WSOP 2018: Brian Hastings Wins 4th Bracelet in Event #76 – $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. For $233,202

354 players had turned up for the final mixed tournament of the 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP) i.e. Event #76: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E., but only 19 runners returned to fight for the top honours on the final Day 3. It was the Day 3 chip leader Brian Hastings (cover image) who topped the remaining field to win his fourth WSOP gold bracelet and take home the first-place prize money worth $233,202.

Hastings had won his first bracelet in Event #12: $10,000 Heads Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship (512 max) in 2012 for $371,498. He followed it up with back-to-back bracelet wins in 2015 in Event #27: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship for $239,518 and Event #39: $1,500 10-Game Mix for $133,403. He has a total of 32 cashes at the WSOP and cumulative earnings of $1,836,309.

When asked about his fourth bracelet win in the post-event interview, Hastings said, “It feels amazing, this was my last event of the summer and I had a couple of runs before this, but to end it this way just feels great.” He added, “I came into heads-up with a four- or five-to-one chip disadvantage, but the cards ran my way and I made a few hands. Andrew is a good player and things just went my way.”

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Hye Park – 1,110,000

2. Brian Hastings – 1,095,000

3. Tim Marsters – 820,000

4. Bruno Fitoussi – 785,000

5. Andrew Brown – 620,000

6. Jeff Madsen – 575,000

7. Dutch Boyd – 270,000

8. Lee Markholt – 195,000

Final Table Recap

The first one to depart from the eight-handed final table was Frenchman Bruno Fitoussi. In a Omaha Hi-Lo hand, Lee Markholt opened from late position and Fitoussi shoved all-in from the big blind. Markholt called and both players tabled their hands. Markholt tabled against Fitoussi’s . With the board running , Markholt cracked Fitoussi’s pocket rockets with two pairs of queens and fours and Fitoussi was eliminated in eighth place.

In the very next hand of Razz, Dutch Boyd opened and tabled an ace which was countered by Tim Marsters with a raise showing a seven. Boyd moved all-in for 80,000 and both players turned their cards. Boyd’s Ax9x3x2xAxJx3x lost out to Marsters’ 7x6x2x8x5x6xQx as the latter hit an eight low to rake in the pot, confirming Boyd’s exit in seventh place.

Sometime later, Hye Park raised from the button and Jeff Madsen defended from the big blind. The flop fell , Madsen check-called to see the turn . Madsen checked again and Park moved all-in with his remaining 95,000. Madsen snap-called and showed while Park tabled . Madsen was in the lead with two pairs of nines and sevens while Park had a pair of sixes and the outs for a flush draw. However the river was not in Park’s favour and he was eliminated in sixth place.

A few hands later, the eventual champion Hastings opened from the cutoff and Lee Markholt called from the small blind. The flop brought , following which Hastings led out and Markholt immediately raised, prompting Hastings to call. On the turn , Markholt moved all-in for his last 65,000, Hastings tanked for a few minutes and called. Markholt flipped over :13c against Hastings’ . The river made no difference and Markholt was busted in fifth place.

Finishing in fourth place was Jeff Madsen. Hastings opened from the button with and Madsen moved all-in from the small blind with . Hastings called and the flop fanned out . Hastings picked up the lead with top pair. The remaining two streets and missed both players and Madsen made his way to the rail.

About an hour later, in a Omaha Hi-Lo hand, Hastings opened from the button and received a 3-bet from Tim Marsters in big blind. Hastings called and the dealer brought the flop . Marsters bet again and Hastings called. The turn brought and Marsters bet for a third time and Hastings went all-in. Marsters called with and held a pair of aces while Hastings had and had hit a straight on the turn with a seven low. The river did not improve Marsters’ hand and he moved on to collect the third place prize money.

With the heads-up play set between Andrew Brown and Brian Hastings, three games of Stud, two of Stud Hi-Lo and Hold’em and a game each of Omaha Hi-Lo and Razz were played, before the final Omaha Hi-Lo hand declared a champion!

On the final hand of the event, Hastings raised from the button and Brown moved all-in with his last 300,000 from big blind. Hastings called with and Brown tabled . The flop opened and Hastings maintained his lead with pocket tens. The turn gave Brown the possibility of nines-up and the outs for a flush draw, but the dashed those chances and Brown was relegated to a runner-up finish while Hastings won the WSOP gold bracelet and the top prize of $233,202.

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Brian Hastings – $233,202

2. Andrew Brown – $144,128

3. Tim Marsters – $97,340

4. Jeff Madsen – $67,121

5. Lee Markholt – $47,275

6. Hye Park – $34,027

7. Dutch Boyd – $25,040

8. Bruno Fitoussi – $18,849

Content and image courtesy: WSOP.com.

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