Home » News » WSOP 2018: Jordan Polk Wins Event #72 – $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed For $197,461, Akash Malik & Mayank Jaggi Score

WSOP 2018: Jordan Polk Wins Event #72 – $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed For $197,461, Akash Malik & Mayank Jaggi Score

PG News July 13, 2018
8 mins Read

The final day of Event #72: $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed at the 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP) that pulled in 707 players, has concluded, with local resident Jordan Polk (cover image) winning the bracelet.

From the Indian contingent, 9stacks qualifier Mayank Jaggi along with Akash Malik and Paawan Bansal were all seen in action at the event.While Bansal was eliminated on Day 1, both Jaggi and Malik advanced up to Day 2 where Malik’s run ended in 42^nd place for $3,504 (~₹2.39 Lakhs) while Jaggi finished at 89^th place for $2,296 (~₹1.57 Lakhs).

For Polk who doesn’t play poker professionally and with his previous WSOP earnings adding up to a modest $45,472, including the six scores he collected at the WSOP this year, the title comes with a plump payday of $197,461. Just days before, he had competed in the Main Event, where he finished in 774^th place for $18,340.

In the final moments of the tournament, Polk faced Fernando Brito in a Hold ‘em game and relegated him to the rail after turning ace pair that Brito couldn’t match.

“I don’t play poker for a living but I do play a lot of cash games. I don’t really play any tournaments except at the World Series. It’s my first final table ever at the World Series of Poker,” Polk said.

“It feels unreal. It’s hard to even believe. It was a lot of hard work but it paid off,” Polk said of his victory. “While a good run is a necessity, good plans always help, and Polk came ready,” added Polk, who is originally from Maryland but has been living in Vegas since he was 17. “I’ve been looking forward to this event for a while. I skipped a few events earlier this week just specifically to make sure that I was able to play this one.”

A prize pool of $954,450 was created in the event and15 players returned on Day 3 with Ryan Leng leading with the biggest stack of 813,000. Polk who had bagged the chip lead as day 1 ended returned to the final day third in chips. For him, the toughest battle was on Day 2 when he shared few hands with six-time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu (29^th for $ 4,743). With Negreanu sitting directly to his right, Polk had position on the poker champ.

“It’s nice playing against professionals. I love competition, that’s what makes me love this game, I ran very well against him,” Polk admitted.

Ultimately it was him who eliminated Negreanu in a no-limit hand where Negreanu ran his ace-king into Polk’s aces.

Michael Roco (15^th for $6,899) was eliminated on the first hand on Day 3 and soon Jonathan Bryan (14^th for $8,542) joined him at the rail. Takashi Ogura (13^th for $8,542), and Thomas Kim (12^th for $10,759) also followed leaving only 11 players in the fray.

Leng began to put pressure on his opponents and took down a pot from Iacofano to charge further ahead on the chip counts. The elimination of Yuval Bronshtein (11^th for $10,759) and Jerome Bradpiece (10^th for $13,781) brought about a table redraw and action moved to the unofficial nine-handed final table.

Charalampo Lappas was eliminated in a Hold ‘em game when he shoved for 200,000 and Leng looked him up from the hijack. Lappas showed against Leng’s . Nothing on the board helped Lappas and he was eliminated in ninth place.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Ryan Leng – 1,300,000

2. Jordan Polk – 1,054,000

3. Fernando Brito – 710,000

4. Jesse Vilchez – 590,000

5. Samuel Welbourne – 511,000

6. Kevin Iacofano – 407,000

7. Alexander Ziskin – 374,000

8. Dan Matsuzuki – 350,000

Final Table Recap

Play on the final table began with Vilchez getting two bets out of Iacofano in a PLO hand and then shoving on him in a Hold ‘em game. Matsuzuki also doubled up through Leng before Welbourne found a double up through Polk.

Alexander Ziskin played against Vilchez in a PLO game where the latter bet 40,000 from middle position and Ziskin who was seated to his left 3-bet to 150,000. Vilchez moved all in and Ziskin snap-called. Ziskin had while Vilchez held . The dealer spread out the giving Vilchez quad deuces that beat Ziskin who was eliminated in eighth place.

Kevin Iacofano then open jammed for 12 big blinds from the cutoff and big blind Welbourne called off. Iacofono was dominated with Ax5x against the latter’s AxJx and left in seventh place on the runout .

Ryan Leng had a remarkable run through the event but it was cut short in sixth place as the American faced Welbourne and Matsuzuki in a three-way limped pot in a PLO game. Welbourne and Leng first checked from the blinds on the flop on which Matsuzuki bet 30,000 from under the gun and Leng called. The turn saw Leng potting for 132,000 and Matsuzuki announced all in while Ryan called for his last 80,000. Leng revealed against Matsuzuki’s . Leng had turned a set with an additional open-ended straight draw but Matsuzuki held two pair and a nut flush draw and spiked the on the river to finish with the nuts. Leng was eliminated in sixth place.

Samuel Welbourne’s ouster came through in a Hold ‘em game where Brito made it 80,000 in the cutoff and Welbourne who was seated next to him 3-bet shoved for 300,000. Brito called and Welbourne who held found himself trailing Brito’s . The runout sealed Brito’s win and Welbourne was busted in fifth place.

Polk now faced the heat and dropped down to 11 bigs. However, he soon doubled through Matsuzuki and then took more from him in another pot.

With Polk and Dan Matsuzuki facing off each other in a hand of Hold ‘em, Matsuzuki shoved under the gun for 470,000 and was put at risk by Polk in the small blind, who made the call. Matsuzuki showed vs. Polk’s . Polk found a favorable board and Matsuzuki exited in fourth place.

Polk then scored a big double up and took over a commanding lead. In the next hand, Jesse Vilchez faced Brito in a Hold ‘em game where the former open jammed from the button for 430,000 and Brito called. Vilchez tabled against the of Brito. Brito was leading and the rundown won him the pot whilst Vilchez departed in third place.

With Polk and Fernando Brito reaching the heads-up, Polk held 4 Million in chips against 1.3 Million in Brito’s stack. But soon, Brito pulled off a big check-raise and then continued on a strong ride to close the gap, even pulling ahead over the next few hands. Polk reclaimed his lead after scooping a big pot in a hand of PLO.

The final hand saw Brito attempting to raise preflop but then he just tossed in a 100,000 chip. The dealer deemed it a call but Polk decided to raise anyway and pushed in 250,000, prompting Brito to call. The flop opened , Polk bet 300,000 and called Brito’s all in move. Brito turned over and Polk showed . The turn pushed Polk one step closer to victory and the on the river won him the bracelet!