2018 WSOP Event 59: Mike Takayama Makes History as the First Filipino to Win a WSOP Bracelet
There were 1,400 runners that began Event #59: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em Super Turbo Bounty at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. By the end of the late registration period, there were a total of 2,065 entries generating a prize pool of $1,858,500, exceeding the 1,867 runners who entered this tournament last year.
After the last chance saloon had closed for business, it was Mike Takayama taking down the turbo event. His victory against Lorenc Puka would earn the Filipino player a coveted WSOP gold bracelet and a prodigious $198,568 first place cash prize, the first bracelet for someone hailing from the Philipines.
The structure of this tournament was one that favors brave players and Takayama was about as courageous as there was in the field. The words "all-in" seemed to fall out of his mouth more frequently than the words fold.
"I am now the first Filipino to ever win a bracelet!"
"I'm very happy with how I played and it is everyone's dream to win a bracelet," was Takayama's response when asked about his playing style.
The Philippines native was all in at two points with very few outs but still managed to hit the cards he needed to win.
"Two suck-out hands, [and] then I kept building and building," Takayama said when asked about the hands in question, before smiling and declaring: "I am now the first Filipino to ever win a bracelet!"
Final Table Results
| Position | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Takayama | Phillipines | $198,568 |
| 2 | Lorenc Puka | Italy | $122,627 |
| 3 | Matthew Smith | United States | $88,938 |
| 4 | Steve Jelinek | United Kingdom | $65,145 |
| 5 | Spencer Baker | United States | $48,196 |
| 6 | Kavish Shabbir | United States | $36,019 |
| 7 | Elizabeth Montizanti | United States | $27,193 |
| 8 | Jack Duong | United States | $20,743 |
| 9 | Oliver Rusing | Germany | $15,988 |
Event Recap
The day began with many notable pros in the field including Phil Laak, Mike Watson, Greg Raymer, Phil Hellmuth, Kevin Eyster, Scott Davies, Mohsin Charania, and many more.
One name that especially that out was Shaun Deeb, who has been on a heater and is currently occupying the top spot for 2018 player of the year. Deeb made the money but came up short when he got it all in on a flip and went out 172nd place for $1,214.
A total of 310 places were paid at least a min-cash of $1,000, in addition to any bounties acquired. By the time the tournament was nearing the bubble, Jacob Snider was the chipleader. He couldn't go the distance and he would end up going out in 50th place ($3,490).
Among the players to cash the event were Michael Moore (24th - $6,275), Pablo Mariz (32nd - $5,103), Jake Bazeley (33rd - $5,103), Jaspal Brar (48th - $3,490), Jordan Polk (71st - $2,497), Greg Raymer (120th - $1,471), and Taylor Wilson (122nd - $1,471).
The official final table bubble was Jens Thomsen who moved his short stack all in from the button, only to run into a Takayama's bigger hand.
Oliver Rusing would be the first official final tablist to hit the rail after Takayama hit an ace against his pocket queens to put him out in ninth.
"I'm very happy with how I played and it is everyone's dream to win a bracelet."
Jack Duong was just another casualty to Takayama's run-good. Duong got it in as a big favorite to double, but Takayama spiked two pair against him and he exited in eighth place.
Elizabeth Montizanti moved all in preflop and got two callers. Takayama bet the pot to chase the other player out and the two turned over their cards with Takayama's top pair holding on for the elimination of Montizanti.
A round after; Kavish Shabbir lost a big all in against Matthew Smith to get short. Shabbir ended up all in preflop against Takayama shortly afterward. Takayama would river a three to send him out in sixth.
Spencer Baker held on as long as he could and then moved all in from the button. Smith called him from the big blind and the board would not run out in Bakers favor as Smith would flop a jack, holding on for the pot.
One of the bigger stacks late in the day was Steve Jelinek who would go toe-to-toe with Takayama. As everyone else did before him, he too would fail and be sent home with Takayama's set of deuces besting his ace high.
Not much later, Matthew Smith shoved from the button and Takayama called his all in. Takayama was in rough shape as Smith turned two pair, but the river completed a straight for Takayama and Smith was sent home in third.
The heads-up play was fast and furious as Takayama applied immense pressure to Lorenc Puka . It started off well for the Italian, who doubled at the very beginning of heads-up play, but Takayama just kept pushing his stack around. When the final buzzer went, it was Takayama who came out on top. Takayama took down the title, the bracelet, and the $198,568 first place cash prize.
