WSOP: Jim Lefteruk’s First Series Cash Good for $299K, Bracelet
Jim Lefteruk entered the final table of World Series of Poker Online Event #73 ($1,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed) as the only player at the table without a single registered result on Hendon Mob. He emerged from the final table with a first place prize of $299,511 and a WSOP gold bracelet.
Lefteruk, a Canadian, outlasted a field that drew 2,202 players for a total prize pool of $2,091,900.
The final table began with nine players and the blinds at 80,000/160,000 with an ante of 20,000. Jorge Abreu (2,228,653), Lefteruk (2,274,944), and Ivan Luca (2,552,832) all had right approximately 15 big blinds at the start of the final table, but despite their relatively short stacks, nine-handed play lasted for just under an hour.
Anant Prohit entered the final table second in chips with 9,271,334, but after nearly an hour of play he was down to just under 13 big blinds. Lefteruk raised to 400,000 from the cutoff with 
and Prohit moved all in to 2,526,982 from the big blind holding the 
. The 
gave Lefteruk the lead and the 
turn left Purohit drawing dead. A meaningless 
on the river eliminated Purohit in ninth place.
Another half hour passed before Andrii Derzhypilskyi made an under-the-gun raise to 480,000 with 
. Former final table chip leader Patrick Kennedy went all-in for his last 5,089,945 to Derzhypilskyi’s immediate left with 
. Derzhypilskyi quickly called after the action folded back around to him, and a 
runout offered no help to Kennedy who was knocked out in eight place.
Just three minutes later, Abreu raised over four times the big blind to 1,080,000 with . Derzhypilskyi three-bet on the button with 
to 4,383,300 which was enough to put the remaining players in the hand all in. Seungmook Jung called off his remaining 3,676,430 from the small blind with and Abreu completed his all-in to 2,240,612. The case jack fell on a 
board to put Abreu way out in front. Jung turned some straight outs with the 
, but was eliminated in seventh place when the 
gave Abreu a clean triple-up.
Six-handed play went on for 50 minutes until Markku Koplimaa raised on the button to 1,600,000 with 
. Luca three-bet shoved from the big blind with 
to move Koplimaa all in, and Koplimaa called off his remaining 1,501,826. An uneventful 
board was enough to knock Koplimaa out of the tournament in sixth place.
After about 15 minutes of five-handed play, two knockouts came within five minutes of one another. Derzhypilskyi raised to 2,944,000 on the button with 
and faced an all-in raise from Endrit Geci in the big blind with 
. Derzhypilskyi called for his remaining 2,677,429 and couldn’t find the help he needed on an 
runout.
Moments later, Luca limped in on the button, Geci completed his small blind, and Lefteruk raised to 1,400,000 in the big blind. Luca and Geci both called and the flop came down 
. All three players checked through to the turn, which brought the . Geci checked, Lefteruk bet 1,452,000, Luca called, and Geci folded. The 
on the rover completed the board and Lefteruk bet enough to put Luca all-in for his last 6,567,556. Luca tanked for over two minutes before calling with . Lefteruk’s flipped over the 
to eliminate Luca in fourth place with quad deuces.
Lefteruk dominated three-handed play to accumulate over 75% of the total chips in play. Abreu shoved from the button with 6,701,344 with 
and was called by Lefteruk in the big blind holding 
. The 
brought in some flush outs for Abreu, who would need that flush to win when Lefteruk hit the for top pair on the turn. The on the river knocked Abreu out of the tournament in third place.
Lefteruk entered heads up play with a massive lead of 49,664,832 to 5,385,168. Geci lasted for about 10 minutes until Lefteruk limped in from the button with and which drew an all-in raise to 6,380,336 from Geci, who held the . The gave Geci some straight outs to go along with his king, and the on the turn brought in two more outs. But the 
fell on the river to leave Lefteruk as the last man standing.
Final Table Payouts
- Jim Lefteruk – $299,511
- Endrit Geci – $223,978
- Jorge Abreu – $161,042
- Ivan Luca – $115,791
- Andrii Derzhypilskyi – $83,254
- Markku Koplimaa – $59,861
- Seungmook Jung – $43,040
- Patrick Kennedy – $30,946
- Anant Purohit – $22,250
