2015 WSOP Europe Day 7: A Hefty Win for Ryan Hefter, 8-Game Down to Three Players
Another day has come to a close from the 2015 World Series of Poker Europe in Berlin, Germany. Wednesday marked Day 7 of the festival, and three events were in action. In Event #4: €1,650 "Monster Stack" No-Limit Hold'em, the fourth gold bracelet on the schedule was awarded, and then Event #5: €2,200 8-Game Mixed played out its Day 2 and Event #6: €3,250 No-Limit Hold'em had its Day 1.
A Hefty Win in the "Monster Stack" for Ryan Hefter
The €1,650 "Monster Stack" No-Limit Hold'em event had its winner crowned on Wednesday, with American financial professional and former semi-pro poker player Ryan Hefter taking top honors to win his first WSOP gold bracelet and €176,205. This was the fourth gold bracelet awarded from the series, and it came with the largest first-place of them all.
"I can't even put into words how I feel right now," said Hefter, who is currently on a two-year assignment with Credit Suisse in Poland. "I don't play many tournaments. I used to play online professionally when I was younger in the States, but I'm not a tournament player, mostly cash.
"I just took a shot. I came down to Berlin for a few days, busted out of the €560 'OktoberFest', tried this one and ended up taking it down."
Prior to his big win, Hefter had less than $10,000 in career live tournament earnings coming from two cashes. One of those cashes was a 189th-place finish in a 2011 WSOP event for $3,394.
En route to winning, Hefter had battle through a final table that included David Peters, who was eliminated in ninth place, and Henrik Hecklen, who busted fourth.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Hefter | United States | €176,205 |
| 2 | Gilbert Diaz | France | €109,625 |
| 3 | Carlos Chang | Taiwan | €80,170 |
| 4 | Henrik Hecklen | Denmark | €59,495 |
| 5 | Diego Ventura | Peru | €44,725 |
| 6 | Armin Eckl | Germany | €34,180 |
| 7 | Justin Frolian | Germany | €26,415 |
| 8 | Richard Sheils | UK | €20,675 |
| 9 | David Peters | United States | €16,455 |
Click here for the full story and to read more about Hefter's win.
Three Remain in 8-Game Mixed Event
After Day 1 of the €2,200 8-Game Mixed event, 24 players remained from the 113-player starting field. Only the top 12 spots would reach the money, and that happened after Roland Israelashvili busted on the bubble in 13th place.
Also falling just short of a cash was current Global Poker Index WSOP Player of the Year leader Mike Gorodinsky. He failed to reach the money in another event at the 2015 WSOP Europe and continued to see his lead get smaller and smaller as those behind him reached the money in various events.
When the final table was reached, Alex Komaromi had the chip lead atop the final six. Jens Lakemeier fell first, and then Shaun Deeb busted in fifth place. Deeb is one of those players hot on the feels of Gorodinsky, and he earned 179.30 points to pull within 100.79 points of Gorodinsky. Deeb is currently second in the race.
In fourth place finished Jonathan Duhamel, winner of the 2010 WSOP Main Event. Duhamel is another player trailing Gorodinsky for GPI WSOP Player of the Year, and he earned 192.13 points to move within 481.08 points of Gorodinsky. Duhamel is currently ninth in the race.
Following Duhamel's elimination, Komaromi, Scott Clements, and Noah Bronstein were the three players remaining, and the trio bagged up their chips for the night. They'll return to action on Thursday to play for the bracelet and €65,740 in first-place prize money. Komaromi held the chip lead with 549,000, ahead of Clements' 387,000 and Bronstein's 194,500.
Jattin Leads After Day 1 in €3,250 No-Limit Hold'em
Day 1 of the €3,250 No-Limit Hold'em event saw a field of 256 players generated. Leading the surviving 69-player pack at the end of the opening day was Farid Jattin with his stack of 134,700 in chips.
The Ukraine's Oleksi Khoroshenin bagged up the second biggest stack with 130,000.
Other notables advancing to Day 2 were Allen Kessler (113,500), Nick Petrangelo (90,000), Alex Rocha (88,200), Jeff Gross (79,100), Guillaume Darcourt (77,300), Fabrice Soulier (72,400), and Phil Hellmuth (40,200).
Another familiar face making it through Day 1 was 2015 WSOP November Niner Pierre Neuville. The Belgian bagged up 78,100 in chips and will be looking for another WSOP final table berth.
Some of those eliminated on Day 1 were John Gale, Scott Davies, Stephen Chidwick, Rick Alvarado, and Barny Boatman.
Day 2 will begin at 1 p.m. local time.
As the 2015 WSOP Europe rolls on, be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for continued coverage.
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