Justin Oliver Wins Event #38 ($309,071)
Justin Oliver has fulfilled a lifelong dream of becoming a World Series of Poker bracelet winner after taking down Event #38, the $2,500 No Limit Hold’em Four-Handed tournament.
| Rank | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Justin Oliver | $309,071 |
| 2nd | Nick Schwarmann | $191,434 |
| 3rd | Jared Jaffee | $129,447 |
| 4th | David Pham | $89,736 |
The third and final day of this exciting tournament began at 13:00 and saw eight players sit down in the vast Amazon Room, each vying for poker’s most sought after prize.
Jonathan D’Souza was the first player to be eliminated and after only a handful of hands. David Pham raised to 20,000 under the gun and D’Souza called next to act. The pair shared 
flop, and Pham checked to D’Souza who then moved all-in with just 
and Pham snap-called with 
for bottom set. The turn and river bricked and D’Souza exited in eighth place.
The eliminations kept coming with Mike DeGilio and Daniel Park exiting within the first couple of hours, leaving the five remaining players to move to “The Mothership” to make up the unofficial final table.
Play remained five-handed for 90 minutes before a double elimination occurred to send the two most experienced players to the rail.
Nick Schwarmann opened to 32,000 when first to act and Pham called on the button. John Juanda called in the big blind and it was three-handed to the 
flop.
Juanda checked to Schwarmann who made it 43,000 to play. Pham called, but Juanda sat riffling chips for the best part of a minute before swallowing hard and announcing he was all-in. Schwarmann instantly called, putting the action on Pham.
Pham asked if he called and lost would he finish fourth or fifth; there was a $34,000 between the two finishing positions. As Pham had a larger stack than Juanda, Pham would finish in fourth place if he called and lost. With that information processed, Pham called and we had a three-way all in!
Schwarmann showed 
and Juanda asked Pham, "Do you have a draw too?" Pham did have a draw as he held 
. "Well I have the best hand, now." Juanda showed 
.
The turn was the 
, a complete blank, but the river was the , completing Schwarmann and Pham's flush, Schwarmann winning huge pot with the nut flush.
Next to bust was Jared Jaffee, who fell victim to the run good of Schwarmann. On Hand #19 of the official final table, Schwarmann opened to 35,000 on the button and Jaffee called. A raising war broke out on the 
flop that resulted in Jaffee being all in with 
to the 
of Schwarmann. Jaffee turned a third queen, but the river was the flush-completing 
, busting Jaffee and leaving Schwarmann to take an almost 6-to-1 chip lead into heads up.
It took 125 hands of one-on-one play for the tournament to be decided, during which time Oliver doubled up twice before losing ground once again. On the 105th hand of heads-up, all the chips went into the middle with Oliver holding 
to Schwarmann’s . The queens held and Oliver soared into 2,515,000 to 1,100,000 chip lead; it was a turning point in the mtch.
Twenty hands later and it was all over. Oliver raised to 60,000 and Schwarmann three-bet to 175,000. Oliver then four-bet to 350,000 and Schwarmann called. Both players then checked the 
board, leading the dealer to put the 
onto the turn. Again, both players checked. The river was the 
and Schwarmann moved all in, Oliver called and tabled 
for top pair while Schwarmann could only muster the 
for a missed draw.
Oliver ran to his girlfriend and dog on the rail saying, “WTF just happened?” His girlfriend later telling friends Oliver had wanted to win a WSOP event for so long. Now he has done that, congratulations from all the PokerNews team.
That wraps up our coverage of Event #38, keep your browsers locked to PokerNews.com for the rest of the 2013 WSOP and beyond as we bring you all the action from all of the events.