Monday, June 29, 2015 3:27 AM Local Time
EVENT #54: $10,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha
ENTRIES: 387
PRIZE POOL: $3,637,800
FIRST PLACE PRIZE: $927,655
PLACES PAID: 40
DATES: June 26-28, 2015
Alexander Petersen Wins Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship
Danish Online Poker Pro Earns First WSOP Gold Bracelet and Collects $927,655
Petersen Stages Wild Comeback versus Jason Mercier, Denies Floridian His Fourth WSOP Title
MEET THE LATEST WSOP GOLD BRACELET CHAMPION
Name: Alexander Petersen
Birthplace: Aarhus, Denmark
Age: 31
Current Residence: Aarhus, Denmark
Marital Status: Single
Children: None
Profession: Professional Poker Player
Number of WSOP Cashes: 1
Number of WSOP Final Table Appearances: 1
Number of WSOP Gold Bracelet Victories: 1
Best Previous WSOP Finish: None
Total WSOP Earnings: $927,655
Personal
Facts: Petersen is one of the top Pot-Limit Omaha players in the
world, by virtue of his cash game online winnings playing this game over
the past 7 years
[Note: All statistics above include the results of this tournament]
Alexander
Petersen is probably a name most poker fans haven’t heard of before.
But that’s likely to change with his startling come-from-behind
tournament victory on the biggest stage in poker this evening, when he
won his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet. The Danish poker pro
win the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship, which was played
out over the last three days and completed at the Rio in Las Vegas.
The
Pot-Limit World Championship attracted 387 players, which created a
$3,537,800 prize pool. The top 40 finishers collected a payout.
Petersen plowed through a tough final table, and left the runner up
Jason Mercier shaking his head from an absolutely bizarre turn of events
in the closing stages of heads-up play that dumbfounded all witnesses
for how quickly the chip lead and outcome was reversed.
Petersen
was behind in chips by about a 3 to 1 margin when heads-up play
commenced, then quickly doubled up, and before the chips had been
re-stacked he had Mercier all in and covered holding what turned out to
be the winning hand. Meanwhile, Mercier on the verge of winning his
second gold bracelet of the summer was instead left with disappointment,
inasmuch as a $572,989 consolation prize can be considered a blow.
For
his victory, the first major live tournament win of Petersen’s career,
he raked in a whopping $927,655 in prize money. This was one of the
largest top cash prizes of the series, so far. Remarkably, this marked
Petersen’s first time to cash at the series. Even though he’d come and
previously played at the WSOP, the 31-year-old Dane never really took
the live tournaments seriously, instead opting to play and have fun in
Las Vegas.
“Coming
to Las Vegas was always a break for me, away from playing,” Peterson
explained. “This is first event I played here where I really took it
seriously, and it paid off.”
Nonetheless,
Petersen is no stranger to poker or success in the game. He’s
relatively unknown in live settings because virtually all of his
accolades have taken place online. Petersen has been a full-time
professional poker player for 11 years, and has specialized in online
Pot-Limit Omaha cash games for the past 7. Hence, he was beyond
experienced at this level and arguably arrived at this final table as
the player who had played more Pot-Limit Omaha hands than anyone else.
When
asked how high the stakes are when he usually plays, Petersen remarked
that he’s “used to winning or losing half a million in a single month.”
Petersen’s
early poker background is just as interesting. He started playing
online while in business school. He even worked as a computer
programmer and helped to design home pages. Then, he discovered poker
and started playing. Once he found online poker, Petersen came to learn
that as he got better at the game and continued to increase his level
of skill, he started winning more.
“In
poker, you get out what you put into it,” Petersen said. “I used to
play my favorite hands and all that, then I started learning that if you
studied and got really good, you could make a living at this. I’ve
been making my living at poker for more than ten years now.”
Petersen
has played in several European Poker Tour events in the past, with some
cashes, but nothing on the scale of a WSOP victory.
No
less than four of the nine final table players had previously won gold
bracelets, including Hasan Habib (1 win), Shaun Deeb (1 win), Davidi
Kitai (3 wins), and Jason Mercier (3 wins). However, in the end it was
an online specialist who came out of nowhere who obliterated the dreams
of several other experienced players and walked away with the title and
the coveted gold bracelet.
