It was a packed house in the Amazon Room on Saturday at the 2021 World Series of Poker as three more gold bracelets were awarded, two of which were handed out to players who were celebrating their third career WSOP victory and another who reached a career-high score in their first series victory.

Gerhart Wins Third Career Bracelet

The final table of Event #40 ($10,000 H.O.R.S.E.) played out on Saturday and in the end it was Kevin Gerhart who galloped his way to the third gold bracelet of his career and the $361,124 first-place prize.

“If you look at just the final nine or even the last 16, there are so many names, so many bracelets, so many top-level players,” Gerhart told PokerNews after the win. “I am so happy that I get to prove myself year and year after year with three bracelets and hopefully be considered among the top in the world right now.”

Gerhart outlasted Marco Johnson in heads-up play to win the title. For his part, Johnson was forced to settle for a $223,194 payday for second place. Eddie Blumenthal claimed the bronze for $155,971 while Bryce Yockey latest final table brought him $111,701 for fourth.

Brandon Shack-Harris arrived at the final table of five as the short stack and was unable to ladder, finishing in fifth for $82,033.

Event #40 $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Final Table Payouts

Kevin Gerhart – $361,124
Marco Johnson – $223,194
Eddie Blumenthal – $155,971
Bryce Yockey – $111,701
Brandon Shack-Harris – $82,033
Chris Vitch – $61,819
Jake Schwartz – $47,835
David Benyamine – $38,035

Carlos Chang Scores First Gold in $2,500 Freezeout

A lengthy heads-up battle between Taiwan’s Carlos Chang and Brady Osterman ended with Chang emerging as the victor and claiming his first gold bracelet and hefty career-high cash of $364,589.

The final eight players returned on Saturday to crown a winner. Quang Ngo, who started the day fourth in chips was the first to fall and he was followed to the rail by Gerald Cunniff in seventh place.

Sung Joo Hyun’s pocket sixes fell to Arthur Conan’s ace-eight, to send him home in sixth place, and just minutes later Conan was out in fifth when his pocket seven were dominated by Adrian Delmas’ pocket nines. The final four battled for the better part of an hour before Spain’s Sergi Reixach was eliminated in fourth for a six-figure score. Finally, Adrien Delmas was forced to settle for the bronze, falling in third place for more than $161,000.

After that Chang and Osterman battled back-and-forth for the better part of three-and-a-half hours with Chang eventually smashing a flush to Osterman’s two pair in a pivotal pot which sealed the deal.

Event #41 $2,500 Freezeout Final Table Payouts

1. Carlos Chang – $364,589
2. Brady Osterman – $225,333
3. Adrien Delmas – $161,731
4. Sergi Reixach – $117,650
5. Arthur Conan – $86,757
6. Sung Joo Hyun – $64,864
7. Gerald Cunniff – $49,179
8. Quang Ngo – $37,820

Ruben Tops Tough Razz Final Table For 3rd Career Bracelet

Just seven players remained when the Event $42 ($1,500 Razz) returned on Saturday to play down to a winner. Bradley Ruben, who started the day seventh in chips, climbed his way up the chip counts and secured the win for his third career gold bracelet and a $99,188 payday.

Some mixed games masters had made the final table including David ‘ODB’ Baker (5th, $20,732), worldwide online #1-ranked crusher Yuri Dzivielevski (4th, $29,089), and Matt Grapenthien who wrapped up in third place for $41,758.

Charles Sinn, who started the day as the chip leader, wound up as the runner-up and took home $61,303 for his efforts.

Event #42 $1,500 Razz Final Table Payouts

1. Bradley Ruben – $99,188
2. Charles Sinn – $61,303
3. Matt Grapenthien – $41,758
4. Yuri Dzivielevski – $29,089
5. David ‘ODB’ Baker – $20,732
6. Brett Fledman – $15,127
7. Alex Livingston – $11,305

Double Double

The field size of Event #43 ($1,000 Double Stack) more than doubled in size on Day 1B as 2,054 players jumped in for a total of 3,991 runners which created a prize pool of more than $3.5 million and a first-place score of $446,983.

Terry Presley took full advantage of all the chips in play and ended the night with 828,000, more than enough to allow him to top the leaderboard of both opening flights. A number of notables worked their way into the top 10 of Day 1B including popular poker vlogger Matt Vaughan (4th), Asi Moshe (5th), Millionaire Maker champ Daniel Lazrus (6th), and Eric Baldwin (10th).

The two fields will merge on Sunday with another long day of play, with the money bubble expected to burst in the middle of the day

Event #43 $1,000 Double Stack Day 1B Top 5 Chip Counts

1. Terry Presley – $828,000
2. Sylvain Naets – 710,000
3. Ting Ho – 580,500
4. Matthew Vaughan – 545,500
5. Asi Moshe – 462,00

Ten Left In $3K Limit

There are just 10 players left in Event #44 ($3,000 6-Handed Limit Hold’em) with Kenny Hsiung min-betting his way to the chip lead. He’s followed closely by Kevin Erickson and Ryan Hansen in second and third place respectively.

The money bubble popped with just 25 players remaining and it looked like a number of big names would be battling for the bracelet. It wasn’t meant to be though as JJ Liu (24th, $4,830), WSOP Main Event Joe McKeehen (23rd, $4,830), former worldwide online #2-ranked Ivan Zufic (22nd, $4,830), and Nick Schulman (21st, $5,597) all fell outside the top 20.

There was a time that Dan Zack held the chip lead, but he also busted before the end of the night falling in 19th for $5,597 and was followed by Mike Matusow who bowed out in 16th for $6,668.

The final 10 players will return on Sunday to play down to a champion.

Event #44 $3,000 6-Handed Limit Hold’em Final 10 Chip Counts

1. Kenny Hsiung – 1,171,000
2. Kevin Erickson – 1,139,000
3. Ryan Hansen – 1,115,000
4. John Hoang – 783,000
5. Steve Chanthabouasy – 744,000
6. Kosei Ichinose – 499,000
7. Justin Moeller – 378,000
8. Ken Deng – 321,000
9. John Cavanagh – 207,000