Home » News » WSOP 2019: Kevin Gerhart Wins Event#54: $1.5K Razz For $119,054

WSOP 2019: Kevin Gerhart Wins Event#54: $1.5K Razz For $119,054

Namita Ghosh June 26, 2019
2 Minutes Read

The 50^th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) saw another bracelet event go down in the history books on June 25. Dominating a 363-strong player field, Kevin Gerhart (cover image) took down Event #54: $1,500 Razz to join the fast expanding club of first-time bracelet winners at the ongoing series and $119,054 in prize money.

Making Gerhart’s victory run even more laudable is the fact that this was the first Razz tournament he has ever played at the WSOP. To make matters more complicated for him, he had bracelet winners Robert Campbell and Scott Clements with him on the final table. Gerhart, however, was undeterred and single-handedly eliminated the last six players on the final table that included his heads-up opponent, Brazil’s Sergio Braga.

The Brazilians like the Indians have done exceedingly well at the ongoing series. They have already made 10 final table appearances at the 2019 WSOP and converted two of them into bracelet wins. Another thing the Brazilians share with their Indian counterparts is a strong camaraderie that translates into a loud and boisterous rail every time one of them is running deep. The eventual runner-up, Braga, was also supported by a large and noisy rail that cheered him on all the way into the heads-up play but at the end, it was Gerhart who walked away with the bracelet.

“First razz tournament, first bracelet. I mean I’ve played a bunch of other tournaments with razz, but this is the first razz tournament at the WSOP,” Gerhart revealed. “I felt great the entire time. There were three other tough players at the final table and they got knocked out early. I felt like it was my tournament to win or lose at that point.”

Gerhart added, “I’m one of the elites now with a bracelet. My goal this summer was to make a final table. And then at my first final table, to win a bracelet…that’s unreal.”

Day 1 saw the 363-player field trimmed down to 136 players. Only 15 among them were left standing for Day 3.

Several notables finished in the money amidst the top 55 players who earned at least $2,247. These included Jennifer Tilly (12^th for $5,866), Charles Lorentz (17^th for $3,325), Day 1 chip leader Eric Rodawig (28^th for $2,895) and defending champion Jay Kwon (40^th for $2,589).

It didn’t take long for Day 3 to wind down to the nine-handed final table that got moving with Harold Parker`s (10^th for $7,441) elimination.

Final Table Chip Counts

Sergio Braga – 790,000
Joseph Hoffman – 700,000
Robert Campbell – 565,000
Jean Said – 560,000
Scott Clements – 560,000
Andres Korn – 385,000
Grzegorz Wyraz – 325,000
Kevin Gerhart – 280,000
Christopher Kusha – 150,000

Final Table Recap

Short-stacked Christopher Kusha was the first one out in ninth place. Grzegorz Wyraz was sent packing next by Gerhart in eighth place, and the latter propelled himself as the chip leader.

The only two bracelet winners on the final table, Robert Campbell and Scott Clements went out in quick succession of each other in seventh and sixth place respectively.

Jean Said, who had steadily worked himself up the ranks, found his run cut short by Gerhart in fifth place.

Gerhart was now holding half the chips in play, and his next victim was the start-of-day chip leader Andres Korn in fourth place.

Sergio Braga took a meaty double-up through Gerhart to get the latter short-stacked, but he picked up momentum after sending Joseph Hoffman to the rail in third place.

Coming into the heads-up play, Gerhart boasted a massive chip lead with 3.6 Million to Sergio Braga’s 700,000, and though the latter doubled up three times, the fourth all-in showdown turned out to be the last hand of the tournament with Gerhart winning the title and his first bracelet!