The $10k 2-7 Lowball Draw at the 2018 World Series of Poker began a couple of days ago with 95 entries and drew multiple bracelet winners, including Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, Ben Yu, Erik Seidel, John Hennigan and Eli Elezra. By the end of Day 2, the field came down to just 11 players, who returned for the final day and after a few hours of grinding it was USA’s Brian Rast, who managed to defeat the field and take home $259,670 and 4th WSOP bracelet for his win.
The final 11 players returned for the final day action with all eyes fixated on the 10-time bracelet winner Doyle Brunson, who made a comeback to the WSOP fold to play his last event – $10k 2-7 Lowball Draw with the hope of finishing his career with his 11th WSOP bracelet. The field on final day lost three players in just first 40 minutes of play, including Doyle’s son Todd Brunson.
The unofficial final table with the final 8 players took around 3 hours before Farzad Bonyadi was eliminated by James Alexander to leave the final seven in contention. Up next, John Hennigan was busted in seventh place by Rast. The next elimination came in the Godfather of Poker – Brunson, who hit the rail for his last time in sixth place. He was all in before the draw against James Alexander. They drew one with Brunson drawing to an eight-low and Alexander looking to make a 10-low.
Following Brunson were Shawn Sheikhan in fifth and James Alexander in fourth places. Italy’s Dario Sammartino had a good run, but the 2015 Super High Roller Bowl winner Brian Rast and this event’s Day 2 chip leader Mike Wattel kept him quiet. He was eventually eliminated by Rast, who earlier busted Alexander to take the chip lead and then eliminated Sammartino in third place.
The heads-up began with Rast holding a 4:1 chip lead. It was one-sided as Rast kept dominating. Wattel ‘however’ refused to give up easily and won a few pots, trying to make a comeback. The two fought well and it went on for nearly three hours before Rast was crowned champion, winning $259,670 and his 4th WSOP bracelet. Rast has over $21 million in live poker earnings.
This tournament will be remembered less for its champion, and more for the last ever WSOP tournament of the 84-year old Doyle Brunson, who announced his retirement from the game on Monday. He had a good run in this event and retired in style finishing 6th for $43,963. It was a very special event for Brunson as his son also made a deep run finishing tenth for $18,955.
Top 10 Results:
1st: Brian Rast – $259,670
2nd: Mike Wattel – $160,489
3rd: Dario Sammartino – $114,023
4th: James Alexander – $81,986
5th: Shawn Sheikhan – $59,669
6th: Doyle Brunson – $43,963
7th: John Hennigan – $32,796
8th: Farzad Bonyadi – $24,775
9th: Ray Dehkharghani – $18,955
10th: Todd Brunson – $18,955