2883 players took to the felt in No Limit Holdem Event #54, each putting up $1,000 creating a massive $2,594,700 prize pool. Three days later the final table was set and Barry Hutter was well in the lead with 2,408,000 chips, over a million chips ahead of Philippe Clerc in second place.

Final table

Barry Hutter 2,408,000
Philippe Clerc 1,349,000
Jason Bigelow 1,209,000
Kenneth Gregersen 938,000
Michael Zucchet 868,000
Jacob Bazeley 673,000
Matthias Bednarek 567,000
Joseph Wertz 426,000
Dana Castaneda 221,000

The start of the final table was somewhat slow with not much happing during the first several orbits, but someone had to go sooner or later and hand #40 saw the first elimination. Chip leader Barry Hutter and Kenneth Gregersen got it in preflop with Hutter holding K Q and Gregersen holding J J . The A A 4 flop brought Hutter a flush draw and another 4 on the turn gave him some more outs to a chop and a river K gave him the win in the hand. With that Gregersen was eliminated in 9th place for $33,731.

Just two hands later a double elimination took place. In this bizarre hand action started off with Joseph Wertz shoving all in from under the gun for 310,000 chips. He got called by Hutter right behind him and a few positions later Jacob Bazeley also shoved for 410,000. Action folded to Jason Bigelow in the small blind who also shoved all in for 1,090,000. Hutter folded his hand and Bigelow was way ahead of the competition with A A . Joseph revealed J 9 and Bazeley showed A Q . The board ran out 4 7 J 6 4 and Bigelow’s aces held up for a big double up. Joseph Wertz was eliminated in 8th place for $44,032 and Jacob Bazeley finished in 7th place for $58,147.

Just 10 hands later the former chip leader Barry Hutter found himself hitting the rail when he went up against former short stack Dana Castaneda. Dana opened the action to 100,000 and was re-raised by Hutter to 300,000. Dana called and players saw a T 4 4 flop. Dana led for 400,000 and Hutter showed for his last 1,205,000. After a long tank Dana called with 3 3 and was ahead of Hutter’s A K . The river gave Dana a full house, sending Hutter to the rail in 6th place with $77,685.

Just 3 hands later another one of the former chip leaders hit the rail and this time it was Philippe Clerc. Clerc raised to 80,000 and was called by Michael Zucchet from the big blind. Players saw the flop heads up as it came T Q 7 . Zucchet checked, and Clerc bet 100,000. Zucchet called, and the dealer turned the J . Zucchet checked again, and Clerc bet again, this time for 180,000. Zucchet announced an all-in raise for 1,025,000. Clerc would be at risk if he called, and he went into the tank. After a couple minutes, he called reveiling K J , but this was not enough to beat Zucchet’s A A . The river was a meaningless 3 and Clerc was eliminated in 5th place for a $105,007 score.

After that elimination things were quite for a while until Dana Castaneda claimed another knockout. Dana raised to 150,000. From the small blind, Michael Zucchet reraised to 375,000. Castaneda just flat called the bet when action folded back to her. On the 7 6 A flop, Zucchet led for 365,000. Castaneda called. The turn came the 5. Zucchet moved all in and Castaneda called. Zucchet held Q 8 for an open – ended straight draw but Dana was way ahead with A J . The river brought the 8 , eliminating Michael Zucchet in 4th place with a $143,642 score.

Some 20 hands into the three handed play Dana Castaneda continued her hot run, this time eliminating Matthias Bednarek. Mattias limped from the small blind, and Dana Castaneda raised to 200,0000 from the big blind. Bednarek then raised all in, and Castaneda called. Matthias was well behind with K J against K Q and the Q 3 3 flop virtually sealed the hand. The 6 made the elimination official and with that Matthias Bednarek was out in 3rd place with $198,883.

Going into heads up play Dana Castaneda help a nice lead over Jason Bigelow and did not let it slip away until finally she scored the last elimination of the tournament. Jason Bigelow limped from the small blind, and Dana Castaneda checked her option. Castaneda bet 125,000 on the 7 5 7 flop. Bigelow raised all in, and Castaneda called. Bigelow needed help with Q 2 against Castaneda’s 9 5 . The turn was not it as the T rolled out and the river 9 gave Dana the win, eliminating Jason Bigelow in 2nd place for $281,991.

With that Dana Castaneda became the second woman to win a bracelet at this year’ WSOP and with it an impressive $454,207!

 

Dana Castaneda

Dana Castaneda

Final table payouts 

1 Dana Castaneda $454,207
2 Jason Bigelow $281,991
3 Mattias Bednarek $198,883
4 Michael Zucchet $143,642
5 Philippe Clerc $105,007
6 Barry Hutter $77,685
7 Jacob Bazeley $58,147
8 Joseph Wertz $44,032
9 Kenneth Gregersen $33,731