Brandon Adams Defeats Doug Polk to Win Poker Masters Event #4 for $819,000
The Poker Masters Event #4: $50,000 NLHE at the ARIA Resort and Casino began with 39 entries, but in the end, it was old-school player Brandon Adams who emerged victorious to capture an $819,000 first-place prize.
Along with Doug Polk, Adams was the only player to enter the final table with a seven-figure stack. Fittingly, the title came down to those two. Polk began the heads-up match with a chip lead, but that didn’t matter as Adams battled back to win the title and notch the biggest cash of his career.
Prior to the win, Adams had $1,900,596 in tournament earnings dating back to 2005. His previous best cash was $447,363 for finishing runner-up to James Chen in January’s Aussie Millions $25,000 Challenge.
It’s been a career year for Adams, who also finished third in August’s Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open High Roller for $351,000. Adams is an old-school player, but it appears he’s just now hitting his stride and showing he’s fit for the modern-day game.
Event #4: $50,000 NLHE Final Results
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Brandon Adams | USA | $819,000 |
| 2nd | Doug Polk | USA | $468,000 |
| 3rd | David Peters | USA | $273,000 |
| 4th | Justin Bonomo | USA | $175,500 |
| 5th | Steffen Sontheimer | Germany | $117,000 |
| 6th | Jake Schindler | USA | $97,500 |
Day 2 began with seven players remaining, but with only six slated to get paid, one would leave empty handed as bubble boy. That player was Zach Clark, the nephew of the late Poker Hall of Famer Chip Reese, who fell when he shoved his short stack with king-six and failed to get there against the ace-three of Polk.
Mere minutes later, Jake Schindler flopped aces and sevens only to run into David Peters’ set of aces. The chips went in and that was all she wrote for Schindler, who exited in sixth place for $97,500.
The next player to go was the breakout star of the Poker Masters, Steffen Sontheimer, who was at his third final table. Sontheimer finished fourth in Event #1 for $204,000 and then won Event #2 for $900,000. In Event #3, he busted in eighth place, which was the money bubble.
After his ace-five failed to overcome the pocket fives of Adams, he busted Event #4 in fifth place for $117,000, which brought his Poker Masters winnings up to $1,221,000. That puts him in the lead, but he faces some stiff competition from the likes of Event #3 champ Bryn Kenney, who has amassed $1.085 million in earnings, and Event #1 winner Nick Schulman, who currently sits in third with $918,000 in winnings. Likewise, Adams is now in fourth place thanks to his $819,000 win.
Don’t forget, the player with the best results (highest total earnings) throughout all five Poker Masters tournaments (four $50,000 buy-in tournaments capped by a $100,000 freeze out finale) will win The Poker Masters Purple Jacket™.
Justin Bonomo was the next to go after three-betting all in with ace-three suited and failing to crack the pocket sevens of Adams. Bonomo earned $175,000 for finishing in fourth place. A little while later, a wild three-way all-in hand went down that resulted in the elimination of David Peters in third place for $273,000.
Peters got his stack in with pocket eights but was up against the aces and Big Slick of Polk and Adams respectively. Polk was also at risk, but his aces held up to allow him to double through Adams and send Peters to the rail.
It didn’t take long for Adams to pull ahead in heads-up play, and in what would be the final hand of the tournament, both players held two diamonds in their hand and flopped straight flush draws. The chips went in, and Adams’ hand was best. A diamond on the turn gave both players a flush, and Adams claimed the title with the better one.
Polk had to settle for second place and a $468,000 consolation prize. With $612,000 in Poker Masters earnings, Polk rounds out the top five earners headed into the final tournament of the series.
The $100,000 freeze-out finale kicks off tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. PST. Be sure to join us then as we bring you all the updates straight from the tournament floor.