WSOP 2021: Shaun Deeb Wins Event #53 For His Fifth Bracelet; Nicholas Julia Ships Event #54

Shaun Deeb defeated Ka Kwan Lau heads up to win the WSOP 2021 Event #53: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller on Saturday, earning his fifth career WSOP bracelet and a $1,251,860 top prize. Deeb shipped this PLO tournament for the second time, outlasting a field of 212 entries that resulted in a prize pool of $5,008,500 shared by the top 32 players with a min-cash worth $40,966. The 35-year old poker pro became the 28th player in poker history to secure five titles at the series.

Deep has his sights set much higher now. “Now I’m gonna start multi-tabling, I really took it easy,” Deeb said. “For the rest of the year, you’re gonna see me firing pretty hard so it’s gonna be a battle.”

“I’m gonna pass Phil (Hellmuth) eventually. It’s gonna take me a while but I’m gonna pass Phil. It’s gonna take me a decade or two but I’ll be there,” Deep added throwing light on his goals ahead.

The final day of this PLO event began with Ka Kwan Lau in the lead and Deeb in fourth place among the remaining five players. Deep got off to a good start on the final day and eliminated Bulgaria’s Veselin Karakitukov in 5th place after the latter ran into Deeb’s aces. Deeb scored his second knockout at the FT when his Ad Js Jc 8c bested the Qd 9s 6d 3s of Coleman (fourth – $381,394).

After a long 3-handed battle, it was the bracelet winner John Beauprez who exited in third place ($537,295). Beauprez got all-in on a Ad Qc 7h 5s 3s board with As 9c 4d 2s and Deep called with Ks 8h 6h 4c for the nut straight to bust Beauprez in third and enter the heads-up with a 3:1 chip lead.

Deep remained ahead and finally won it. On the final hand, Deeb limped in for 300k with Ac 7d 6h 5s. Lau raised to 900k with Ah Kd Kc 8d and Deeb called to take to the flop of 8s 8c 6c. Lau bet 700k and Deeb called with an open-ended straight draw. The turn was the 5d. Lau checked and Deeb bet 2,000,000. Lau called and the 5c landed on the river, giving Deeb a backdoor full house. Lau checked his trips again and Deeb bet enough to force Lau all-in. He tanked for while before making the call.

Final Table Payouts (USD)

  1. Shaun Deeb – $1,251,860
  2. Ka Kwan Lau – $773,708
  3. John Beauprez – $537,295
  4. Maxx Coleman – $381,394
  5. Veselin Karakitukov – $276,870
  6. David Benyamine – $205,655
  7. Ben Lamb – $156,387
  8. Charles Sinn – $121,816

Nicholas Julia Wins Event #54: $2,500 Nine-Game Mix 6-Handed

The WSOP 2021 Event #54: $2,500 Nine-Game Mix 6-Handed was a three-day event that found a champion in Nicholas Julia on Sunday. Julia outlasted the 319-entry field to claim his career-first WSOP bracelet and a $168,608 top prize. He overcame Kristan Lord in heads-up, with the latter earning a consolation prize of $104,210 and missing out on his maiden WSOP gold bracelet.

Only 17 players made it to Day 3, and the unofficial seven-handed final table was a star-studded affair, with three bracelet winners in contention. Julia managed to bust two of them – Kenny Hsiung (7th – $17,017) and Robert Mizrachi (6th – $24,352) – in a single hand to get ahead in contention.

Julia busted Aditya Prasetyo in fourth and finally bested Kristan Lord in heads-up play to win the title.

Final Table Payouts (USD)

  1. Nicholas Julia – $168,608
  2. Kristan Lord – $104,210
  3. Justin Liberto – $69,341
  4. Aditya Prasetyo – $47,164
  5. Robert McLaughlin – $32,808
  6. Robert Mizrachi – $23,352