David “ODB” Baker Steamrolls $1,500 Limit Hold’em to Capture 2nd WSOP Gold Bracelet
Table Of Contents
The 2019 World Series of Poker Event #66: $1,500 Limit Hold'em attracted 541 players, and after finishing as chip leader on both Days 2 and 3, well-respected poker pro David “ODB” Baker closed it out at the final table of six without relinquishing that lead.
Baker, who back in March won the WPT L.A. Poker Classic for just over $1 million, took down the top prize of $161,139 and perhaps, more importantly, his second WSOP gold bracelet. His first came back in 2012 when he won Event #37: $2,500 8-Game Mix for $271,312.
“It was a huge burden,” Baker said of the seven years between bracelets. “All my friends had more bracelets than me, so I’ve been really wanting to get No. 2 for a long time and finally did. I’m thrilled. I think it’s pretty obvious I wear my heart on my sleeve when it comes to the WSOP and what it means to me.”
"I wear my heart on my sleeve when it comes to the WSOP and what it means to me."
In addition to the six-figure score, Baker secured even more as he closed out several bracelet bets.
“I have six or seven bracelet bets, a few for more than others, so just to bring those home [was nice]. I live for the pressure and I wanted it,” he explained. “Now that I have those taken care of and I know I can’t lose no matter what happens to all these other players out there that I have bets against, that’s a relief. I’m freerolling those. Maybe I can get another and punish them a little more.”
Baker held a big lead coming into the final table and came in with a game plan.
“My hope was to keep people around. No disrespect to any of my opponents, but Brian [Kim] was the one person I was worried the most about coming in. I’ve played with him a lot. He’s got very good hold’em skills, he had a really good rail, and he was my focus … I just wanted to chip up and have them grind down.”
To give you an idea of just how smooth things were for Baker, his biggest road bump was a four-hand downswing.
“I had one little stretch where I lost like four hands in a row, but luckily, I had such a big chip lead that it didn’t really affect me and I was able to rebound pretty quickly,” he offered.
Baker took some time to shoot winner photos and speak with the media, but he wasn’t going to rest on his limit hold’em laurels long.
“Next up is the $10K limit hold’em that started a couple of hours ago. I’m going to grab a bite to eat and come back and register … we’ll get back to building more towers.”
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | County | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David “ODB” Baker | United States | $161,139 |
| 2 | Brian Kim | United States | $99,564 |
| 3 | Dominzo Love | United States | $68,353 |
| 4 | Ruiko Mamiya | Japan | $47,747 |
| 5 | Chris Ferguson | United States | $33,948 |
| 6 | Chicong Nguyen | United States | $24,574 |
| 7 | Kenneth Donoghue | United States | $18,118 |
| 8 | Danny Woolard | United States | $13,609 |
| 9 | Greg Mueller | Canada | $10,418 |
Final Table action
The final table actually began on Monday night and play was halted after a trio of eliminations. Three-time bracelet winner Greg Mueller exited in ninth place ($10,418), while Danny Woolard hit the rail in eighth place ($13,609). The elimination of Kenneth Donoghue in seventh place ($18,118) brought an end to Day 3 with the final six players slated to return at Noon on Tuesday.
Chicong Nguyen came into the day with just six big blinds so it was no surprise to see him fall early. It happened after the blinds took a bite out of his stack and then he raised the cutoff with king-seven. Brian Kim was in the big with ace-six, some raises ensued, and the chips went in on the turn with Kim in front with a pair of sixes. The river was a brick and Nguyen bowed out early for $24,574.
The other short stack, 2017 WSOP Player of the Year Chris Ferguson, was the next to go after losing ace-three to Baker’s pocket nines all in preflop. It marked Ferguson’s 15th cash of the 2019 WSOP and third final table appearance – all three of which came in a one-week span.
Japan’s Ruiko Mamiya grew short during four-handed play and got the last of her chips in holding an open-ended straight draw against Kim’s top pair. Mamiya failed to get there and had to settle for fourth place and $47,747 in prize money.
Baker maintained his lead during three-handed play while Kim and Dominzo Love did their best to hold on. Eventually, the latter slid and busted in third place to set up a heads-up match with Baker holding a nearly 3:1 chip lead over Kim.
Baker whittled away at Kim before the final hand developed. Kim flopped top pair of nines with an ace kicker only to find himself behind Baker’s two red jacks. A diamond on the turn gave Kim a flush draw, but he missed when the river bricked. Kim took home $99,564 for his runner-up finish.
Baker intends to put in a full-time grind for the last two weeks of the summer, but now that he’s won both WPT and WSOP titles in a single year he’s let his mind wander overseas.
“I might give the EPT a shot,” he said. “I don’t know if anyone has ever won the Triple Crown in one year. Obviously, I’d be a huge dog to do that, those fields are tough, but I might give the EPT a shot and see if I can do it. I think it’d be an awesome feather in my cap.”
