WSOP: British Rail Returns for Chris Brammer, Wins $5K Turbo
Saturday nights in Las Vegas are usually pretty wild, and Saturday night at the 2017 World Series of Poker was no different. Three bracelets were awarded (including one with a rowdy British rail) while two popular tournaments kicked off their Day 1s.
Chris Brammer wins first bracelet, second for UK
The rowdy British rail that came out for Chris ‘Moorman1’ Moorman’s bracelet win not long ago returned last night to see another former #1-ranked player on PocketFives, win his first WSOP bracelet.
Chris ‘NigDawg’ Brammer overcame a tough final table and 505 players in total to win the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em (30 minute levels), for a massive $527,555 payday. There to celebrate with him were the likes of Moorman, Sam ‘The Squid’ Grafton, James Akenhead and Tom Middleton.
“I’ve been on both sides,” he said after the win. “I remember being in the Pavilion Room up on the stage for that Six Max final table, and my rail was spilling over onto the floor. I was here last week for Chris Moorman’s, and it’s just amazing to be a part of it. You can’t feel sad at any point, because there’s just so much support behind you.”
Brammer had come close to WSOP success in the past, finishing fifth in the 2012 $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six Max event. “That one hurt for a long time. I made a final table at World Series of Europe that same year, but there hasn’t been any since, and I’ve been coming here every year. It’s been a while.”
Well, he’s now got that monkey off his back, besting the likes of Yevgeniy ‘Jovial Gent’ Timoshenko and Oliver Weis to capture his first major live title.
“It was a turbo tournament, so the blind levels went up fairly quickly. That creates a lot of action, and it’s important to win those all-ins. And I think I won pretty much all of them. I was dealt a lot of good cards. There were situations where I could shove into them and put pressure on them.”
In the very first hand of heads-up play, Jett Schencker opened 
only for Brammer to put him all in with the 
. A ten on the flop was all she wrote.
Final table payouts:
- Chris Brammer – $527,555
- Jett Schencker – $326,051
- Yevgeniy Timoshenko – $223,574
- Rui Ye – $156,022
- Tobias Ziegler – $110,845
- Oliver Weis – $80,196
- Michael Brinkenhoff – $59,107
- Alex Foxen – $44,395
- Diego Sanchez – $33,993
Ben Maya goes all the way in $1,500 Shootout
You’ve probably never heard of this new bracelet winner, but don’t worry. Even his friends don’t know he final tabled this event.
“I’m shocked. All the people I play with will be shocked,” Ben Mayasaid after his win in the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Shootout. “I have my own business. I’m a realtor. There is no one following me at home. No one knows.”
For his victory over the 1,025-strong field, Maya wins $257,764 and his first gold bracelet. It wasn’t an easy road to victory for the Israeli realtor, as he had to beat the likes of Moorman and Vojtech Ruzicka along the way, before overcoming a final table which included Jonathan Little.
“I had a feeling from the first day… I had a picture of me taking the bracelet, but I didn’t believe in myself. I don’t know why; I’m not such a good player, that I can tell you. After I won the second day, I knew it, that’s it,”
Final table payouts:
- Ben Maya – $257,764
- Thomas Boivin – $159,273
- Tim West – $115,297
- Phachara Wongwichit – $84,453
- Alex Rocha – $62,602
- Steve Foutty – $46,969
- Joe Cook – $35,673
- Paul Michaelis – $27,431
- Jonathan Little – $21,360
- Matas Dilpsas – $16,844
Matthew Schreiber claims first bracelet in $3K HORSE
Another first-time bracelet winner was crowned on Saturday. Matthew Schreiber took down the final table of Event #44, the $3,000 HORSE in just three hours of play.
“I have been playing a lot of mixed cash games,” said Schreiber. “But in this particular event, I’m very inexperienced in Stud and very inexperienced in hi-lo. So, it’s coming as a shock to me as well.”
For his victory, the former collegiate golf player won $256,226. He came into the final table as chip leader, and despite a rocky road managed to get to the finish line in first.
“This is the pinnacle for any poker player,” he said about his bracelet win. “I made some deep runs and could never really finish the job, but I felt really good about this one at the end.”
Final table payouts:
- Matthew Schreiber – $256,226
- Phil Hui – $158,361
- David Steicke – $107,458
- Tom Koral – $74,382
- Ryan Himes – $52,542
- Hanks Honig – $37,892
- Ryan Hughes – $27,910
- Brendan Taylor – $21,007
- Valentin Vornicu – $16,165
Barry Greenstein headlines $1,500 PLO final 21
On Day 1 of Event #46: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, 830 players sat down to give it a shot. By the start of Day 2, there were just 151 remaining. And now, going into Sunday’s Day 3, they’re down to 21.
Millard Hale leads the bunch, but it’s three-time bracelet winner Barry Greenstein who a lot of eyes will be on. He sits fifth in chips, while nearing the bottom of the pack is two-time bracelet winner Barny Boatman.
They’ll all return today to play for the $223,339 first-place prize.
Top 10 chip counts:
- Millard Hale – 640,000
- Kevin Saul – 613,000
- Miguel Use – 598,000
- John O’Shea – 459,000
- Barry Greenstein – 359,000
- Fernando Macia – 335,000
- Samuel Lee – 313,000
- Robert Price – 289,000
- Christopher O’Rourke – 279,000
- Andrew Watson – 277,000
Monster Stack and $10K Seven-Card Stud kick off
There was a huge turn-out for Day 1A of the $1,500 Monster Stack yesterday, with 2,676 hopefuls taking their seats. After play was over, 768 remained.
Allan Rabinovich bagged the chip lead, with Loni Harwood, T.J. Cloutier, Jonathan Duhamel, Paul Volpe, and Ari Engel all making it through.
The day wasn’t so good for the likes of Jessica Dawley, Eddy Sabat, Matt Salsberg, Joe Cada, JC Tran, Mike Sowers, Marsha Wolak, Annette Obrestad, Jamie Kerstetter, and Mohsin Charania, who all busted.
However, they can have another shot at Sunday’s Day 1B if they like.
Meanwhile, the $10,000 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship (Event #48) also got going yesterday with 125 runners. Just 48 will return Sunday, with three-time bracelet winner Benny Glaser holding the chip lead with 325,00.
He’ll be joined by a stacked line-up including Todd Brunson (271,000), John Monnette(221,500), Phil Hellmuth (70,000), James Obst (137,500),Jennifer Harman (166,000), and Daniel Negreanu(97,500).
There’s $320,193 up top in this one.
Top 10 chip counts
- Benny Glaser – 325,500
- Mack Lee – 292,500
- Todd Brunson – 271,000
- Randy Ohel – 248,500
- Richard Chiovari – 246,500
- Jameson Painter – 238,500
- John Monnette – 221,500
- Viacheslav Zhukov – 215,000
- Abe Mosseri – 179,500
- Chris Wallace – 176,000
