Longtime PocketFiver and former #1 ranked player Paul paulgees81Volpe (pictured) claimed the fifth World Series of Poker bracelet for PocketFivers in Las Vegas this year. The event was a $10,000 No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball tournament that brought out a star-laced field, including Daniel Negreanu, whom Volpe beat heads-up.

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You’ll recall that Negreanu posted a prop bet prior to the WSOP in which Phil Ivey and he would offer up 1:1 odds on the pair winning a bracelet in Nevada. While many thought the odds heavily favored those punters betting against Ivey and Negreanu, the latter almost won a bracelet just 13 events into the 65-tournament series.

Volpe told WSOP staff following the tournament, “I knew what this meant to Daniel because he has so many bets. So, I tried keeping the pressure on him and it worked… It feels amazing to get my first bracelet, especially in the $10K Deuce-to-Seven [event], which is one of the toughest events of the summer. I was confident I was going to win. I felt like I was going to win. It was a super tough table. It was unbelievable getting heads-up against Daniel. If I have to pick one person to beat for my bracelet, it would be him.”

Volpe entered the $10,000 No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball tournament’s final table with the chip lead and Negreanu(pictured), the reigning WSOP Player of the Year, was third. The tournament marked Volpe’s first WSOP final table, while Negreanu recorded his 70th WSOP in the money finish.

Online, Volpe has been a stud, amassing almost $5 million in tracked scores, including almost $3 million on PokerStarsalone. He was tops in the PocketFives Rankings until two days before Black Friday and currently stands at #181 worldwide. Volpe won the PokerStars Sunday Million in 2011 for a quarter of a million dollars officially and finished fourth in an FTOPS Two-Day Event the same year for another $108,000.

The seven members of the 2-7 final table had a combined 14 bracelets. Here’s how the group cashed out:

1st Place: Paul paulgees81Volpe – $253,524
2nd Place: Daniel Negreanu – $156,674
3rd Place: Jason treysfull21 Mercier- $99,313
4th Place: Brian tsarrast Rast – $67,264
5th Place: Larry Wright – $47,792
6th Place: John Monnette – $35,549
7th Place: Abe Mosseri – $27,633

We’ll stick with 2-7 for the rest of this article too, as another longtime PocketFiver, Mike goleafsgoehLeah (pictured), leads the way with 54 players left in Event #16, $1,500 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball. Leah has a stack of 91,800 in chips entering the tournament’s play-down day, about 2,000 ahead of the next closest player.

Interestingly enough, Mercier, who finished third in the $10,000 2-7 event, is seventh in chips after Day 1 of the $1,500 2-7 event. He Tweeted after he busted from the $10,000 event, “Hopped in the $1,500 2-7 Triple Draw. Already ran up my stack 3x. Hoping to make another deep run in a Draw event. Still hunting.” Mercier has three WSOP cashes already this year; two are in Draw events.

First place pays $124,000. Here’s how the top 10 in chips look right now:

1. Mike goleafsgoehLeah – 91,800
2. Brian Tate – 90,000
3. Tom Franklin – 70,000
4. Dan Smith – 55,400
5. Todd Bui – 54,500
6. Jaet Shetty – 51,900
7. Jason treysfull21Mercier – 46,400
8. Ben Yu – 40,300
9. MattDVD Schultz – 36,900
10. Stephen stevie444 Chidwick – 35,700

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