In this Series
- 1 2018 WSOP Event 1: Jordan Hufty Wins First WSOP Gold in $565 Casino Employees
- 2 2018 WSOP Event 2: Elio Fox Wins First Ever WSOP $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty for $393,693
- 3 2018 WSOP Event 3: Joe Cada Wins 2018 WSOP $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em SHOOTOUT for $226,218
- 4 2018 WSOP Event 4: Julien Martini Wins $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better ($239,771)
- 5 2018 WSOP Event 5: Nick Petrangelo Wins WSOP $100,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller ($2,910,227)
- 6 2018 WSOP Event 6: Jeremy Perrin Wins The GIANT Turning $365 Into $250,966
- 7 2018 WSOP Event 7: Roberly Felicio Wins the 2018 WSOP COLOSSUS for $1,000,000
- 8 2018 WSOP Event 8: Johannes Becker Wins $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball ($180,455)
- 9 2018 WSOP Event 9: Paul Volpe Wins Third WSOP Bracelet in Omaha Hi-Lo Championship
- 10 2018 WSOP Event 10: William ‘Twooopair’ Reymond Wins $365 WSOP.com ONLINE Event ($154,996)
- 11 2018 WSOP Event 11: Tim Andrew Triumphs in the $365 PLO GIANT for $116,015, Mizrachi Fifth
- 12 2018 WSOP Event 12: Jeremy Harkin Wins $1,500 Dealer's Choice for $129,882
- 13 2018 WSOP Event 13: Benjamin Moon Wins $1,500 Big Blind Antes for $315,346
- 14 2018 WSOP Event 14: Daniel Ospina Wins First Bracelet for Colombia in 2-7 Lowball Draw
- 15 2018 WSOP Event 15: Andrey Zhigalov Wins $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. for $202,787
- 16 2018 WSOP Event 16: Justin Bonomo Wins Second WSOP Bracelet in $10K Heads-Up Championship
- 17 2018 WSOP Event 17: Ognyan Dimov Wins Third Bracelet for Bulgaria in Event #17 ($378,743)
- 18 2018 WSOP Event 18: Adam Friedman Wins Second Bracelet in $10K Dealer's Choice
- 19 2018 WSOP Event 19: Craig Varnell Wins $565 Pot-Limit Omaha ($181,790)
- 20 2018 WSOP Event 20: Jeremy Wien Conquers $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em for $537,710
- 21 2018 WSOP Event 21: Arne Kern Wins $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em MILLIONAIRE MAKER ($1,173,223)
- 22 2018 WSOP Event 22: Philip Long Wins $1,500 Eight Game Mix ($147,348)
- 23 2018 WSOP Event 23: Brian Rast Wins Fourth Bracelet in 2-7 Lowball Championship, Brunson 6th
- 24 2018 WSOP Event 24: Michael Addamo Wins Event #24: $2,620 MARATHON No-Limit Hold'em
- 25 2018 WSOP Event 25: Benjamin Dobson Wins First WSOP Gold in $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo
- 26 2018 WSOP Event 26: Filippos Stavrakis Dedicates WSOP PLO Bracelet ($169,842) to His Brother
- 27 2018 WSOP Event 27: John Hennigan Wins 2018 WSOP $10K HORSE for Fifth Bracelet and $415K
- 28 2018 WSOP Event 28: Fortunate River Gives Gal Yifrach First WSOP Bracelet & $461K Prize
- 29 2018 WSOP Event 29: Hanh Tran Wins First WSOP Bracelet in $1,500 2-7 Triple Draw ($117,282)
- 30 2018 WSOP Event 30: Ryan Bambrick Wins First Gold Bracelet in Dominating Fashion
- 31 2018 WSOP Event 31: Steven Albini Wins $1,500 Stud to Deny Jeff Lisandro 7th Bracelet
- 32 2018 WSOP Event 32: Matthew Davis Tops Biggest Seniors Event Ever to Win $662,983
- 33 2018 WSOP Event 33: Michael Mizrachi Wins His Third Poker Players Championship Title
- 34 2018 WSOP Event 34: Robert Peacock Wins First WSOP Gold in $1,000 DOUBLE STACK
- 35 2018 WSOP Event 35: Yueqi Zhu Claims First WSOP Gold in $1,500 Mixed Omaha
- 36 2018 WSOP Event 36: Farhintaj Bonyadi Wins Event $1,000 Super Seniors ($311,451)
- 37 2018 WSOP Event 37: Eric Baldwin Wins Second Bracelet, Dedicates it to His Father
- 38 2018 WSOP Event 38: Yaniv Birman Wins First WSOP Gold Bracelet in $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship ($236,238)