When asked about what plans he has for the huge financial boost, Petersen was a little less enthusiastic.
“Where
I live (in Denmark), we have to pay a lot of taxes – something like 55
percent,” Petersen said. “So, after I pay taxes on this money, it means
I really came in second.”
Following Petersen’s finish in the top spot, the descending order of results was as follows:
Second Place: Jason
Mercier, from Davie, FL finished in 2nd place, which paid $572,989.
Mercier almost became the third player of this year’s series to win
duel gold bracelets (Max Pescatori and Brian Hastings were the others).
However, his hopes crumbled in the final stage of this tournament, much
of Petersen’s delight. Mercier, who won WSOP titles in 2009, 2011, and
2015 collected $572,989, which was the third-best score of Mercier’s
career at the WSOP. His career winnings at the annual series now totals
in excess of $3.5 million.
Third Place: Dan
Smith, from Las Vegas, NV finished in 3rd place, which paid $369,564.
This marked his second time to finish 3rd at this summer’s series. He
took the same spot earlier in the Deuce-to-Seven Lowball Championship.
Smith now has 22 cashes and more than $1.4 million on his WSOP resume.
Fourth Place:
Simon “Aces” Trumper, from Nottingham, UK finished in 4th place, which
paid $267,778. This marked Trumper’s deepest run at the WSOP in 13
years. The bombastic poker pro, who appeared on numerous televised
events in the past, has been one of England’s most colorful
personalities for many years, but still remains without a gold bracelet.
Fifth Place: Mohsin
Virani, from El Dorado, AR finished in 5th place, which paid $196,877.
Remarkably, this was his first time ever to cash at the WSOP.
Sixth Place: Steven
Reichardt, from Hamburg, Germany finished in 6th place, which paid
$146,857. This was Reichert’s second time to cash at the series.
Seventh Place: Davidi
Kitai, from Brussels, Belgium finished in 7th place, which paid
$111,134. He’s a three-time WSOP gold bracelet winner, with wins in
2008, 2013, and 2014. Kitai is now one WSOP win behind Max Pescatori
among European poker players with the most WSOP victories. However,
he’s the biggest winner in WSOP history ever from Belgium, with 24
cashes and more than $1.6 million in series earnings.
Eighth Place:
Shaun Deeb, from Troy, NY finished in 8th place. He won a gold
bracelet earlier in 2015, and was hoping for a second victory. This
would have been a double whammy of a WSOP had Deeb won, especially since
his previous victory was in the $10,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Hold’em
championship. Instead, Deeb had to settle for a payout totaling
$85,306.
Ninth Place: Hasan
Habib, originally from Pakistan and now from Downey, CA finished in 9th
place, which rounded out the final table. He collected $66,463. Habib
won his gold bracelet back in 2004. He also finished 4th in the 2000
WSOP Main Event Championship.
OTHER IN-THE-MONEY FINISHERS:
Aside
from the final table finishers, other gold bracelet winning players who
cashed included – Brian Rast (30th), Sorel Mizzi (37th), and William
Kakon (40th).
Tony
“Top Cat” Cousineau cashed yet again (31st), which is the 72nd
in-the-money finish of his career. It’s also his fourth cash at this
year’s series. Cousineau is the all-time cashes leader in WSOP history
without a gold bracelet victory.
FUN FACTS:
Pot-Limit
poker made its WSOP debut back in 1984, when two Pot-Limit Omaha
tournaments were offered. There were no Pot-Limit tournaments of any
kind played at the WSOP from 1970 through 1983.
The
only Pot-Limit variety which was played at the WSOP between 1984 and
1991 was Pot-Limit Omaha. Pot-Limit Hold’em action was restricted to
cash games.
Monday, June 29, 2015 1:40 AM Local Time
Jason Mercier limps from the button and Alexander Petersen raises to 300,000 from the big blind. Mercier calls and the two see a flop of . Petersen leads for 600,000 and Mercier pushes his last 1,200,000 in the middle. Petersen calls and the cards are tabled.
Petersen:
Mercier:
Mercier leads with two pair but has to fade the many outs of Petersen. The on the turn gives Petersen a flush and the on the river does not fill up Mercier meaning he is out in second place.
