2014 World Series of Poker Day 18: Six-Max Star Kevin Eyster Collects First Bracelet
For years, Kevin Eyster has been known by his online screename "1SickDisease." But after his victory in Event #24: $5,000 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em on Saturday, he's more than earned the new nickname given to him by his friends: "Six-Max Kev."
Eyster added another six-max title to his impressive résumé on Friday. The 24-year-old already had a WSOP Circuit ring and an FTOPS title in the short-handed variant, but neither brought the satisfaction of winning a World Series of Poker bracelet that Eyster enjoyed when he defeated Pierre Neuville heads-up for the title and $622,998 first-place prize.
Also coming to a close in Las Vegas on Friday was Event #26: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em. Andrew Rennhack took that event down for $408,953, by far the biggest score in his career.
Here’s a rundown of what happened in all six events during Day 18 at the 2014 WSOP:
Event #24: $5,000 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em
Event #24: $5,000 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em drew 541 entrants and generated a prize pool $2,542,700. After 10 levels on Day 1, only 129 players survived and Kevin Eyster was one of them, bagging a stack of 73,800, good for 41st in chips. Another 10 levels on Day 2 and Eyster found himself among the remaining 17 players and eighth on the leaderboard with 477,000. When the unofficial final table of seven players was reached on Day 3, Eyster held the chip lead and after eliminating Mustapha Kanit in seventh place, he further extended his advantage.
To say it was smooth sailing from that point forward, though, would be wrong. Five capable players stood between Eyster and WSOP gold. It would take about three hours and 56 hands before the first elimination at the final table occurred, when Jeremy Kottler sent David Borrat to the rail in sixth place. Kotter fell shortly thereafter, kicking off a tumultuous four-handed battle that saw each player hold the chip lead over the course of the following 28 hands before Bryn Kenney fell in fourth place.
Andrew Lichtenberger began three-handed play with the chip lead, but ultimately succumbed to a third-place finish at the hands of Eyster. Pierre Neuville began heads-up play with a slight chip lead, but Eyster wasted little time in erasing it. When Day 3 play wrapped up, Eyster held more than a 2-to-1 chip lead and closed it out in less than an hour on Day 4 to capture his first gold bracelet.
Event #24 Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin Eyster | $622,998 |
| 2 | Pierre Neuville | $385,041 |
| 3 | Andrew Lichtenberger | $242,847 |
| 4 | Bryn Kenney | $160,927 |
| 5 | Jeremy Kottler | $109,844 |
| 6 | David Borrat | $77,145 |
Event #26: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em
Andrew Rennhack wore a huge grin as he was mobbed by friends, family, and the media moments after he won his first WSOP bracelet and secured an amazing $408,953 for first place in Event #26: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em.
Rennhack and 11 others fought their way through a starting field of 1,594 entrants to return Friday to battle it out for a champion, and at the end of nearly 10 more hours of poker Rennhack was the last man standing.
Poker pro Dan Smith was the first player eliminated from the official final table of nine, dashing hopes of his first WSOP bracelet. Smith was all in with the A♣K♦ against the 9♣9♠ of Heinz Kamutzki, and the board ran out Q♥2♥10♣10♥2♦.
Smith was followed out the door by Eric Rappaport, Geremy Eiland, Kamutzki, Reed Goodmiller, and Ryan Welch, respectively. Welch went out in fourth when he three-bet shoved with the K♦4♦ and ran into the J♣J♦ of Michael Katz. A final board of 10♣10♥7♣6♥5♣ sent the 2010 WSOP bracelet winner to the rail.
Three-handed play was a cagey affair as Tony Gargano asserted his authority by picking up pot after pot until Katz began exerting his own pressure after Gargano lost some chips. Momentum swung back and forth, and with Gargano getting low on chips he made a move on Katz by three-betting all in from the small blind with the A♦6♣, but ran into the Q♦Q♣ of Rennhack in the big blind. The queens held on a final board of 5♣8♣4♠10♥J♥, leaving Rennhack and Katz to play heads-up for the win.
Katz went into the final phase of play with a 5-to-2 chip lead over Rennhack, but his attempt to finish him off backfired when he opened for 200,000, Rennhack raised to 500,000, and Katz moved all in. Rennhack called with the powerhouse K♠K♦ and Katz showed the J♣10♣. The cards came Q♠A♣7♥3♣6♠, and Rennhack doubled up.
Minutes later, Katz was all in with the K♠10♠ against the 6♣6♥ of Rennhack. The dealer ran out a board of 2♣7♣2♠Q♠5♥, and it was all over for Katz who picked up his 24th WSOP cash — the biggest of his career. Rennhack, meanwhile, scooped his first WSOP bracelet and more than $400,000.
Event #26 Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew Rennhack | $408,953 |
| 2 | Michael Katz | $252,826 |
| 3 | Tony Gargano | $166,384 |
| 4 | Ryan Welch | $119,946 |
| 5 | Reed Goodmiller | $87,797 |
| 6 | Heinz Kamutzki | $65,202 |
| 7 | Geremy Eiland | $49,106 |
| 8 | Eric Rappaport | $37,486 |
| 9 | Dan Smith | $28,986 |
Event #27: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.
