Idema brought it in, Vengrin completed, and Idema made the call. Vengrin led out on fourth street, then slowed down on fifth, check-calling a bet. The pair checked on sixth, and then Idema checked dark on seventh.
Leah completed, and Raul Paez raised. Leah made the call, then he took the lead on fourth, firing every street until seventh. There, he check-called a bet.
"Flush and an eight," Paez said, rolling over . Leah couldn't beat either, and Paez scooped.
This final table began with a wealth of well-known names in the poker world: Artie Cobb, Mike Leah, Daniel Idema, Matt Vengrin. They were joined at the unofficial final table by Linda Johnson, the First Lady of Poker. It’s easy for less famous players to get lost in that crowd, and some of them seem inclined to stay out of the spotlight.
Joseph Hertzog prefers not to draw attention to himself, but his quiet and confident presence at this final table is hard not to notice. Hertzog spent much of the final table at or near the top of the leader board, and PokerNews caught up with him at the last break to learn a little more about him.
PokerNews: You don’t play as many tournaments as some of the other players at the final table. Is there anything that brought you to this particular event?
Hertzog: No, not really. I have a friend who came out and just brought me along.
Do you consider yourself a Stud 8-or-better specialist? Or is this one of your favorite games?
No. I’m just doing well by pure luck.
How do you feel about your spot at the table right now?
I was feeling good. I felt pretty confident when I came into the final table. I just had a string of back luck the last hour and a half. Statistically speaking, if I keep myself at 500,000 to 600,000 in chips I should be alright, because there’s 2.5 million chips in play. (At the time we spoke to Hertzog, he had 347,000 chips).
Will we see any more of you at the World Series this year?
Vengrin completed, Hertzog called, and Vengrin led out on fourth and fifth street. Hertzog called both bets. Vengrin check-called a bet on sixth, then checked in the dark on seventh. Vengrin checked behind.
Idema brought it in, Paez completed, and only Leah called. Paez check-called bets on fourth and fifth street, then check-folded to a bet on sixth. While Paez was in the tank on sixth, his friends were talking in Spanish on the rail.
"Is that allowed?" Leah asked the tournament director.
The tournament director walked over to the rail to tell them not to speak Spanish towards the table when the players were in the hand. This made one railbird a bit unhappy.
"I can predict the future!" he yelled at Leah in a sarcastic tone.
Matt Vengrin completed, Tony Gill called, and Fei Chu raised from the bring-in. Vengrin reraised, and Gill ducked out of the way. Vengrin check-called fourth after Chu picked up an additional low and a second club. He then raised Chu's fifth-street bet, and Chu reraised all in.
Vengrin called, turning over . Chu had for for a low draw.
"Give him a king," Vengrin said, and the dealer shipped a ten. "That works," Vengrin continued, as he improved to aces up. Chu caught a for his last card, and Vengrin's aces up had held.
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
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, scooping the pot.
. Leah couldn't beat either, and Paez scooped.
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.
for for a low draw.
for his last card, and Vengrin's aces up had held.