Two days ago German poker fans were left disappointed when none of their three countrymen who made the final table of the opening event of WSOP Europe in Berlin were able to walk away with the bracelet. So when only two German players made the final table of the €550 Oktoberfest No Limit Hold’em event, they probably didn’t have high expectations.

Dietrich Fast didn’t want to disappoint anybody though, including himself. Fast beat a final table that included PocketFivers Steve ‘ mrtimcaum’ O’Dwyer, Harry Lodge and Rodrigo ‘ZidAAne’ Caprioli as well as former WPT winner and two-time WSOP bracelet winner John Gale to win €157,749 ($179,166 US) and the first bracelet of his career.

Fast was easily the busiest player at the final table and was responsible for eliminating four players on Monday, including the final three. His toughest opponent turned out to be Gale. The 61 year old, who won his second career WSOP bracelet this past summer, started the day with the chip lead and even held a sizable lead during heads-up play but was unable to overcome the young German.

The pivotal hand came 90 minutes before Fast finally finished Gale off. With Gale holding a 2-1 chip lead, he limped from the button and Fast checked his option. The flop came 4h 4s 2s and both players checked. The turn was the As and both players checked again. The river was the 3d and Fast bet 180,000 before Gale raised to 430,000. Fast responded by moving all-in and after giving it some thought, Gale called and tabled 7 5 for a rivered straight but Fast showed Ah 4c for a turned full house. The hand gave Fast the chip lead for the final time.

Fast also eliminated Caprioli in third, Vojtech Cervinka in fourth and Sandro Wuest in seventh but he did leave some of the heavy lifting for his opponents.

Lodge, who came into the final table with a middle-of-the-pack stack, was the first player eliminated. Lodge moved all-in from UTG with Ad Qc and was called by O’Dwyer’s Ac Kc. The flop brought a queen for Lodge but also came with a king to put O’Dwyer ahead. The turn and the river were blanks and Lodge was out in ninth place.

Joern Winter, the only other German player at the final table, probably set up the German rail for disappointment when he went out in eighth, also thanks to O’Dwyer. He was quickly followed by Wuest in seventh and Adrian Apmann in sixth. Caprioli then eliminated O’Dwyer in fourth before Fast went to work on wrapping up the tournament.

The Oktoberfest event, the lowest buy-in event in WSOP Europe history, attracted a field of 2,144 entrants putting the prizepool at €1,039,000.

The next bracelet up for grabs is the €3,250 Eight-Max Pot Limit Omaha event. The final table, which includes Roberto Romanello, Mike Leah, Ismael Bojang and Max Pescatori, gets underway Tuesday at 6 am ET.

Final Table Payouts

  1. Dietrich Fast – €157,749
  2. John Gale – €97,804
  3. Rodrigo Caprioli – €73,699
  4. Vojtech Cervinka – €56,278
  5. Steve O’Dwyer – €43,409
  6. Adrian Apmann – €33,808
  7. Sandro Wuest – €26,587
  8. Joern Winter – €21,115
  9. Harry Lodge – €16,935