Wang Snatches Bracelet from Kenney
It's almost a given that a $5,000 event is going to produce a strong final table, and Event #2 was true to form. David "Doc" Sands, Byron Kaverman, Joe Ebanks, Amir Lehavot, Jason Wheeler, Greg Merson, and Bryn Kenney were all among the final 10 runners, but it was Michael Wang making a surprising run to the top to claim $466,120 and the first open-event bracelet of the 2015 WSOP.
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
1 | Michael Wang | $466,120 |
2 | Bryn Kenney | $287,870 |
3 | Artur Koren | $208,177 |
4 | Greg Merson | $152,126 |
5 | Jason Wheeler | $112,339 |
6 | Amir Lehavot | $83,838 |
7 | Joe Ebanks | $63,210 |
8 | Long Nguyen | $48,137 |
9 | Byron Kaverman | $37,030 |
Wang began heads-up play against Kenney at about a 7-1 deficit, but he staged an epic rally to deny the poker superstar his second bracelet.
"I can't even process it right now, it doesn't even feel real," Wang said. "Two hours ago I was the short stack and now I just won it. It's surreal."
According to the live updates, Wang first won a flip with the {5-Diamonds}{5-Clubs} against the . That gave him some breathing room with 51 big blinds against a still-monstrous 159 for Kenney. Wang grinded his way to roughly even stacks, but order seemed restored after Kenney retook command and had a lead of more than 2-1. Things can turn quickly in no-limit hold'em, though, and Wang got three streets with the nut straight, then flush-over-flushed Kenney, and it was suddenly over.
"I ran good, I'm not going to pretend that I didn't," Wang said. "I won some important races and I like to think I played well, too. But yeah, it was a tough final table, a lot of great players, so it was going to be an uphill climb to win and it's just crazy that it ended like this."