Antonio Esfandiari Wins the 1st Platinum Bracelet in Event-55
Antonio Esfandiari created history when he won the first ever platinum bracelet at the WSOP 2012, in the $1 million buy-in Big One-for-One Drop event. The event also witnessed Esfandiari winning the biggest ever prize money in a sporting event, when he claimed $18 million on July 3, 2012.
Esfandiari had to face some stiff competition from some of his opponents. The event had the largest ever buy-in for an event held in WSOP, which is $1 million. The stakes were very high and the spectators were treated to some excellent card play before Esfandiari grabbed the title against Sam Trickett from England.
Esfandiari Carried the Momentum into the Final Round
Esfandiari had a great run to the final table and he carried the momentum into the final table too. The top two chip counts in the final were held by the top-2, Esfandiari and Trickett.
Guy Laliberte was the third place finisher. He, with the top-2, held most of the chips after the dinner break. Before that, Laliberte had given a surprising double up to Bobby Baldwin, a main event champ from the 1978 WSOP. But the double was only good enough to hold Baldwin till the dinner break as he went out to Laliberte in seventh place. He was holding an A-10 to the J-J of Laliberte, when the board was showing 10-6-7-Q-7.
Esfandiari Reclaims Chip Lead from Trickett
Trickett briefly held the chip lead and fancied his chances but Esfandiari had other plans as he called the four-bet on pre-flop and also check-called his bet on both the flop and turn. Trickett was holding 9-8 to Esfandiari’s A-K. The table read K-7-2-8-Q and Esfandiari was the clear winner. This was the final push Esfandiari needed and he lead till the finish and won the event too.
Esfandiari Goes into Heads Up with 3:1 Chip Lead
Esfandiari looked like a man on a mission as he button raised each and every hand. The match lasted 16 hands into the final heads-up round as Esfandiari completed his dominance over Trickett. In the final hand, Esfandiari button raised to 1.8 million at once when he got the chance. Trickett did not back down and called only to see the flop come out J-5-5. Esfandiari bet after Trickett checked. But Trickett surprisingly raised it to 5.4 million.
Esfandiari was not the one to back down as he re-raised to 10million only to see Trickett better it by re-raising to 15 million. Esfandiari went all-in on this raise and Trickett also called it. Trickett held a Q-6 combo to Esfandiari’s 7-5. Trickett was in a riskier position with 36 million of his on the table. The turn and river was a 3 and 2 sealing Esfandiari’s win.
Like Esfandiari from Iran, Palumbo became the first Italian to win a WSOP bracelet in four years. Click here to read more about it.