2018 WSOP Event 17: Ognyan Dimov Wins Third Bracelet for Bulgaria in Event #17 ($378,743)
The 2018 World Series of Poker has crowned yet another bracelet winner at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino and it was Ognyan Dimov that took home the lion's share of the $2,245,050 prize pool and coveted gold bracelet in Event #17: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed.
Four former bracelet winners returned to the final table on the ESPN feature stage, but it was 2015 EPT Deauville Main Event champion Dimov that faced Antonio Barbato in an all-European heads-up. Both were supported by a boisterous rail and the Bulgarians ended up celebrating the third WSOP bracelet for their country, as Dimov followed in the footsteps of Nick Jivkov and Simeon Naydenov to claim his maiden bracelet and $378,743 for his efforts.
“I read up on all of the players. Of course, you don't expect to face bad players on the final table, that's what you expect, bracelet winners and big names in poker. I am not afraid of that," the Bulgarian said when asked about the stacked final table line-up.
"We are on the other side of the world and we are going to be a tight group and cheering for each other."
Dimov was all smiles in the interview after his victory. “I tried to stay calm and felt good playing. Obviously, everyone saw that I ran pretty amazing, but you have to run like this to win a tournament. I can't complain.”
Four-handed, Dimov pulled into a commanding lead after hero-calling against Ryan D'Angelo before sending all his remaining opponents to the rail.
“I got hands in the right moments and made one sick hero call when we were four-handed, which was like 15 minutes ago.”
When asked about the clash with Nick Schulman shortly after, Dimov added the following.
“Well, it was pretty standard, I got lucky again.”
While Dimov has just won his first bracelet, the Bulgarian already has an EPT title to his name. “I love it here, I came here (Las Vegas) two years ago for the first time and also last year and this year, and I hope to come back to play. I come here to win bracelets and I am really happy that it came true.”
Dimov also confirmed that he will be playing the rest of the WSOP this summer and had a few remarks in jest for his Bulgarian rail, which ended up in a winner shot with two dozen countrymen.
“Well, that I am a really nice and good guy, everybody loves me. ... No, I am kidding, it is because they are really bad at poker and busted the Millionaire Maker (laughs). We are on the other side of the world and we are going to be a tight group and cheering for each other. Whoever was on the final table, the same people would appear and I really appreciate their help."
Before the event, his heads-up opponent Barbato had just shy of $38,000 in cashes on the live poker circuit and took home $233,992 for his efforts. Nick Schulman ended up third with fellow bracelet winners Ryan D'Angelo, Joey Weissman and Yue Du below him in the payouts.
Official Final Table Payouts in Event #17: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ognyan Dimov | Bulgaria | $378,743 |
| 2 | Antonio Barbato | Italy | $233,992 |
| 3 | Nick Schulman | United States | $163,785 |
| 4 | Ryan D'Angelo | United States | $116,118 |
| 5 | Joey Weissman | United States | $83,396 |
| 6 | Yue Du | China | $60,686 |
Event Details
The tournament created a field of 1,663 entries and 264 hopefuls bagged up after Day 1 with Bart Lybaert in the lead and the money bubble looming, as just the top 250 spots were paid. It took only 20 minutes on Day 2 to ensure a min-cash of $2,249, and from there on out, the eliminations kept coming at an electric pace and just 27 players bagged up.
Among those to bust in the money on Day 2 were such big names as Chance Kornuth (184th, $2,342), Barry Greenstein (155th, $2,453), defending champion Anthony Marquez (120th, $2,835), Jeff Madsen (78th, $3,984), 2014 WSOP Main Event champion Martin Jacobson (64th, $4,608), and Adrian Mateos (61st, $4,608).
The WSOP bracelet winners Adrian Buckley and Tristan Wade were among the first to depart on Day 3 and they were soon joined on the rail by Pierre Calamusa (13th, $19,469) and Hon Cheong Lee (12th, $25,342). After four casualties in half an hour including Day 1 chip leader Bart Lybaert (8th, $44,750), Day 3 came to an early end after just over six levels of play and the remaining six hopefuls including four WSOP bracelet winners and an EPT champion returned for an extra day to determine the champion.
Action on the Final Day
In the very first hand of the day, Yue Du defended his big blind against a button raise by Nick Schulman and check-shoved a jack-high turn with ace-deuce suited for the nut flush draw. Schulman called with king-jack for top pair and the river paired the board to eliminate Du in sixth place.
Start-of-day chip leader Joey Weissman had a rough first few levels and dropped to the bottom of the counts before he doubled through Schulman to get back into contention. Antonio Barbato doubled through Ognyan Dimov and Weissman sent over a big portion of his stack to Ryan D'Angelo before he hero-called a jam by Dimov on the river of a king-high board. Weissman was shown ten-four suited for a flush and his pocket queens ended up second-best to reduce the field to the final four with Dimov and D'Angelo at the top of the counts.
A failed bluff by D'Angelo vaulted Dimov into a commanding lead and he never looked back, sending all three remaining opponents to the rail in quick succession. In back-to-back hands, he claimed the stacks of D'Angelo and Schulman to enter heads-up with a 9-1 lead. D'Angelo lost a flip with pocket nines against king-jack, while Schulman's ace-ten was ahead of ace-eight until the river brought an eight to let the Bulgarian rail erupt in celebration.
The heads-up duel with Barbato lasted all but 16 hands and the Italian ended up moving all in for his last seven big blinds with ace-nine and Dimov called with king-six. A six on the flop and a king on the river sealed Barbato's fate and he couldn't pull off the miracle comeback.
That brings an end to the PokerNews live reporting for this event, but several other WSOP tournaments are still underway to determine more champions in Las Vegas.
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
