turn, but Szecsi – seeing no need to slow down – fired for another 1/3 of the pot and Gnidash called. As 6 fell on the river Gnidash checked again, to which Szecsi moved all in, capping a perfect tournament with a perfectly executed hand. Gnidash called and had to admit he was defeated. His compensation was $214,760 and the runner-up honors.
With that, we got our brand new WSOP champion in Norbert Szecsi, whose drive and stamina paid off handsomely at $345,037, not to mention the prized piece of jewelry – WSOP bracelet.