Home » News » WSOP 2018: Philip Long Wins Event #22 – $1,500 Eight Game Mix For $147,348

WSOP 2018: Philip Long Wins Event #22 – $1,500 Eight Game Mix For $147,348

PG News June 12, 2018
8 mins Read

The $1,500 Eight Game Mix event at the ongoing 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP) has crowned a winner! British pro Philip Long (cover image) topped the player field of 481 runners in the three-day event that ran through an eclectic mix of different games – 8 in all – and claimed his first WSOP gold bracelet along with the first-place payday of $147,348!

On Monday, 16 players who had survived two days of tournament action reconvened one last time to play down for the bracelet. It wasn’t just any other tournament for Long, who had the daunting challenge to beat poker stalwarts like six-time WSOP bracelet champion Daniel Negreanu, among others. The event created a prize pool of $649,350 and all the 16 who moved up to reach the final day were guaranteed a minimum $6,072 in prize money.

“It’s an unusual thing when you have the eight-game mix. I think you’re always trying to be aware of what people think about the different games and what they think about you in the different games. Sometimes, some people are really confident in some games and weak in the others, and sometimes they think you’re bad at certain games. I didn’t feel that bad in anything and I think that was my main strength,” said Long, adding that the fact that he was comfortable in all the games played a major role in his victory.

“I was obviously scared of Daniel because he has played a lot, while Kevin (Malis) seemed more inexperienced. It made it easier when Daniel went out. He was obviously the best player left, so it was scary with him there”, he added, on facing Negreanu.

Earlier on Sunday, the bubble burst while 73 players were still in play, Joseph Haddad was the event’s bubble boy and Negreanu who had a rough ride through the day barely managed to survive.

Day 3 Recap

Three-time WSOP bracelet winner David Bach was the first player to get busted (16^th for $6,072) in a hand of Pot-Limit Omaha against Negreanu. The next to go was Hrair Danielyan (15^th for $6,072), followed by Robert Williamson III (14^th for $6,072), Anthony Zinno (13^th for $6,072), Mike Matusow ($7,815), Aaron Schaff (11^th for $7,815) and Devin Looney (10^th for $10,321).

Playing No Limit Hold ‘em against Negreanu, Nicholas Seikin who had entered the play on Monday with the biggest stack (360,000) bounced out next in ninth place for $10,321. Around 30 minutes later, Iori Yogo was also railed out at eighth place for $13,979.

Negreanu’s position looked strong as he managed to chip up several times. He crossed a million in chips in a Pot-Limit Omaha hand against John Racener where the latter folded. A big crowd had gathered to see Negreanu in action.

Here, the unofficial final table was announced, with the remaining seven players moving to the secondary feature table. The cards were back in the air, and just a few games later, Jean Montury was eliminated in a game of Stud Hi-Lo at seventh place giving way to the official final table of six.

Final Table Recap

The final table had its first elimination early, with Nicholas Derke hitting the rail in sixth place.

Negreanu and Per Hildebrand locked horns several times and after winning a pot against the latter in Omaha Hi-Lo, he faced Hildebrand in a hand of Pot-Limit Omaha. From the cutoff, Negreanu raised to 25,000 and Hildebrand re-raised to 85,000 from small blind. Negreanu called and the flop opened . Hildebrand bet 100,000 and Negreanu announced a raise putting his opponent all-in. After mulling over his cards for a minute, Hildebrand called for 157,000. Negreanu tabled and Hildebrand showed . Hildebrand’s two pair and backdoor straight and flush draw needed some help but failed to get there on the turn and river, forcing him out at fifth place.

Next, in a game of Hold ‘em, Long raised to 40,000 and John Racener put in 60,000 from the button. Putting Racener to risk, Long four-bet to 80,000 on which the latter shoved for 98,000. Here, Long called and Racener tabled while Long showed . The board ran , busting Racener at fourth place.

For six-time bracelet winner Negreanu, it was quite a journey to the final table but here’s where it culminated. In a game of NLHE, Negreanu led out from the small blind and Malis raised to 50,000 from big blind. Negreanu called to see the flop open . Here, Malis bet 40,000 and Negreanu check-called. The pattern repeated itself on the turn . Negreanu check-called again and the completed the board. Negreanu then called all-in for 438,000 and tabled . With on him, Malis had the superior hand and Negreanu was eliminated in third place.

The heads-up between Kevin Malis and Long went on for a good two hours where the two engaged in different games like Razz, Omaha Hi-Lo, Stud, NLHE and 2-7 Triple Draw. Long started swelling his stack to take it to over 3 Million chips, pulling more off Malis through each game.

In the final hand where the two dueled in a hand of Razz, Malis had the bring-in for 20,000 and Long completed to 50,000. By now Malis had only 88,000 left and he went all in, on which Long called. Malis’ board ran out to 6x-3x/Jx-7x-Qx-3x/8x and Long tabled Qx-2x/ Ax-6x-5x-3x / 2x. Clearly, though Malis’ Jack-eight low was inferior to Long’s six-five low, and the empty-stacked Malis returned to the rail as the event runner-up while Long picked up the gold bracelet!