Congratulations to Brett Shaffer, Winner of Event #53: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em ($665,397)!
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After four days of poker, Event #53: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em now has a champion with Brett Shaffer collected his first WSOP bracelet and $665,397 in prizemoney.
What started on Saturday with a mammoth 2,816 players was slowly whittled down day-by-day until we reached a final table of nine early yesterday afternoon. Expecting to crown a winner late in the day, the final table was off to a quick start as we lost Matias Ruzzi, Darren Rabinowitz, Jonathan Cohen and Diego Zeiter all in the first 23 hands. However the five-handed battle would be a tough one with nearly each of the players holding onto the chip lead at one point as Canadian Mike Watson led the five at dinner break.
Once play recommenced, it would be Shaffer's turn in taking the chip lead after he peeled with a gunshot that spiked on the river against Watson. However Shaffer would relinquish that lead to the only female to make two final tables in Loni Harwood who four-bet shoved with 
and had Shaffer tank-call with 
to find a double. Watson would then run deuces into queens before falling in 4th as the final four would be lead by Arttu Raekorpi as they went on the final break for the evening.
Unfortunately for Harwood, she wouldn't be the first female bracelet winner this year as she exited in 4th place after shoving 
into Vamplew's 
. As we entered the final level of play it would be Vamplew getting lucky to take a huge chip lead after shoving 
into Raekorpi's 
. Vamplew however would then be on the losing end of a dominated flip when Shaffer cracked his with 
before play ended for the night with Vamplew and Shaffer neck-and-neck as Raekorpi rounded out the rear.
Once play recommenced today, Raekorpi would last just four hands before falling in 3rd as Shaffer took s chip lead into heads up play that was virtually the size of the small blind. Vamplew took the lead early, but Shaffer snatched it back before extending it further and further to hold a two-to-one advantage. After 23 hands of heads up play and 201 hands at the final table, the final hand would see Vamplew snap-call Shaffer's three-bet shove with 
but be unable to hold against Shaffer's 
when he flopped top two pair to see the young Scottish player earn his second 2nd place finish of the series.
| Place | Name | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brett Shaffer | $665,397 |
| 2 | David Vamplew | $413,157 |
| 3 | Arttu Raekorpi | $291,392 |
| 4 | Loni Harwood | $210,456 |
| 5 | Mike Watson | $153,850 |
| 6 | Deigo Zeiter | $113,819 |
| 7 | Jonathan Cohen | $85,193 |
| 8 | Darren Rabinowitz | $64,513 |
| 9 | Matias Ruzzi | $49,420 |
Congratulations to Brett Shaffer on winning Event #53: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em! Shaffer displayed great patience, timing and hand-reading abilities to capture his first WSOP gold bracelet and $665,397 in prizemoney. From the PokerNews live reporting team, thanks for following along with all the Event #53 action, and make sure to catch all the updates from any of the other four events being played out today right here!