WSOP 2013 - Event #58 - Eight Remain in the Finale

While this year there was no $1,000,000 mega tournament like the Big One for One Drop event in 2012, we got a $111,111 One Drop High Rollers No-Limit Hold'em as well as a sister event of the Big One, WSOP 2013 Event #58 $1,111 Little One for One Drop No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry). The latter started on Day 1A and 1B with a combined total field of 4,756 players. $4,280,400 was amassed in prize money, plus the $526,806 for charity purposes, benefitting the One Drop foundation.

From the two first event days, a total of 1,016 entrants made it to Day 2, including chipleader Suraj Dutt, Humberto Brenes, Big One winner and One Drop High Rollers 4th finisher Antonio Esfandiari, Barry Greenstein, Andy Bloch, Todd Terry, Liv Boeree, Paul Volpe, Marvin Rettenmaier, Randy Lew, Erik Seidel, Roberto Romanello and many-many more.

The money bubble of the top 495 finishes burst on Day 2 with both Greenstein and Esfandiari busting out just before cashing on Level 11 (100/500/1,000). By the end of the day, 67 players remained, led by Joseph Wilson with 983,000 in chips. With so many participants, the tournament was not likely to be concluded on Day 3 as planned, but the field did melt down to only eight players.

Play started on Level 20 (1,000/5,000/10,000) and, along the way to the finale, Spencer Taylor finished 60th, Mike Sowers 51st, Wilson 38th, Andrey Pateychuk 35th, Manuel Mutke 25th and Romanello 21st, among others. The Final Table was formed when Gordon Huntly got eliminated in 10th place, his Q Q getting cracked by Alexander Case’s A A and an additional A on the turn.

The Final Table seat draw was as follows:

Seat 1: Nghi Tran – 3,300,000
Seat 2: Justin Zaki – 1,935,000
Seat 3: Joe Morneau – 3,650,000
Seat 4: Alex Case – 4,490,000
Seat 5: Roland Israelashvili – 615,000
Seat 6: Adriano Santa Ana – 1,955,000
Seat 7: Kevin O'Donnell – 1,915,000
Seat 8: Brian Yoon – 2,115,000
Seat 9: Cuong Van Nguyen – 860,000

Official Final Table play continued on Level 28 (10,000/30,000/60,000) and, just about half an hour later, the first elimination occurred on the next: Joe Morneau opened to 160,000, Roland Israelashvili shoved his remaining 1,100,000, Adriano Santa Ana called all-in with 85,000 and Morneau folded.

Israelashvili: A A
Santa Ana: 4 2

Board: A Q 4 8 2

The trip aces were more than enough to send Santa Ana to the cashier in 9th place.

The day was soon over and the remaining players bagged and tagged their stacks. In the lead is Nghi Tran with 4,130,000 in chips.


The final eight chipcount is as follows:

Seat 1: Nghi Tran – 4,130,000
Seat 2: Justin Zaki – 2,300,000
Seat 3: Joe Morneau – 2,585,000
Seat 4: Alex Case – 1,760,000
Seat 5: Roland Israelashvili – 3,375,000
Seat 7: Kevin O'Donnell – 655,000
Seat 8: Brian Yoon – 2,650,000
Seat 9: Cuong Van Nguyen – 1,050,000