Mercier earns $572,989 for his second place finish. This is Mercier's fourth cash of the World Series.
Petersen wins $927,655 for first place and the WSOP gold bracelet.
A full recap will be posted shortly.
Monday, June 29, 2015 1:35 AM Local Time
Alexander Petersen raises to 300,000 on the button and Jason Mercier calls. The dealer spreads a flop of and Mercier checks to Petersen. Petersen fires out 300,000 and Mercier immediately raises "pot" to 1,500,000. Petersen thinks about it for over 30 seconds and eventually calls.
Petersen sticks his hands out in front of his face and asks they not announce the turn card. The dealer burns and turns the and Mercier moves all in. Petersen sees the turn and snap calls.
Mercier:
Petersen:
Petersen flopped the nuts and just has to fade a river club. The hits the river and Petersen doubles up to just shy of ten million. Mercier is crippled.
Alexander Petersen - 9,950,000
Jason Mercier - 1,660,000
Monday, June 29, 2015 1:27 AM Local Time
Jason Mercier - 6,635,000
Alexander Petersen - 4,975,000
Monday, June 29, 2015 1:26 AM Local Time
Jason Mercier limps from the small blind and Dan Smith raises to 300,000. Mercier calls and the flop comes .
Mercier checks to Smith who bets 250,000 and Mercier min-raises to 500,000. Smith looks at his stack and shoves the remaining 600,000 in the middle. Mercier snap-calls and shows for the nut straight.
Smith has meaning he needs a for a chop, or running full house cards.
The turn is the and the river is the leaving Smith drawing dead and eliminated.
Jason Mercier - 6,635,000
Dan Smith - Eliminated
Monday, June 29, 2015 1:23 AM Local Time
Alexander Petersen limps from the small blind and Jason Mercier raises the action to 300,000. Petersen calls and the two see a flop of .
They both check and the hits the turn. Petersen bets 475,000 and Mercier calls which brings the on the river.
Petersen bets 500,000 and after a second of contemplating, Mercier calls and see Petersen's for a rivered straight.
Jason Mercier - 5,225,000
Alexander Petersen - 5,105,000
Monday, June 29, 2015 1:17 AM Local Time
Alexander Petersen raises the button to 200,000 and Dan Smith calls from the big blind. The dealer fans out a flop of and Smith checks to Petersen. Petersen tosses out a bet of 200,000 and Smith calls.
The turn brings the and Smith checks for a second time. Petersen announces "pot" betting 850,000 and Smith releases his hand.
Alexander Petersen - 3,800,000
Dan Smith - 1,850,000
Monday, June 29, 2015 1:13 AM Local Time
Jason Mercier raises to 200,000 on the button and both players tag along from the blinds.
The dealer spreads a flop of and both Smith and Petersen check-fold to a bet of 140,000 from Mercier.
Monday, June 29, 2015 1:09 AM Local Time
Alexander Petersen limps from the small blind and Jason Mercier checks his option.
The flop is and Petersen check-calls 115,000 from Mercier.
Petersen checks again on the turn and Mercier fires 265,000. Petersen check-raises Mercier to 675,000. Mercier thinks for a few minutes before finally giving up his hand and shipping the pot over to Petersen.
Alexander Petersen - 2,150,000
Jason Mercier - 6,205,000
Monday, June 29, 2015 1:06 AM Local Time
Jason Mercier raises from the button to 200,000 and finds a caller in Alexander Petersen in the big blind.
The flop comes and Petersen checks to Mercier who bets 240,000. Petersen calls and the falls on the turn. Both players check and the comes on the river.
Petersen checks again to Mercier who bets 415,000. Petersen says he does not think he can not lay his hand down and calls. Mercier shows him for two pair and takes the pot.
Jason Mercier - 6,500,000
Alexander Petersen - 1,700,000
Monday, June 29, 2015 12:59 AM Local Time
Simon Trumper limps from under the gun and action folds to Alex Petersen who decides to limp from the small blind. Mercier checks his option from the big blind and the three see a flop of .
Both blinds check to Trumper, who continues for 175,000. Petersen quickly folds and Mercier announces "pot", raising to 825,000. Trumper moves all in and Mercier snap calls.
