It’s a busy time on the poker scene with the World Series of Poker in full swing. We’ll start off our weekly recap of the poker news there as a number of players are cashing in big at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino:
Moon Wins Inaugural Big Blind Antes Event at WSOP
Benjamin Moon of the United States won the inaugural edition of Event #13: $1,500 Big Blind Antes No-Limit Hold’em. It was the first World Series of Poker bracelet win for Moon, who won $315,346 to outlast a sizable field of 1,305 players. In second place was France’s Romain Lewis, who won $194,837, and next was the United States’ Colin Robinson, who won $138,938. Americans rounded out the top five as well as Steven Snyder won $100,268 and Nhathanh Nguyen won $73,242.
Moon does not have a lot of experience with poker but he also won the $350 No-Limit Hold’em – KO Bounty #2 at the World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic in January. He only decided to become a professional poker player in October but he appears to be far more advanced than many other first-year pros. This isn’t the end of his participation in the 2018 World Series of Poker as he’s scheduled to be involved in events to come.
Friedman Collects Second WSOP Bracelet
Adam Friedman won his second World Series of Poker bracelet in Event #18: $10,000 Dealer’s Choice. The event started out with 111 players but was quickly whittled down to 41 after Day 1. Eight more players got in for Day 2 and then 13 players were around for the final day. Friedman won $293,275, making it the biggest payday of his career. The American was followed by England’s Stuart Rutter, who won $181,258. Russia’s Alexey Makarov was next with $127,487. The top five was rounded out by Americans Chris Klodnicki and David Baker, who won $90,713 and $65,308, respectively.
Friedman’s first World Series of Poker bracelet came back in 2012 when he won $269,037 in the $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo.
Levine Wins Mid-States Poker Tour Event
The record-setting $1,100 Mid-States Poker Tour at the Venetian in Las Vegas has come to a conclusion and American David Levine earned the win. The event had a guarantee of $3.5 million, which was easily reached after 4,441 people signed up to play. This made it the biggest tournament in the history of the Mid-States Poker Tour.
Levine took home $495,500 for his troubles at the tournament, which took over two days to complete. Levine struck a deal with Peru’s Felipe Davila, who took home $405,500 for his efforts. Lou “AP” Garza and Scott Massimiano, both Americans, won $266,645 and $197,833, respectively. Owen Crowe of Canada finished up the top five with $150,525.
It was a big win for Levine, who is not a professional poker player; he is actually an EMT. However, he said that he was going to play in a few more tournaments this summer after this win.