Dan Harmetz Wins WSOP Circuit Harvey's Lake Tahoe Main Event for $128,699
The sixth stop on the 2013/2014 World Series of Poker Circuit schedule wrapped up its $1,675 Main Event on Monday night at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe. The tournament attracted 390 entries and created a prize pool of $585,000. After a long weekend of play, retired hedge fund manager Dan Harmetz of Sacramento, Calif. captured the $128,699 first-place prize and secured a spot in the season-ending National Championship.
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Daniel Harmetz | Sacramento, CA | $128,699 |
| 2nd | Ryan Rinker | Vacaville, CA | $79,531 |
| 3rd | Kevin Fleming | Pleasanton, CA | $58,114 |
| 4th | Austin Buchanan | Winter Park, FL | $43,150 |
| 5th | Jorge Walker | Cerritos, CA | $32,538 |
| 6th | Eric Matulis | Shorewood, IL | $24,903 |
| 7th | Jonathan Neckar | Blue River, WI | $19,340 |
| 8th | Grantland Hillman | Oakland, CA | $15,232 |
| 9th | Evan Karcie | San Francisco, CA | $12,168 |
According to the WSOP Live Blog, the final table was reached on Day 2. In Level 24 (10,000/20,000/3,000), Harmetz opened for 45,000 and then called when Evan Karcie moved all in. The rest of the players folded and Karcie discovered the bad news.
Harmetz: A♦K♠
Karcie: A♠2♦
Both players held an ace, but Karcie’s kicker had him in dire straits. The board ran out an uneventful 7♥5♥5♠8♣Q♦, and Karcie hit the rail in ninth place for $12,168.
After Grant Hillman and Johnny Neckar fell in eighth and seventh place respectively, Eric Matulis of Shorewood, Illinois followed them out the door in sixth. It happened in Level 25 (12,000/24,000/4,000) when Matulis moved all in for his last 138,000 holding JxJx and WSOP Circuit regular Austin Buchanan looked him up with AxJx. Matulis got it in good, but Buchanan took the lead on the Ax4x2x flop. Neither the Qx turn nor Kx river helped Matulis, and he had to settle for $24,903 for his sixth-place finish. Matulis’ elimination also brought about the end of the day.
Five players returned to action on Day 3, and it took about 45 minutes for the first elimination to occur. It happened when Jorge Walker opened for 60,000 form the cutoff and was met by a three-bet to 140,000 from Harmetz on the button. The blinds folded, Walker called, and it was heads-up action to the 8♥8♠7♦ flop. Walker check-called a bet of 150,000 and then checked the 9♠ turn. Harmetz bet 200,000 and then calls Walker’s all-in shove of 1.345 million.
Walker: 6♠5♠
Harmetz:Q♥Q♠
Walker had turned a straight with a gutshot straight flush draw, and all he needed to do was avoid an eight and queen on the river. That proved easier said than done as the 8♦ spiked on the river to give Harmetz the win.
In Level 27 (20,000/40,000/5,000), Buchanan lost most of his chips when his 8x8x failed to overcome the AxAx of Ryan Rinker. In the very next hand, Buchanan shoved his last 195,000 with K♦J♠ and received a call from Harmetz, who held the J♣8♦. Buchanan got it in good, but Harmetz hit two pair when the flop came down J♦8♠2♠. The 10♣ turn was no help to Buchanan, and neither was the 2♣ river. Buchanan earned $43,150 for his fourth-place finish and immediately hopped a plane to Las Vegas to sweat his friend Ryan Riess in the November Nine.
Three-handed play last over four hours, and Kevin Fleming, who was the short stack at the start of the day, fell in Level 30 (40,000/80,000/10,000). Fleming shoved all in from the button with the 10♠10♦ and received a call from Harmetz, who had woken up with the K♦K♠ in the small blind. The board came J♣8♠7♦Q♦5♥ and that was all she wrote for Fleming, who took home $58,114 for his third-place finish.
Heads-up play lasted just a few hands, and in what was the final hand, Rinker shoved with the 5♣5♠ and received a call from the Q♣10♠ of Harmetz. It was a classic flip, and according to the PokerNews Odds Calculator, Rinker was a very slim 50.29% favorite while Harmetz would take it down 48.97% of the time. The J♣6♦6♠ flop made Rinker a 57.47% favorite, but Harmetz picked up a counterfeit option and would still win 39.19% of the time. The 9♣ turn gave Harmetz more counterfeit outs, and that gave him a 45.45% chance of winning the hand. He may have been the underdog the entire hand, but the J♥ river flipped the script by counterfeiting Rinker and giving Harmetz the win.
Rinker took home $79,531 for his runner-up finish, but perhaps more importantly, he earned the Casino Championship title at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe, which secured him a spot in the season-ending National Championship to be held at Caesars Atlantic City.
Congratulations to Dan Harmetz, the 2013/2013 WSOP Circuit Harvey’s Lake Tahoe champion.
The 2013/2014 WSOP Circuit River Rock $1,675 Main Event is happening now in Vancouver. You can find a recap from that event on PokerNews.com later this week.
*Photos courtesy of WSOP.com.
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