Congratulations to Andy Frankenberger, Winner of Event #28: $1,500 No Limit Hold'em ($599,153)!
![[user196676]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
A mere three days ago 2,500 people decided to test their skill and their luck against a massive field for a shot at a gold WSOP bracelet and $599,153 in first place prize money. Now after 2,499 eliminations, just one man stands. Andy Frankenberger was able to defeat Joshua Evans heads up and grab WSOP glory.
When play began three days ago, the Pavilion at Rio-All-Suites Hotel and Casino was jam packed with players looking to take their shot at a WSOP event. With $1,500 being one of the lowest buy-in tournaments, the field had a breadth of players ranging from amateurs to professionals. Day one saw many casualties of notable professionals including Freddy Deeb, Liv Boeree, Joe Sebok, Phil Laak, and PokerNews’ own Rich Ryan. That being said, 349 players were able to overcome the large field and progress on to the second day of the event. Players such as Rick Romine and Roberto Wantanbe were able to turn their starting stacks of 4,500 chips into massive castles of chips that towered over the competition, totaling over 150,000 each.
When play began on day two, the casualties came fast and brutal. Players were constantly heard complaining of aces over kings and similar coolers. We even documented a preflop all in of red aces versus black aces versus kings. Several notable players including Matt Affleck, Vanessa Selbst, Sumanth Reddy, Michael Katz, and our day one chip leader Rick Romine were sent to the rail, victims of the vicious day two play. In the end, 28 players were able to survive ten more hectic levels of play and charge on through their quest to earn a gold bracelet.
Day three kicked off almost as fast as day two ended, with a flurry of eliminations within the first fifteen minutes of play. After two hours of play, we were down to our final nine contenders. Steven Merrifield led way with Andy Frankenberger and Joshua Evans rounding out the top three. Eliminations continued to come fast throughout the day as one by one, players were sent on the long walk away from the ESPN Main Stage and toward the rail.
Eventually Andy Frankenberger and Joshua Evans found each other heads up. Frankenberger began heads up play with a severe chip disadvantage but was able to catch a huge double up when his 
beat Evans’ 
. From that point on Frankenberger continued to play small ball until he was able to get it all in with top two pair against Evan’s top pair.
Frankenberger won the World Poker Tour Player of the Year title for 2010 and now has made 2011 a worthwhile year as well, adding a gold WSOP bracelet and $599,153 to his collection of tournament accolades. PokerNews extends congratulations to Frankenberger on his huge achievement!
Thanks for following our coverage of this event and stay tuned to PokerNews throughout the rest of the World Series of Poker for the most up to date coverage!