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In this Series
- 1 Aria Dealer Nicholas Haynes Wins WSOP $500 Casino Employees Event
- 2 Brian Green Cracks Kings, Beats Imsirovic, Wins First WSOP Bracelet
- 3 Derek McMaster Wins 2019 WSOP Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better for $228,228
- 4 Yong 'LuckySpewy1' Kwon Wins WSOP Online Bracelet, Hellmuth Fifth for First Summer Cash
- 5 Dan Zack Claims First Bracelet After Fantastic Comeback in WSOP $2,500 Limit Mixed Triple Draw
- 6 Ben Heath Wins His First Bracelet - Conquers WSOP $50,000 High Roller for $1.48 Million
- 7 Yuval Bronshtein Wins First Bracelet After 10 WSOP Final Table Apperances
- 8 Daniel Strelitz Claims First WSOP Bracelet and $442,385 in Event #11: $5,000 NLHE
- 9 Scott Clements Wins Event #10: $1,500 Dealers Choice ($144,957)
- 10 Jeremy Pekarek Wins Event #9: $600 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack for First Gold Bracelet
- 11 Daniel Park Wins Event #12: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em Super Turbo Bounty for $226,243
- 12 Alex Epstein Wins Event #8: $10,000 Short Deck for $296,277
- 13 Femi Fashakin Wins Largest-Ever Poker Tournament; BIG 50 Triumph Earns Him $1,147,449
- 14 Isaac Baron Captures Long-Awaited WSOP Bracelet in Event #16: $1,500 NLH 6-Handed
- 15 Backed by Insane Rail, Murilo Souza Wins $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. ($207,003)
- 16 Sean Swingruber Defeats Ben Yu, Wins First WSOP Bracelet in $10,000 Heads-Up
- 17 Brett Apter Wins First Bracelet in Event #17: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout
- 18 Frankie O'Dell Wins His Third WSOP Omaha Hi-Lo in $10K Championship Event
- 19 Galfond, Bleznick, Zamani Fall Short as Josh "loofa" Pollock Wins Second Bracelet in $600 Online PLO Event
- 20 Eli Elezra Wins Fourth WSOP Bracelet and $93,766 in Event #20: $1,500 Seven Card Stud
- 21 Expecting Father Jorden Fox Conquers Event #22: $1,000 Double Stack to Win $420,693
- 22 Former Main Event Champ Jim Bechtel Wins $10K 2-7 Single-Draw for $253,817
- 23 Rami Boukai Wins 2019 WSOP Event #23: $1,500 8-Game Mix for $177,294
- 24 John Gorsuch Rebounds from 2 Bigs to Win 2019 WSOP Millionaire Maker for $1,344,930
- 25 Andrew Donabedian Turns $600 Into $205,605 Payday at 2019 WSOP
- 26 Michael Mizrachi Wins His Fifth Bracelet!
- 27 Stephen Song Battles To Capture First Bracelet and $341,854 in Event #28: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em
- 28 "Silent Assassin" Thomas Cazayous Wins the WSOP $3K Six-Max for $414,766
- 29 Greg Mueller Wins His Third Bracelet, Takes Down WSOP $10,000 H.O.R.S.E.
- 30 Luis Zedan Wins 2019 WSOP Event #30: $1K PLO for $236,673; Will Donate 35% to Charity
- 31 Roman Korenev Wins 2019 WSOP Event #26 for $477,401 After "Marathon" Battle
- 32 Australian Robert Campbell Wins Maiden WSOP Bracelet in $1,500 Limit 2-7
- 33 Upeshka "gomezhamburg" De Silva Wins His Third Bracelet in WSOP Online Event
- 34 Howard Mash Wins First Bracelet and $662,594 in WSOP Seniors Championship
- 35 Adam Friedman Goes Back-to-Back in WSOP $10,000 Dealer's Choice Championship
- 36 David Lambard Claims First WSOP Bracelet in Event #36: $3,000 NLH Shootout
- 37 Salt Lake's Robert Mitchell Wins Event #37: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack ($297,537)
- 38 Joseph Cheong Breaks Through, Wins $1K Double Stack for $687,782
- 39 Ismael Bojang Wins WSOP Gold Bracelet and $298,507 in 10th 2019 WSOP Cash
- 40 Hennigan Wins Sixth Bracelet in $10,000 Seven Card Stud, Negreanu Second
- 41 Dan 'centrfieldr' Lupo Wins $500 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack for $145,274
- 42 Aristeidis Moschonas Turns Chip-and-a-Chair into Event #42: $600 Mixed NLH/PLO Deepstack Win
- 43 Michael Blake Wins Event #39: $1,000 Super Seniors No-Limit Hold'em, Shulman Second
- 44 Loren Klein Wins 4th Bracelet in 4 Years; Claims $127,808 in Event #43: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet
- 45 Asi Moshe Captures Third WSOP Bracelet in $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Bounty
- 46 Stephen Chidwick Captures First WSOP Bracelet in Event #45: $25K PLO High Roller for $1,618,417
- 47 Ari Engel Wins His First WSOP Bracelet and $427,399 in Event #48: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em
- 48 Luke Schwartz Latest To Win First Bracelet, Triumphs in $10K 2-7 Championship
- 49 South Korea's Jiyoung Kim Wins 2019 WSOP Ladies Championship for $167,308
- 50 Jason "TheBigGift" Gooch Does It; Wins $1,000 WSOP.com Online Event!
