Mark “ratrivers” Herm Wins First-Ever WSOP Gold Bracelet Awarded in Pennsylvania ($48,420)
On Monday, the first-ever World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet was awarded in the state of Pennsylvania with the conclusion of Event #1: $500 NLH Keystone Kickoff. Over the course of three starting flights, 425 players rebought 75 times to create a 500-entry field and a $225,000 prize pool.
Day 2 saw 148 players return to action, and when the dust settled start-of-the-day chip leader and Philly native Mark "ratrivers" Herm emerged victorious to claim a $48,420 top prize and the first-ever WSOP Gold Bracelet awarded in Pennsylvania. Herm, an accomplished pro with over $1.7 million in live tournament earnings as reported by Hendon Mob, had come tantalizingly close to WSOP gold on three separate occasions, including a runner-up performance in the 2020 GGPoker.com WSOP Online Bracelet Series Event #66: $800 Pot Limit Omaha. Herm made his fourth WSOP final table appearance count, and now has his first gold bracelet to show for it.
Event #1: $500 NLH Keystone Kickoff Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark "ratrivers" Herm | $48,420 |
| 2 | Meredith "NovaRiver" Minger | $29,993 |
| 3 | Doni "AceOnaJetski" Ocena | $20,655 |
| 4 | Brad "SBbarnz" Barna | $14,468 |
| 5 | Dan "LavaCake" Ott | $10,305 |
| 6 | Jeremy "NawtyShawty" Sissman | $7,470 |
| 7 | Taylor “dripbaeless” Williams | $5,513 |
| 8 | Bundhit "MonkeyBLuffy" Intachai | $4,140 |
| 9 | Andrew "Slap_Nuts" Kappes | $3,173 |
Among those to cash were Day 1c chip leader Anthony "McEye" Mcie (12th - $2,475), Travis “UnitedWeZag” Herzing (14th - $1,958), Day 1a chip leader Benjamin "ItMyTime4421" Kaupp (19th - $1,328), Angela "TheCanManCan" Yanosky (22nd - $1,328), Richard "EatMushrooms" Ali (25th - $1,328), and Michael "SQU0ZE" Duffy (27th - $1,328).
Final Table Action
It didn’t take long for the first final table casualty as Andrew “Slap_Nuts” Kappes lost a race with two black sixes to the Big Slick of former WSOP Main Event runner-up Dan “LavaCake” Ott. Not long after, Bundhit “MonkeyBLuffy” Intachai three-bet jammed holding ace-jack but failed to hold against the ace-four of Doni “AceOnaJetski” Ocena, who had raised from the button.
Taylor “dripbaeless” Williams then got unlucky when her pocket queens were cracked by the ace-seven of Brad “SBbarnz” Barna when an ace spiked on the turn. Barna then woke up with pocket aces to bust Jeremy “NawtyShawty” Sissman, who got it all in preflop with ace-king.
Ott then proceeded to run ace-jack smack dab into the ace-king of Mark “ratrivers” Herm to fall in fifth place, and Barna followed him out the door in fourth by losing ace-six to Herm's ace-jack.
Meredith "NovaRiver" Minger used an ace-king of her own to dispatch Ocena, who failed to get lucky with jack-ten suited. Minger began heads-up play down 2:1 to Herm, and it didn’t take long for the final hand to take place.
On a jack-high board, Minger called off with second pair and was looking to hold against both straight and flush draws of Herm. The former draw came in on the river and Minger had to settle for second place, while Herm claimed the first-ever WSOP gold bracelet awarded in Pennsylvania.
PokerNews will be on hand for the remainder of the WSOP Pennsylvania providing chip counts, payout information, and live coverage as bracelets are awarded this week in the Keystone State!