Nathan Gamble Wins Event #46: Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo for $223,339
In one of the most dominant final table performances of the year, Nathan Gamble took down Event #46: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hi-Lo 8 or Better for $223,339.
"This bracelet's going to my dad," said an emotional Gamble after his victory. "My dad puts together tournaments, just home-game tournaments, and he's always supported me. Honestly, he doesn't have a chance of getting one, so this one goes to him!
"It means the world to me."
Gamble took a monster chip lead into four- and three-handed play and took down the heads-up battle in a single hand to secure his first WSOP gold bracelet.
Twenty-one players returned for the final day of the proceedings in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, and they were led by Millard Hale. Among the early bustouts were Christopher O’Rourke and Bernardo Dias, and the field lost two of its highest-profile names shortly before the final table.
First, Barry Greenstein was eliminated after a pot involving him and Fernando Macia. He was left short and lost his remaining chips to exit in 14th place ($9,513).
Joining him on the rail just short of a place at the final table was fellow bracelet winner Barny Boatman. After chipping up steadily, Boatman got his stack in three ways and saw his remaining chips chopped up after failing to make a winning high or low. He finished in 12th place ($12,034).
Once the final table was set with Jason Riesenberg’s 10th-place finish ($12,034), Wendy Weissman was the first casualty in ninth place ($15,470). Then followed a quiet period, with the eight remaining players trading chips back and forth, none of them able to make a considerable enough dent in the others’ stacks.
However, Gamble began to forge his chip lead. He made a nut flush against overnight chip leader Millard Hale to bust his opponent in eighth ($20,205), and then watched as Day 1 chip leader Fernando Macia was eliminated by Ray Henson in seventh ($26,803).
By that point, Gamble had around a third of the chips in play, and watched as the likes of Henson and Adam Hendrix tried to catch up to him. Hendrix’s cause was helped by the elimination of Miguel Use in sixth ($36,106), but Gamble pressed his chip lead again when he knocked out Marco Johnson in fifth place ($49,379). The result was Johnson’s second-consecutive deep run in this event, following his third-place finish in this event last year.
Gamble chipped up twice through Michael Gross before busting him by making quads, with Gross leaving in third place ($68,544).
On the first hand of heads-up play against Hendrix, after checking in the big blind, Gamble remarked, "Let's get this done in one hand." And it was.
| Position | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nathan Gamble | United States | $223,339 |
| 2 | Adam Hendrix | United States | $137,992 |
| 3 | Ray Henson | United States | $96,555 |
| 4 | Michael Gross | United States | $68,544 |
| 5 | Marco Johnson | United States | $49,379 |
| 6 | Miguel Use | Belgium | $36,106 |
| 7 | Fernando Macia | United States | $26,803 |
| 8 | Millard Hale | United States | $20,205 |
| 9 | Wendy Weissman | United States | $15,470 |
Speaking after his victory, Gamble said that his deep run in the 2016 Main Event, where he finished 176th for $42,285, helped him to victory.
"I made it to Day 5 [in the Main Event] where they put me on the secondary feature table. That got my nerves. I had Greg Raymer on my left, and having that exposure and having that time in a game I'm extremely comfortable with really helped a lot."
Gamble put in a dominant run of form to see off a tough final table which included last year's third-place finisher Marco Johnson.
"I absolutely ran good," Gamble said. "Coming into day, I had 250,000, which was good enough for 17th place out of 21. I just destroyed the first table, because I felt I was playing better than them. I hit a one-outer to get us to two tables. Ever since then, it's been like everything I needed came true."