Shaun Deeb wins Fifth
Shaun Deeb won his fifth WSOP bracelet as he conquered the Thunderdome yet again

Shaun Deeb completed his latest masterful victory at the World Series of Poker, as he took down the $25,000-entry PLO High Roller to win $1.25 million and his fifth WSOP bracelet. At the final table, Deeb raced to an early double, dominating the final thereafter to beat overnight leader Ka Kwan Lau heads-up.

Deeb Goes from Mushroom to Pushing Buttons

Before the action got going, Deeb had a message for his many fans who would be tuning in to see if his chip stack would ‘mushroom’ as the lights were on him and his four opponents.

Deeb couldn’t wait to get going and carried an air of optimism with him into proceedings. From the moment he almost instantly doubled up, Deeb was on the march and swept all before him. Bulgarian Veselin Karakitukov was first to bust the final day, exiting in fifth for $276,870 at the hands of Deeb.

The now five-time WSOP bracelet winner would take out the payer he doubled through as the table kicked off, too, as Maxx Coleman was eliminated by the champion-in waiting in fourth place for $381,394. John Beauprez fell to Deeb in third place for $537,295 before Ka Kwan Lau, who had begun the day with the chip lead, was overcome by Deeb heads-up.

Deeb, who busted every single one of his opponents as he stormed to victory, told PokerGO after the final table that he was determined to chase down Phil Hellmuth’s total of 16 WSOP titles.

“Oh, I’m going to pass Phil [Hellmuth] eventually,” Deeb said casually. “It’s going to take me a while, but I’m going to pass Phil. He’s a great player when he’s sharp, but he can’t play every day like me. When he wins a bracelet, he’s not hopping in the next event like I’m going to do, and that’s going to help me out. Plus, I think online I’m a stronger player and there are so many more online bracelets. I’m going to catch him one day. It’s going to take me a decade or two, but I’ll be there.”

Hellmuth himself was quick to praise his ‘nice guy’ opponent on Twitter.

WSOP 2021 Event #53 $25,000 Pot Limit Omaha High Roller Final Table Results:

  1. Shaun Deeb – $1,251,860
  2. Ka Kwan Lau – $773,708
  3. John Beauprez – $537,295
  4. Maxx Coleman – $381,394
  5. Veselin Karakitukov Bulgaria $276,870
  6. David Benyamine France $205,655
  7. Ben Lamb U.S.A. $156,387
  8. Charles Sinn U.S.A. $121,816

In the race to win WSOP Player of the Year, Deeb has moved to with just 129 points of his long-game adversary, The Poker Brat, with Anthony Zinno still top of the pile after 53 completed events.

WSOP 2021 Player of the Year Standings:

  1. Anthony Zinno – 2,627.88
  2. Jake Schwartz – 2,614.45
  3. Phil Hellmuth – 2,598.59
  4. Shaun Deeb – 2,470.69
  5. Ari Engel – 2,214.41

Julia Top of the Shop for Maiden Bracelet

Nicholas Julia won a debut WSOP bracelet with a stunning mixed game win in the Nine-Game Mix final after toppling Kristan Lord heads-up. Dominating the final table, Julia brought about the final table of six and immediately reduced it to just five as he busted seventh-placed Kenny Hsiung ($17,017) and sixth-placed Robert Mizrachi ($23,352) in the same hand.

Once five remained, Kristan Lord busted Robert McLaughlin, with Lord’s pocket kings holding against McLaughlin’s pocket nines. Julia then busted Aditya Prasetyo in fourth place for $47,164 before Justin Liberto slid out to Lord in third for a payday worth $69,341.

Heads-up, Julia had a strong 2:1 chip lead and sealed the deal when a hand of Razz saw the winner end with an eight-six and had Lord drawing dead by the river, standing to shake his conqueror’s hand and claim a runner-up prize of $104,210, a result dwarfed by Julia’s $168,608 win and a first-ever WSOP bracelet.

WSOP 2021 Event #54 $2,500 Nine-Game Mix Six-Max Final Table Results:

  1. Nicholas Julia – $168,608
  2. Kristan Lord – $104,210
  3. Justin Liberto – $69,341
  4. Aditya Prasetyo – $47,164
  5. Robert McLaughlin – $32,808
  6. Robert Mizrachi – $23,352

Christopher Cummings Bags Monster Lead in Seniors Event

Christopher Cummings piled up an astonishing total of 22,650,000 chips which sees him with more than double his nearest competitor after Day 3 of the $1,000-entry Seniors Event, Event #52 on the schedule.

