Christian Harder Wins Maryland Live! Summer Series of Poker Main Event for $84,270
From July 7-28, Maryland Live! Casino hosted the 2014 Live! Summer Series of Poker, which consisted of 19 poker tournaments over 22 days.
The series culminated this past weekend with a no limit Texas hold'em $2,200 buy-in $250,000 Guarantee Main Event, which attracted 178 entries.
After three days of intense play, two well-known pros came out on top.
Christian Harder and Brian Hastings agreed to an even chop with the former also receiving the title of champion.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christian Harder | $84,270* |
| 2 | Brian Hastings | $84,270* |
| 3 | Ulises Roman | $39,555 |
| 4 | John O’Brien | $27,860 |
| 5 | Tim Bishop | $21,497 |
| 6 | John Lakatosh | $16,338 |
| 7 | Robert McLaughlin | $12,726 |
| 8 | Jonathan Ivy | $9,549 |
| 9 | Charles Welch | $6,707 |
*Denotes heads-up deal
According to the Maryland Live! blog, the final nine players returned after a Day 3 break, and the first to fall was Charles Welch.
It happened in Level 22 (5,000/10,000/1,000) when Welch got his last 10 big blinds all in preflop and found himself in a race situation against John O’Brien.
- Welch: A♦J♥
- O’Brien: 9♠9♣
Welch was drawing to two overs, but his hopes were crushed when the flop came down K♠K♦9♥ to give O’Brien a full house.
The 8♥ turn left Welch drawing dead, and he was sent to the rail in ninth place after the 6♥ was put out on the river.
Jonathan Ivy and Robert McLaughlin were the next two to go in eighth and seventh place respectively, and then John Lakatosh followed them out the door in sixth. It happened in Level 23 (6,000/12,000/1,500) shortly after O’Brien opened for 75,000 and Lakatosh called, which brought about a flop of 10♦5♣2♦. Lakatosh opted to move all in, and O’Brien wasted little time in making the call.
Lakatosh: 2x2x
O’Brien: J♦J♣
Lakatosh had flopped a set and was in prime shape to score the knockout. The K♥ turn meant all he needed to do was dodge a jack on the river to stay alive, but that proved easier said than done as the J♠ spiked.
Lakatosh was eliminated in heart-breaking fashion and took home $16,338 for his sixth-place finish.
After Tim Bishop bowed out in fifth place, O’Brien succumbed in fourth. In the first hand of Level 27 (12,000/24,000/3,000), O’Brien moved all in from the small blind for a little under 400,000 and Harder snap-called from the big blind.
O’Brien: 10♥9♥
Harder: A♠A♦
O’Brien had run into pocket rockets, and while he paired his ten on the 10♣7♣2♣ flop, he failed to find further help as the 8♠ came on the turn followed by the 4♦ on the river. O’Brien pocketed $27,860 for his fourth-place finish.
Later in the level, Ulises Roman raised to 63,000 from preflop only to face a three-bet from Hastings. Roman responded by moving all in and Hastings called.
Hastings: A♦10♠
Roman: 8♦8♣
Roman got it in good, but Hastings was drawing to two overs. The 6♥4♠3♥ flop kept Roman in the lead, and the 3♣ turn failed to help Hastings.
It all came down to the river, and that is where Hastings got there as the 10♥ peeled off. Hastings paired his ten and Roman was sent home in third place for $39,555.
A short time later, Hastings and Harder agreed to an even chop of $84,270 each with Harder receiving the title of champion.
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