Will Jaffe Wins the No Limit Hold’em Event #54
Will Jaffe celebrated his country’s birthday by winning the No Limit Hold’em event #54 with $1,000 buy-in and became richer by half a million dollars on an exciting day at WSOP 2012. The heads up match was more along the lines of a soccer match between Brazil and USA than a poker match as supporters of both players tried to hustle each other. The banter was more exciting than the heads-up round itself, which had its moments before Jaffe outsmarted Louis Campelo to win his first ever WSOP bracelet.
First Bustout Occurs 15 Minutes into the Final Table
Jaffe stamped his authority on the final table right from the first elimination and showed that he was not going to settle for anything short of a win. Jeff Fielder paid the price for betting too much, too early as he went all-in, just 15 minutes into the match. Fielder was holding a K-J combo to Jaffe’s pocket queens. The cards on the table also panned out in favor of Jaffe as his pocket queens trumped Fielder’s K-J. Jaffe swept the pot for himself and sent Fielder packing.
Joseph Kuether Involved In Most of the Eliminations
Joseph Kuether did not have many chips to play with as he entered the final table. He started to find his feet after Fielder’s elimination. He then slowly started accumulating chips, and sent opponents to the rail.
Benjamin Grise was the first one to be sent home by Kuether when they both got into a pre-flop battle with each other. Shockingly, they both got all their chips on the table, with the most unexpected hands likely to come out. Grise showed 8-7 to Kuether’s J-9. Kuether was not comfortable as Grise still had a draw of straight flush and also a pair with the table displaying 9-7-5. But, Kuether got the top pair and Grise could not find any way to better his hand. The turn and the river were the final nails in Grise’s coffin as they came out K and 2 respectively.
The Heads-Up Showdown
The organizers had to stop the play due to the hard stop policy being implemented from this year. When Jaffe and Campelo returned the following morning, Jaffe was slightly ahead with the chip count. He was aggressive and built his advantage to a 2:1 chip lead. It seemed the match was over when the flop came out A-7-2 with Campelo holding K-2 and Jaffe, A-Q. Though the turn (Q) gave Jaffe a lead, the river (2) ensued that Campelo stayed in the match with trip deuces and also gained a small chip lead.
The final flop was more straightforward with Q-2-2, and Campelo’s K-3 was pitted against Jaffe’s A-2. The subsequent Ace ensured that Jaffe won the pot and also his first WSOP bracelet.
Nick Jivkov was another player from the United States who won $1,500 PLO Event Bracelet. Click here to know more about it.