Event #27: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. moved through its second day of play on Friday. When the day ended, only 15 players remained in contention for the bracelet and the $230,744 in first-place prize money. Kristan Lord was the player closest to achieving that goal, bagging up the chip lead with 475,000 in chips.
While Lord sat on the biggest returning stack, Stewart Yacik was hot on his heels with 468,000. Rounding out the top three was Brandon Guss with 371,000.
Two-time WSOP bracelet winner Dutch Boyd will also return for the final day after finishing in middle of the pack with 209,000. Boyd sat atop the chip counts for a good portion of the day and will be a force to be reckoned with as the tournament progresses. Boyd's first bracelet came in 2006 when he defeated the field in the $2,500 Short-Handed No-Limit Hold'em event for over $475,000. Four years later, Boyd captured his second in the $2,500 Six-Handed Limit Hold'em event where he pocketed just above $235,000.
Other notable names returning for Day 3 include 2013 WSOP Asia-Pacific $1,650 Pot-Limit Omaha bracelet winner Jim Collopy (336,000), Chris George (311,00), Tommy Hang (163,000), and Jon Turner (116,000).
Play will resume at 1 p.m. PT on Saturday, and the final 15 players will play down to a champion.
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Event #28: $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em Championship
After playing 20 minutes short of 10 levels on Friday, the $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em Championship got down to an unofficial final table of 10 and stopped play for the night.
Some big names will come back Saturday with a shot at the bracelet including the likes of three-time WSOP final table participant Chino Rheem, two-time WSOP final table participant Dan Shak, and WSOP bracelet winners Todd Brunson and Barny Boatman. But they will all be looking up at chip leader Matt O'Donell, making his second WSOP final table already this year after a fifth-place finish in Event #4: $1,000 No Limit Hold'em.
The rest of the table is filled with a number of skillful players, including 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,000 High Roller champ Alex Bilokur, 2012 $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em fourth-place finisher Alexander Venovski, two-time WSOP final table participant Richard Lyndaker, GuangDong Asia Millions eighth-place finisher Pratyush Buddiga, and two-time WSOP final table participant (including one already this year) Ismael Bojang.
The action will resume at 2 p.m. PT on Saturday with the unofficial final table.
Event #29: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em
Event #29: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em began Friday afternoon and drew a total of 1,165 entries. After a long day on the felt, only 209 players bagged chips, and the top 117 spots will get paid at least $5,035 on Saturday.
The player best positioned to claim the first-place prize of $536,768 was Barry Hutter, who has two final tables on the World Poker Tour and a sixth-place finish in a $1,000 WSOP event in 2013 to his name. Hutter already cashed in the Event #2: $25,000 Mixed-Max No-Limit Hold'em, and will take 150,500 in chips into Day 2 of this event.
Other big stacks going into Saturday include Grayson Ramage, Rep Porter, Isaac Baron, and Jake Schwartz.
The PokerNews team will be back at 1 p.m. on Saturday to bring you all of the action from Day 2.
Event #30: $1,500 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low
In the first standalone Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low tournament of the series, a field of 588 took to the felt to top the 558 players that anted up for this event in 2013. Reigning champion Daniel Idema was a late entrant, but also an early departure as he, along with 2014 WSOP bracelet winners Vanessa Selbst, Brandon Shack-Harris, George Danzer and Dan Heimiller, as well as Mike Sexton, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth and Phil Ivey.
With a prizepool of $793,800 seeing $190,538 reserved for the winner, it would be Jimmy Fricke in best shape to make a run at it on Day 2 as he topped the remaining 109 players with an amassed chip stack of 67,300. Snapping directly at his heels include Calvin Anderson (66,900), David Brooker (62,500) and Christine Pietsch (61,900).
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be in the Amazon Room on Saturday beginning at 2:00 p.m. (PST) to provide continued extensive coverage of Event #30 as we look to write the path of victory for one lucky player remaining.
On Tap
Two bracelets will be awarded on Saturday as champions will be crowned in Event #27: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. and Event #28: $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em Championship. Getting underway in the evening is the highly anticipated Event #32: $10,000 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Championship, which is sure to draw many of the best hold'em talents in the world. Here’s the full schedule of bracelet events for Saturday (all times PST):
- 12:00 p.m. — Event #31: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em (Day 1 of 3)
- 1:00 p.m. — Event #29: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em (Day 2 of 3)
- 1:00 p.m. — Event #27: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. (Day 3 of 3)
- 2:00 p.m. — Event #30: $1,500 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low (Day 2 of 3)
- 2:00 p.m. — Event #28: $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em Championship (Day 3 of 3)
- 4:00 p.m. — Event #32: $10,000 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Championship (Day 1 of 3)
Video of the Day
Is it time to get rid of the Pot-Limit Hold'em Championship at the World Series of Poker? PokerNews' Remko Rinkema spoke with several players to get their take on the game.
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