Trumper:
Mercier:
Mercier is ahead with his flopped set, but will have to dodge any spade, running straight cards, or the one king remaining in the deck.
The on the turn provides Trumper with additional outs, needing any queen to improve to broad way. The hits the river and Trumper is sent to the rail in 4th place.
Jason Mercier - 6,400,000
Simon Trumper - Eliminated
Monday, June 29, 2015 12:47 AM Local Time
Alexander Petersen raises the button to 200,000 and action folds through to Simon Trumper in the big blind who announces "pot" raising it to 650,000. Petersen calls and the two see the dealer spread a flop of and Trumper immediately moves all in for his last 1,200,000. Petersen folds and Trumper rakes in the pot.
Simon Trumper - 2,550,000
Alexander Petersen - 2,800,000
Monday, June 29, 2015 12:41 AM Local Time
Jason Mercier limps from under the gun and calls a 250,000 raise from Alexander Petersen. The flop is and they both check.
Petersen bets 300,000 on the turn. Mercier goes into his stack and comes out with a raise to 840,000. Petersen quickly folds and Mercier takes the pot.
Jason Mercier - 3,430,000
Alexander Petersen - 3,900,000
Monday, June 29, 2015 12:35 AM Local Time
Alexander Petersen raises to 200,000 from under the gun and Dan Smith defends out of the big blind.
The dealer spreads a flop of and Smith checks to Petersen, who checks behind. Both players see the hit the turn, and Smith takes the opportunity to lead out for 275,000. Petersen quickly calls and the two see the fall on the river.
Smith checks and Petersen checks back. Smith rolls over for a straight and takes down the pot.
Dan Smith - 2,500,000
Alexander Petersen - 4,400,000
Monday, June 29, 2015 12:27 AM Local Time
Level:29Blinds:50,000/100,000Monday, June 29, 2015 12:12 AM Local Time
Players are now on a 15 minute break.
Monday, June 29, 2015 12:11 AM Local Time
Jason Mercier limps the button for 80,000. Simon Trumper calls the small blind and Dan Smith tags along from the big blind.
Action is checked to Mercier on the flop and he bets 140,000. Trumper is the only caller and the comes on the turn. Trumper checks and Mercier bets 405,000. Trumper calls and the comes on the river.
They both check and Mercier shows for a straight to take down the pot.
Jason Mercier - 3,025,000
Simon Trumper - 2,150,000
Monday, June 29, 2015 12:11 AM Local Time
Dan Smith limps the button with Alexander Petersen limping from the small blind and Jason Mercier checking his option. The flop comes and all three players check.
Petersen bets the turn to the tune of 130,000 and Mercier calls. Smith folds and the hits the river.
Petersen bets 200,000 and Mercier raises the action all the way to 740,000. Petersen sends his cards into the muck and Mercier takes the pot.
Monday, June 29, 2015 12:06 AM Local Time
Jason Mercier raises to 160,000 on the button and action folds to Dan Smith in the big blind. Smith thinks about it briefly before announcing "pot", raising to 520,000. Mercier mucks his hand and Smith takes down the pot.
Mercier soots a look over towards his rail. "What did he have? I want to know in thirty minutes. I made it 160,000, he made it 520,000. Unless I'm not in, then I really don't care." Smith and Mercier share a laugh.
On the very next hand Mercier raises to 160,000 from under the gun and Alexander Petersen calls out of the big blind. The two see a flop of and Petersen checks to Mercier, who continues for 185,000. Petersen slides forward a tower of yellow 100,000 chips, raising pot, and Mercier quickly folds.
Jason Mercier - 2,210,000
Sunday, June 28, 2015 11:59 PM Local Time
Simon Trumper raises to 160,000 on the button and Alexander Petersen calls from the big blind.
The flop comes and Petersen check-calls for 200,000. They both check the turn.
Petersen bets 200,000 on the river and Trumper picks his cards up to look at them while holding calling chips in his other hand. After a moment, he drops the chips in and Petersen shows for a straight to take the pot. Trumper shows the and mucks.
Alexander Petersen - 4,310,000
Simon Trumper - 2,435,000