WSOP Hold’em Update – Brian Hastings Wins No-Limit Hold’em Event, David Arsht Victorious in Limit Hold’em
When two Hold’em games came to an end at the WSOP on 7th and 8th, there were two winners – one was a 23 year old, who plays poker professionally, and the other, a 66 year old who retired from a career as a urologist. The former was Brian Hastings, who entered a Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em event, which was a World Championship that required a $10,000 buy-in. The latter was David Arsht, who played in a Limit Hold’em game with a $1,500 buy-in.
No-Limit Hold’em – Brian Hastings
After earning the bracelet at the event, Hastings stated that his $371,498 win was not much compared to the huge amounts that some of the online events brought him. However, he believes that there is no other bracelet to rival the one from the WSOP.
Hastings is representative of a new crop of young poker stars, who have made it to the offline felt to win big – especially in No-Limit Hold’em games. Their seven figure bankrolls allow them to buy-in to games that cost more than a mid-range house. To his credit, Hastings has won more than three million in one heads-up game against the infamous Isildur1, the handle used by Viktor Blom.
Hastings continues to focus on his game-play online (by travelling to the Bahamas), though he does make appearances at offline events like the WSOP. In the past, he has made in-the-money finishes at WSOP events. One was an 11th place finish at the WSOPC and the other, an 8th place finish at the WSOP Europe.
To take home the win, Hastings had to beat seven opponents in as many heads-up matches that were randomly chosen. In the matches, he went up against some of the best players in the short-handed format. Brock Parker, Antonio Esfandiari and Vanessa Selbst were among them. The last player he had to best was Jason Mo, another poker professional below 25. Ho bagged a tidy sum as the runner-up in the event – $229,722. The best 32 players from a 152 player-field made cashes.
Limit Hold’em – David Arsht
On winning the Limit Hold’em event, Arsht took home prize money of $211,921. He toppled a field that comprised more than 700 players by the end of the third day of the event. Stephen Hung, the runner-up in the event, had the deepest run he had in the WOP and won $130,921. There were 81 in-the-money finishers, and of them, one of the most impressive was by Roland Israelashvili. The player is one of the top on the list of those who have made the most cashes in WSOPC and WSOP events in the previous 5 seasons.
A few other notable players who made cashes were Jennifer Harmon, Humberto Brenes and Eric Buchman. Men Nguyen made his third in-the-money finish in the 2012 WSOP. With this, he is a step ahead of Phil Hellmuth, who has two cashes in this year’s tournament. With this win, Arsht joins Herbert Tapscott as players above 60 to win a bracelet. To read about Tapscott’s win at the WSOP, click here.