Jeremy Ausmus is one of the latest bracelet winners at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2021. He won the third bracelet of his career in the early morning hours of Sunday when he took down #84: $50,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller after an epic final table featuring the game’s biggest titans in Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu. While most of us were expecting the heads-up between the 16-time WSOP champion Hellmuth and the 6-time bracelet winner Negreanu, it was eventually Las Vegas pro – Ausmus who emerged victorious to win it for $1,188,918 and his third gold bracelet.
“It was fun playing with those guys, like the old-school, iconic guys. I used to watch them on TV, 17 years ago before I moved to Vegas,” said Ausmus. “I’ve played with them a lot over the years, and I play a fair amount of [pot-limit Omaha], so I felt like I liked my spot, you know. Not saying they’re not great players or anything. They have a lot of tournament experience and they’ve been here a million times,” he added.
The tournament drew an 85-entry field to create a prize pool of $4,069,375 that was finally shared by the top 13 players with a min-cash worth $83,951. The final day of this event began with Hungary’s Laszlo Bujtas leading the 33 survivors. Some big names making it to the final day as well as the ITM list were 5-time bracelet winner Shaun Deeb (11th for $91,821), 3-time bracelet winner Scott Seiver (10th for $91,821), bracelet winner Ben Lamb (8th for $132,370), and 4-time bracelet winner Josh Arieh (7th for $165,452). Jared Bleznick exited the event in sixth place ($212,223) to narrow the field down to five. Bujtas was the next to fall, with Hellmuth hitting a Full House to send Bujtas home with $279,168. Alexander Petersen’s run in this event in fourth place. Petersen’s flush got beaten by the rivered full house of Negreanu. Petersen earned $376,376 for his 4th-place finish.
The three-handed battle between Ausmus, Hellmuth, and Negreanu was one of the most iconic ones. It marked Hellmuth’s record 7th final table of the series. Hellmuth is a 16-time WSOP bracelet winner and was in the hunt for his record-extending 17th bracelet but fell just one spot shy, finishing runner-up to Ausmus and taking home a massive $734,807 for his remarkable performance.
The eventual champ Ausmus was almost out in third place when he shoved at risk in a hand against Negreanu but he improved to a flush on the river to stay in contention. Later, it was Hellmuth who moved all-in against Negreanu at the risk of his tournament life. Hellmuth had two pairs and Negreanu had a straight but Hellmuth improved to a full house on the river to celebrate his survival. Ironically, it was then Negreanu who busted in third after his two pairs losing to Hellmuth’s straight.
The heads-up play was short-lived and lasted only a few minutes. On the final hand, Ausmus raised to 1,800,000 from the button with Ad 8h 5h 2h and Hellmuth made the call with Kh 9h 7c 6d. The flop opened 9c 7d 6h where Hellmuth checked and Ausmus bet 2,000,000 with his flopped nine-high straight. Hellmuth check-raised all-in for 8,000,000 and Ausmus made the call. The turn 10c and Qc did not help Hellmuth and one of the most iconic final tables ended with Ausmus winning the title.
Final Table Payouts (USD)
|
1. |
Jeremy Ausmus – |
$1,188,918 |
|
2. |
Phil Hellmuth – |
$734,807 |
|
3. |
Daniel Negreanu – |
$519,764 |
|
4. |
Alexander Petersen – |
$376,376 |
|
5. |
Laszlo Bujtas – |
$279,168 |
|
6. |
Jared Bleznick – |
$212,223 |
|
7. |
Josh Arieh – |
$165,452 |
|
8. |
Ben Lamb – |
$132,370 |
|
9. |
Veselin Karakitukov – |
$108,753 |