WSOP 2019: Shankar Pillai Rises Above 184 Former Champions to Take Down $1.5K 50th Annual Bracelet Winners Only

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  • Namita Ghosh July 13, 2019
  • 2 Minutes Read

Over the past three days, Team India has captured the headlines one way or another across several major tournaments playing out at the 50th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). Right along PokerGuru Ambassador Kartik Ved’s blistering run in the $10K Main Event, bracelet winner Nikita Luther diverted attention towards Event #81: $1,500 50th Annual Bracelet Winners Only NLHE after bagging the chip lead on Day 1. The tournament attracted a distinguished field of 185 former WSOP champions and Luther was the cynosure of all eyes, as she maneuvered her way to Day 2. Sadly, India’s female poker powerhouse fell strikingly close to the final table in 13th for $3,584 (~₹2.45 Lakhs). Perhaps, the only consolation after this near-miss was that eventually an Indian-origin player, Shankar Pillai (cover image), came out on top to capture the coveted bracelet.

“It feels good. A little special, because everyone had one already. I think I had the best seat at the table by far. Tommy had the chip lead, and he was the most aggressive by far,” Pillai said after his impressive win.

Pillai is no stranger to tournament success, and the fact that he entered this event already implies that he is part of an elite group of former bracelet winners. Outside his WSOP exploits too, he is quite the poker players and boasts of an excellent poker record. His first recorded score on Hendon Mob is, in fact, his debut bracelet win that came in the $3K NLHE in 2007. While Pillai has been regular across the East Coast in the U.S. and other venues in Las Vegas, he is quite the regular on the Asian circuit as well, and has featured prominently in numerous Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) stops in the past.

In the heads-up confrontation, Pillai locked horns with Michael Gagliano, a player with whom he shares a lot of history as both of them have clashed with each other many times in the past. The two have also crossed paths at the WSOP as well; in fact, both of them have been on the final table of a bracelet event even before this event. The incident dates back to the 2016 WSOP $2.5K NLHE where Pillai was very close to winning his second bracelet but eventually finished third while Gagliano went on to win his first bracelet. Defeating Gagliano to the title this time was redemption enough for Pillai, who pocketed the top prize of $71,580 for his win!

A field replete with former WSOP champions was a highly charged one, but Pillai was not one to be intimidated. “Every time they folded, I tried to play as many pots as I could,” he said.

The tournament saw a prize pool of $277,500 being generated, and 51 players advanced to Day 2 that played down to the nine-handed final table.

Cord Garcia (11th for $4,402), Brian Yoon (15th for $3,584), Ryan Riess (26th for $2,520) and Yuval Bronshtein (28th for $2,520) were some notables who made it in the money.

Upeksha Di Silva (10th for $4,402) was eliminated as the final table bubble after his ace-queen was cracked by Tommy Nguyen’s ace-king.

Nguyen who went on a rampage once the play came down to the last two tables and was also the one responsible for eliminating India`s Nikita Luther. He has entered the final table in pole position with a stack of 2,620,000.


Final Table Chip Counts

  1. Tommy Nguyen – 2,620,000
  2. Shankar Pillai – 2,200,000
  3. Michael Gagliano – 1,770,000
  4. Brett Apter – 740,000
  5. Andreas Klatt – 520,000
  6. Haixia Zhang – 440,000
  7. Thom Werthmann – 430,000
  8. Scott Bohlman – 270,000
  9. Kevin Gerhart – 100,000

 

Final Table Recap

On the eighth hand on the final table, Haixia Zhang ran her ace-queen into Shankar Pillai’s pocket jacks and failing to pair any of her cards, Zhang had to leave in ninth place.

After six more hands, the remaining eight players were asked to bag up for the night. Leading the lot was Tommy Nguyen who held 2,910,000. Pillai was a close second with 2,425,000.

Final Day Chip Counts

  1. Tommy Nguyen – 2,910,000
  2. Shankar Pillai – 2,425,000
  3. Michael Gagliano – 1,500,000
  4. Brett Apter – 995,000
  5. Andreas Klatt – 440,000
  6. Kevin Gerhart – 370,000
  7. Thom Werthmann – 370,000
  8. Scott Bohlman – 260,000

 

Final Day Recap

In the second hand of the day, Scott Bohlman jammed all of his 260,000 in with king-jack, but unfortunately for him, Thom Werthmann woke up with pocket aces behind him, eliminating the former in eighth place.

As each of the remaining contenders jostled over the chip lead, Tommy Nguyen claimed the next two eliminations, sending Thom Werthmann out in seventh place, and Andreas Klatt in sixth place.

With more than 4 million in his stack, Nguyen was by then comfortably ahead of the rest of the field.

Kevin Gerhart then lost a massive pot to Pillai and was soon eliminated by Michael Gagliano in fifth place, with his queen-jack failing to improve against the latter’s rivered two-pair.

Not long after, Brett Apter moved all-in for 1.160 Million after Pillai’s raise to 85,000. Pillai made the call, tabling against Apter’s . Apter was at risk, and the board didn’t bail him out, forcing him out in fourth place.

The next few hands saw Pillai and Gagliano squabble to take control. Gagliano won several pots leaving Tommy Nguyen short-stacked. Soon Nguyen raised to 100,000 from the button and Pillai three-bet for 350,000 from the small blind on which Nguyen called. The flop fell , and Pillai fired a bet of 250,000 while Nguyen called again. After the turn, Pillai opted to check, and Nguyen moved all-in for 965,000 evoking a snap-call from Pillai.

Tommy Nguyen

Shankar Pillai

The river sealed Nguyen’s fate as Pillai collected the pot with his blades, eliminating Nguyen in third place.

Pillai entered the heads-up play with 3.94 Million in chips against Michael Gagliano’s 5.31 Million, but Pillai soon took down a massive pot to take over a two-to-one chip lead. Gagliano, however, soon caught up to even the stacks. The back-and-forth continued till Pillai took firm control.

Finally, Pillai won his second bracelet holding for a turned straight on the board against Gagliano`s.

Shankar Pillai takes down $1.5K NLHE 50th Annual Bracelet Winners Only

Final Table Results (USD)

  1. Shankar Pillai – $71,580
  2. Michael Gagliano – $44,232
  3. Tommy Nguyen – $31,176
  4. Brett Apter – $22,349
  5. Kevin Gerhart – $16,299
  6. Andreas Klatt – $12,097
  7. Thom Werthmann – $9,140
  8. Scott Bohlman – $7,032
  9. Haixia Zhang – $5,512

 

Content & Images Courtesy: World Series of Poker

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