- 39 2018 WSOP Event 39: Preston Lee Captures $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout Bracelet ($236,498)
- 40 2018 WSOP Event 40: Scott Bohlman Wins WSOP $2,500 Mixed Big Bet ($122,138)
- 41 2018 WSOP Event 41: Robert Nehorayan Wins $1,500 Limit Hold'em for $173,568
- 42 2018 WSOP Event 42: Shaun Deeb Gets Revenge on Ben Yu to Win $25K PLO for $1,402,683
- 43 2018 WSOP Event 43: Timur Margolin Takes Down $2,500 NLHE for $507,274
- 44 2018 WSOP Event 44: Nicholas Seiken Wins $10k 2-7 Triple Draw Championship for $287,987
- 45 2018 WSOP Event 45: Mario Prats Garcia Wins $1,000 Big Blind NLH For $258,255
- 46 2018 WSOP Event 46: David Brookshire Wins WSOP $2,500 Mixed Omaha/Stud Hi-Lo 8 ($214,291)
- 47 2018 WSOP Event 47: Matthew 'mendey' Mendez Wins First WSOP Online PLO Bracelet ($135,077)
- 48 2018 WSOP Event 48: Tommy Nguyen Wins Monster Stack for $1,037,451
- 49 2018 WSOP Event 49: Loren Klein Wins $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship for $1,018,336
- 50 2018 WSOP Event 50: Jay Kwon Wins $1,500 Razz ($125,431)
- 51 2018 WSOP Event 51: Ryan Leng Ships First WSOP Gold in $1,500 BOUNTY ($272,504)
- 52 2018 WSOP Event 52: Scott Seiver Wins $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship ($296,222)
- 53 2018 WSOP Event 53: Couden Tops Elezra, Matusow, Negreanu, and Fitoussi to win $1,500 PLO8
- 54 2018 WSOP Event 54: Portugal's Diogo Veiga Wins $3K Big Blind Antes ($522,715)
- 55 2018 WSOP Event 55: Giuseppe Pantaleo and Nikita Luther Win the $1K Tag Team for $175,805!
- 56 2018 WSOP Event 56: Calvin Anderson Wins His Second Bracelet in the $10K Razz ($309,220)!
- 57 2018 WSOP Event 57: Jessica Dawley Wins the WSOP Ladies Championship for $130,230!
- 58 2018 WSOP Event 58: Tribe Has Spoken: Jean-Robert Bellande Wins First Bracelet for $616K
- 59 2018 WSOP Event 59: Mike Takayama Makes History as the First Filipino to Win a WSOP Bracelet
- 60 2018 WSOP Event 60: Galfond Wins 3rd Bracelet in $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Championship
- 61 2018 WSOP Event 61: Ryan 'Toosick' Tosoc Wins WSOP.com $1,000 Championship ($238,778)
- 62 2018 WSOP Event 62: Galen Hall Wins $888 Crazy Eights No-Limit Hold'em for $888,888
- 63 2018 WSOP Event 63: Chance 'BingShui' Kornuth Wins Second Bracelet in WSOP.com Online High Roller for $341,598
- 64 2018 WSOP Event 64: Matsuzuki Wins First WSOP Gold Bracelet in $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo
- 65 John Cynn Wins the 2018 WSOP Main Event for $8,800,000!
- 66 2018 WSOP Event 66: Longsheng Tan Wins $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em for $323,472
- 67 2018 WSOP Event 67: Anderson Ireland Wins $1,500 PLO Bounty for First Bracelet and $141K
- 68 2018 WSOP Event 68: Guoliang Wei Wins Fourth Chinese Bracelet in The Little One for One Drop ($559,332)
- 69 2018 WSOP Event 69: Ronald Keijzer Wins $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed for $475,033
- 70 2018 WSOP Event 70: Yaser Al-Keliddar Wins Event #70: $3K Limit Hold'em 6-Handed for $154K
- 71 2018 WSOP Event 71: Phil Hellmuth Wins 15th Career Bracelet in $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em!
- 72 2018 WSOP Event 72: Jordan Polk Wins $1,500 Mixed NLH/PLO for $197,461
- 73 2018 WSOP Event 73: Denis Timofeev Bests Leo Margets to Win the $1,000 Double Stack Turbo
- 74 2018 WSOP Event 74: Shaun Deeb Wins Second Bracelet of the Summer in $10,000 6-Max ($814,179)
- 75 2018 WSOP Event 75: Joe Cada Wins His Fourth Career Bracelet in The Closer ($612,886)
- 76 2018 WSOP Event 76: Brian Hastings Wins the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E and 4th Bracelet
- 77 2018 WSOP Event 77: Ben Yu Wins Third Bracelet in $50,000 High Roller $1,650,773