Cummings is followed in the chipcounts by Dennis Jensen (9,700,000) and Daniel Lujano (9,325,000) but has one of the biggest leads at this stage of any of this year’s WSOP chip leaders. With just 16 players left from the 148 players who started the day, others didn’t make the cut, with Barry Greenstein (89th for $5,592), Eli Elezra (47th for $11,437) and Pat Lyons (26th for $20,016) all losing their stacks throughout the day.

WSOP 2021 Event #53 $1,000 Seniors Championship Top 10 Chipcounts:

  1. Christopher Cummings – 22,765,000
  2. Dennis Jensen – 9,700,000
  3. Daniel Lujano – 9,325,000
  4. Eric Sunde – 7,350,000
  5. Todd Hansen – 7,315,000
  6. Stuart Hosen – 7,305,000
  7. Louis Cheffy – 7,065,000
  8. Jonathan Ingalls – 5,850,000
  9. Daniel Stebbins – 5,695,000
  10. Robert Davis – 5,380,000

On a huge day of action in the $400-entry Colossus, Frank Flowers bagged over 1.2 million chips on Day 1b, as he topped the 697 Day 1 survivors, with 778 players from the total of 5,182 entries making the money.

A total of 1,181 players will take to the felt on Day 2, the remnants of a total field of 9,399 as The Colossus once again lived up to its name. On Day 1b, Flowers may have risen highest, but he wasn’t the only one to enjoy a day in the sun, as Timothy Keenan (1,172,000) and Dwayne Hillock (1,031,000) both ran him fairly close at the top of the leaderboard.

WSOP 2021 Event #55 $400 Colossus Top 10 Chipcounts:

  1. Frank Flowers – 1,217,000
  2. Timothy Keenan – 1,172,000
  3. Dwayne Hillock – 1,031,000
  4. Keith Doering – 1,024,000
  5. Andrew Heckman – 1,000,000
  6. Kao Chieng Saechao – 994,000
  7. Eric Stamey – 984,000
  8. Mikhaile Richards – 950,000
  9. Anant Patel – 925,000
  10. Michael Thach – 886,000

On Day 2 of the $10,000-entry Six-Handed Event #56, Bulgarian Boris Kolev (2,185,000) managed to grab the chip lead as he was chased into the chipcounts by Asi Moshe (1,980,000) and Matt Berkey (1,765,000). Other big names in the top 10 include WSOP Main Event final table player Vojtech Rusicka (1,450,000) and Roland Rokita (1,010,000), with nine players from the 19 players who survived topping seven figure stacks.

Players such as Bertrand Grospellier, Niklas Astedt, Joao Vieira and Ryan Laplante all failed to progress as the 136 players who began the day were whittled down to less than two dozen who will push to make the final day tomorrow.

WSOP 2021 Event #56 $10,000 Six-Handed NLHE Top 10 Chipcounts:

  1. Boris Kolev – 2,185,000
  2. Asi Moshe – 1,980,000
  3. Matt Berkey – 1,765,000
  4. Nikita Kuznetsov – 1,560,000
  5. Vojtech Ruzicka – 1,450,000
  6. Ariel Mantel – 1,395,000
  7. Steve Yea – 1,130,000
  8. Fabian Gumz – 1,100,000
  9. Roland Rokita – 1,010,000
  10. Ben Yu – 995,000

The sixth event of the day to take place was the $10,000-entry Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw event, with Shaun Deeb again the highlight. Having just won the $25,000-entry PLO High Roller to claim his fifth bracelet, Deeb late-regged Event #57 and quickly ran up a stack to end the day fourth in chips in a stunning display of both stamina and skill.

The chip leader at the end of an 80-entry Day 1 was Danny Wong (340,000), followed as he is in the counts by Michael Trivett (315,000) and Nathan Gamble (257,000) as well as the aforementioned Deeb who sits with 251,000.

WSOP 2021 Event #57 $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Top 10 Chipcounts:

  1. Danny Wong – 340,000
  2. Michael Trivett – 315,000
  3. Nathan Gamble – 257,000
  4. Shaun Deeb – 251,000
  5. Matt Valeo – 238,000
  6. Aditya Prasetyo – 235,000
  7. Oscar Johansson – 222,000
  8. Kevin Gerhart – 217,000
  9. Michael Noori – 214,000
  10. Brian Yoon – 204,000

Finally, Ronnie Bardah may be a Survivor veteran, but he can’t handle a big chipstack… unless it’s his, presumably.

As fellow player Jon Aguiar commented, “Tell me your WSOP isn’t go well without telling me your WSOP isn’t going well.” Hang in there Ronnie, if you can survive to another day, you’ll always be a champion to us.