- 51 Brazil's Yuri Martins Dzivielevski Captures First Bracelet and $213,750!
- 52 WCOOP Winner Jonas Lauck Secures First WSOP Bracelet and $260,335 in $1,500 Turbo Bounty
- 53 Santiago Soriano Wins $371,203 and First Bracelet in the WSOP $800 Deepstack
- 54 Dash Dudley Wins Event #52: $10,000 PLO Championship ($1,086,967)
- 55 Kevin Gerhart Dominates $1,500 Razz Final Table to Win First WSOP Bracelet and $119,054
- 56 Another Day, Another Millionaire; Kainalu McCue-Unciano Wins the WSOP Monster Stack
- 57 Israel's Team Geiger Wins WSOP $1,000 Tag Team Event
- 58 Joe Foresman Wins 2019 WSOP $600 Deepstack Championship for Nearly $400K
- 59 Anthony Zinno Wins 2019 WSOP $1,500 PLO Hi-Lo for 2nd Career Bracelet; Aims for POY
- 60 Phil Hui's Dream Comes True as He Conquers $50K Poker Players Championship for $1,099,311
- 61 Scott Seiver Wins $10,000 Razz Championship for Third WSOP Bracelet
- 62 Anatolii Zyrin Denies Yueqi Zhu Title Defense to Win WSOP $1,500 Omaha Mix Title
- 63 Sejin Park Claims First-Ever Open Event Bracelet for South Korea; Wins 2019 WSOP Colossus for $451,272
- 64 Nicholas "Illari" Baris Wins $303,739 in Massive WSOP.com ONLINE Championship
- 65 Nick Schulman Wins Third Bracelet in Event #65: $10,000 PLO8 or Better Championship
- 66 David “ODB” Baker Steamrolls $1,500 Limit Hold’em to Capture 2nd WSOP Gold Bracelet
- 67 Robert Campbell Wins His Second Bracelet of the Summer in $10K Stud Hi-Lo, Grabs POY Lead
- 68 French Pro Jeremy Saderne Wins 2019 WSOP Mini Main Event ($628,654)
- 69 From Working at In-N-Out Burger to Crushing Poker; Rick Alvarado Triumphs in WSOP Crazy Eights for $888,888
- 70 Brandon "DrOctagon" Adams Wins WSOP.com ONLINE High Roller for $411,560
- 71 High Roller Joao Vieira Wins First Bracelet and $758,011 in $5,000 6-Max
- 72 Juha Helppi Finally Does It: Finnish Poker Hero Claims First Bracelet in $10K Limit!
- 73 Susan Faber Wins First Bracelet in Event #71: $500 Salute to Warriors No-Limit Hold'em
- 74 Shawn "bucky21" Buchanan Wins His First Bracelets, Takes Down $800 WSOP.com ONLINE 6-Max ($223,119)
- 75 Danny Tang Wins $50,000 Final Fifty for $1,608,406: "I Want to go Down in the History Books"
- 76 Tu Dao Wins WSOP $3,000 Limit Hold'em 6-Max for $133,189
- 77 James Anderson Wins 2019 WSOP Little One for One Drop for $690,686
- 78 Denmark's Maximilian Klostermeier Wins First Bracelet in Event #78: $1,500 PLO Bounty
- 79 Shankar Pillai Takes Down 2019 WSOP $1,500 Bracelet Winners Only Event
- 80 Ivan Deyra's Dream Comes True; Wins Event #79: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em ($380,090)
- 81 Boyhood Dream Achieved: Jerry Odeen Wins WSOP Bracelet for $304,793
- 82 Keith Tilston Wins 2019 WSOP $100K High Roller; Negreanu Finishes as Runner-Up
- 83 Tom Koral Wins Second Bracelet in Event #82: $1,500 NLH Double Stack ($530,164)
- 84 Taylor "Galactar" Paur Wins his Second Bracelet in $500 WSOP.com ONLINE Summer Saver
- 85 Abhinav Iyer Takes Down The Closer to Win His First Bracelet and $565,346
- 86 Alan Sternberg Wins $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed for First WSOP Bracelet
- 87 Carl Shaw Defeats Tony Dunst to Claim First Bracelet & $606,562, Hellmuth Sixth
- 88 Anuj Agarwal Wins $10K 6-Max on Last Day of 2019 WSOP ($630,747)
- 89 Denis Strebkov Wins His First Bracelet and $206,173 Top-Prize in $3k H.O.R.S.E.
- 90 Hossein Ensan Wins the 2019 World Series of Poker Main Event for $10,000,000
