Two players who have been members of PocketFives since 2006 nearly scooped a World Series of Poker bracelet on Wednesday in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Mixed-Max event (#58). Mike SirWattsWatson (pictured) and Mark dipthrong Herm finished second and third, respectively.

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Jared Jaffee ultimately took down the title, defeating Watson after a series of heads-up matches determined the outcome. Watson, who calls Canada home, was appearing at his sixth career WSOP final table. In 2012, he took down the WSOP Europe Super High Roller Event for one million Euros.

Herm and Watson met in a semifinal match of the Mixed-Max tournament, with Herm quickly pulling out in front. Watson, however, doubled up multiple times, including one hand in which Herm shoved with 8-6 suited and Watson called all-in with 3-3. A flop of Q-7-5 made things interesting, but running jacks gave Watson new life.

Watson doubled up once more with A-7 against K-7 to take a 4:1 chip lead over Herm and the semifinal match ended with Watson’s K-2 withstanding Herm’s J-8 of hearts.

When it came time for the championship match, Jaffee(pictured) pulled away early and kept his foot on the gas pedal. Watson doubled up after making the nut flush at one point to trim Jaffee’s lead to 5:2 and then doubled up once more with A-6 against A-4 to get within 2:1.

However, Watson’s run, which eventually saw him get back to almost even in chips with Jaffee, ended on the 99th hand of the final match. Watson 4bet all-in before the flop with a pair of jacks and Jaffee called with A-6 of clubs. The flop of 10-8-5 kept Watson in front with an overpair, but a seven of clubs on the turn meant a flush draw and straight draw for Jaffee. Sure enough, a four hit on the river for a straight and Jaffee secured his first WSOP bracelet.

Watson earned $246,000 for second place, while Herm earned $126,000 for reaching the semis.

Elsewhere at the Rio in Las Vegas, the site of the annual WSOP, Philip Hui (pictured), known on PocketFives as KungPhui, took down a $3,000 Omaha High-Low Split Eight or Better tournament for $286,000.

Hui earned his first bracelet in a rather dramatic fashion, according to coverage on WSOP.com: “Hui was low on chips at several points during the final table, no more so than when heads-up against Zachary Milchman when the Floridian had Hui out-chipped by about an 18:1 margin. Yet, Hui was able to reverse the tide and dominated the final half-hour of the tournament on his way to a huge celebration with fellow Circuit grinders.”

Hui loves the Circuit so much that he has earned four rings over the years and said winning a bracelet felt very surreal: “I had a big package, but bricked the first 25 of 30 tournaments that I played. Your mind’s not right when you are coming into the last week of the series. It’s unreal. I feel like I’m in a movie.” Here were the final table results:

1st Place: Phillip KungPhuiHui – $286,976
2nd Place: Zachary Milchman – $177,609
3rd Place: Michael Bees – $118,036
4th Place: Ismael Bojang – $87,594
5th Place: John D’Agostino – $65,736
6th Place: David Williams – $49,817
7th Place: Matt Glantz – $38,089
8th Place: Jordan iMsoLucky0 Morgan – $29,356
9th Place: Joe Mitchell – $22,793

Finally, a $10,000 Seven Card Stud tournament (Event #61) is down to its final nine. The group, as you’d expect in a $10,000 Seven Card Stud event, is pretty beastly and includes the likes of Todd Brunson, 13-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, hole card cam inventor Henry Orenstein, and James Andy McLEOD Obst. This tournament will award $268,000 to the winner.

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