Macho Man Dan declared that he had topped the $50,000 Poker Players Championship before the final day's action.
But, Dan "Jungleman" Cates kept his word as he won $1,449,103 and his second World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet in the tournament after beating Yuri Dzivielevski in a heads-up battle.
The Final Table's Results
- Dan Cates from the U.S. – $1,449,103
- Yuri Dzivielevski from Brazil – $895,614
- Naoya Kihara from Japan – $639,257
- Benny Glaser from the United Kingdom – $464,420
- Johannes Becker from Germany – $343,531
- Koray Aldemir from Germany – $258,812
Day 5's Action
Five players played on the championship's final day at the Bally's Event Centre. PokerGO streamed the action as Benny Glaser surpassed Dan Cates as the chip leader. He was determined to get his fifth WSOP bracelet as Johannes Becker was in an opposite direction.
Becker put his remaining stack in the middle in a No-Limit Hold'em against Glaser's ace-queen with an ace-ten but got eliminated in the fifth position. Cates got a brief chip lead as Glaser reclaimed it.
Even so, Cates began creating a significant chip gap in Limit Hold'em. He increased it after outgrowing Glaser in a No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw hand. The latter had a ten as Cates made an eight after drawing one.
This prompted Glaser to call off half of his remaining stack and drop to the bottom of the chips standings. He left the table in the same Single Draw round in the fourth position with $464,420.
A pat hands battle ensued between Glaser and Naoya Kihara. The latter patted an eight as the former wasn't able to break a nine. A considerable gap existed between Cates and his two opponents as it persisted for a long time.
Kihara was the first to blink after missing a straight draw and check-raising the river, but Cates' trip jacks picked him off. Kihara's three doubles followed in Stud Hi-Lo, 2-7 Single Draw, and Limit Hold'em.
Unfortunately, Dzivielevski eliminated him in a 2-7 Triple Draw. Still, the former had a 3:1 chip disadvantage as he got in a heads-up battle.
Dzivielevski got an early wheel in 2-7 Triple Draw as Cates bluffed in No-Limit Hold'em, almost drawing the chip counts. Yet, Cates won the Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) hands series, thus putting Dzivielevski's run at risk.
The latter avoided even, flush, and straight backdoor quad and extended the battle in the last PLO hand.
Cates had more momentum, and a Limit Hold'em straight flush helped him maintain a 2:1 stack lead. Dzivielevski got an opportunity to turn things as he seemed to get Cates where he wanted the player to be. But, the latter is most dangerous in such a scenario as the steady limits and blinds increase enabled him to turn tables and be a few inches from winning the tournament.
Both players traded pots and the stack lead several times. Cates got a double when he made his first call in a few hours since Dzivielevski almost ended his run.
The limits started overwhelming them as Dzivielevski had a short stack after a 2-7 Triple Draw hand. Cates won the event a few minutes to 6 a.m. despite Dzivielevski getting a few No-Limit Hold'em doubles.
