8 mins Read
Lasting over a period of four days, Event #24: THE MARATHON – $2,620 No-Limit Hold’em at the 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP) certainly lived up to its name. Defeating a field of 1,637 entrants, Australia’s Michael Addamo (cover image) was named the winner and he received his maiden WSOP gold bracelet along with the top prize of $653,581.
Having only begun playing in 2016, Addamo quickly announced his arrival on the WSOP circuit by placing third in Event #6: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em for $196,202 the same year. He followed it up by again finishing third in Event #8: $333 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold’em for $54,044 in 2017. He has cashed in 17 WSOP events and has total live winnings of $2,017,329.
Team India`s Paawan Bansal (47,400) and Anil Adiani (34,400) ran deep in the event and even made it to Day 2, but they both hit the rails in 250th and 455th place respectively before the money bubble burst. Fellow Indian Dilip Ravindran was eliminated the same day on the money bubble.
Final Table Recap
The nine-handed final table resumed play on Day 4 with Mark Sleet (7,725,000) leading the chip counts with Martin Jacobson (7,345,000) and Bart Lybaert (7,155,000) in tow. Michael Addamo, Ihar Soika, Taylor Paur, Anton Morgenstern, Ying Chan and Cate Hall made up the remainder of the final table.
Ihar Soika exited in ninth place. On the sixth hand of the day, Mark Sleet raised from the middle position and received calls from Martin Jacobson in the small blind and Soika in the big blind. The flop fell and after the three players checked, the turn opened . Jacobson began the next round of betting and got a call from Soika while Sleet re-raised. Jacobson folded. Soika tanked for some time and then decided to go all-in with . Sleet snap-called with pocket kings. The river did not help Soika resulting in his early elimination.
19 hands later it was Cate Hall’s turn to exit. Hall’s raise from under-the-gun with was countered by Michael Addamo who 3-bet from the hijack seat with . Hall shoved and Addamo called. The flop gave a full house to both players. The turn brought which meant that if an ace, king or queen came on the river, the pot would be split between both players. The river came , eliminating Hall in eight place.
Anton Morgenstern followed Hall to the rail a short while later. He shoved all-in from under-the-gun with which was raised by Jacobson from hijack and 4-bet by Bart Lybaert from the button with . Mark Sleet and Ying Chan called in from the blinds and Jacobson folded. The flop opened , Sleet and Chan check-folded after Lybaert made a bet of 400,000. After clipping top pair on the flop, Lybaert improved his hand to a two pair when the turn and river ran and respectively. Morgenstern was sent packing in seventh place.
On the very next hand, Ying Chan was eliminated in sixth place. Chan moved all-in from small blind with and Addamo called from big blind with pocket queens. The rundown showed giving Addamo three-of-a-kind queens and Chan left the final table.
Martin Jacobson was busted in fifth place when his were up against Lybaert’s pocket rockets. The community cards dashed Jacobson’s hopes of drawing a straight and the former Main Event champion was relegated to the rails.
Having started Day 3 as chip leader, Taylor Paur’s luck finally ran out on the 135th hand of the day. He raised from under-the-gun with and was countered with a 3-bet from Addamo holding , Paur called. The flop gave Paur a set sixes, Addamo bet, Paur called and the gave Addamo hopes of drawing a straight. Addamo bet again, Paur called and on the river , Addamo completed his straight while Paur had to depart in fourth place.
With final table down to three players, Bart Lybaert’s exit set up the heads-up match between Sleet and Addamo. As Sleet moved all-in from the button with , Lybaert quickly called with . Both players made top pair on the flop . With the turn missing both players and the river giving both players two pairs of kings and sevens, Sleet eventually won the pot with his 10-high kicker.
Play continued for another two hours until Mark Sleet was busted out on the 233rd hand. Sleet moved all-in from the button with while Addamo snap-called with . The board spread out in Addamo’s favour giving him top pair and the bracelet.
Final Table Results (USD)
1. Michael Addamo – $653,581
2. Mark Sleet – $403,870
3. Bart Lybaert – $290,315
4. Taylor Paur – $210,995
5. Martin Jacobson – $155,062
6. Ying Chan – $115,244
7. Anton Morgenstern – $86,631
8. Cate Hall – $65,875
9. Ihar Soika – $50,678
Content & image courtesy: WSOP.com
Keep following the latest updates from WSOP 2018 right here on PokerGuru!
Related Articles:
2. WSOP 2018: Filippos Stavrakis Wins 1st Bracelet in Event #26 – $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha For $169,842
3. WSOP 2018: Benjamin Dobson Wins Event #25 – $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better For $173,528