WSOP 2022: Justin Pechie Wins Career-Second Bracelet in Event #34: $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Holdem ($364,899)

Justin Pechie
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  • Atmadeep Ghosh June 19, 2022
  • 3 Minutes Read

The three-day-long Event #34: $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Holdem of the 53rd annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) saw Justin Pechie (cover image) outlasting a stacked 1,774-player field to grab the lion’s share of the $2,368,290 prize pool worth $364,899. This was Pechie’s second time winning a gold bracelet. He had won his first bracelet in Event #41: $1,500 Limit Hold ’em Shootout at the 2011 WSOP.

Pechie entered the third and final day with the third-highest stack among ten finalists and slowly paved his way to the top. In the process, he managed to edge past the two former WSOP bracelet winners on the final table, Steve Zolotow and Jeremy Wien.

Still dazed by his win, Pechie later said, “I haven’t really processed it. I never really looked at the amounts or payouts; I just came in and played how I felt I should play, and now it’s kind of sinking in.”

Two Indians – both former bracelet winners – were among the 266 players who cashed the event, namely, Young Gun Abhinav Iyer and PokerGuru Ambassador Kartik Ved.

Ved fell out on Day 1, finishing 263rd for $2,407 (~₹1.87 Lakhs), picking up his first cash at this year’s WSOP.

Iyer had progressed to Day 2 with a stack of 200,000, putting him 92nd in chips among the 158 survivors. He could not advance much further and placed 134th for $3,217 (~₹2.50 Lakhs), picking up his third cash at the ongoing series.

Day 3 saw ten players return to compete for the coveted gold bracelet.

Final Day Chip Counts

  1. Samuel Bifarella – 10,455,000
  2. Maxime Parys – 8,370,000
  3. Justin Pechie – 5,050,000
  4. Michel Leibgorin – 3,970,000
  5. Steve Zolotow – 3,960,000
  6. Dwayne Sullivan – 3,245,000
  7. David Dibernardi – 2,985,000
  8. Kenny Robbins – 2,765,000
  9. Jeremy Wien – 2,265,000
  10. Orson Young – 1,235,000

 

Within the first hour of play on Day 3, Orson Young was sent to the rail (10th for $24,407), setting up the nine-handed final table.

 

Final Table Recap

The first elimination on the final table was a double whammy, with Jeremy Wien (8th) and Dwayne Sullivan (9th) falling simultaneously. The hand in question saw Sullivan blind-shoving his last 500,000 from UTG, and Wien re-shoved for 2.4 Million from the hijack. Justin Pechie, who had both players covered, called from the button.

Dwayne Sullivan

Jeremy Wien

Justin Pechie

The board bricked, and Pechie’s pocket Queens held, fetching him the pot and boosting his stack to 8.1 Million.

Seven-handed play continued for nearly four hours before David Dibernardi eliminated Michel Leibgorin in seventh place.

David Dibernardi’s addition in chips was short-lived as he was the next one out. The eventual runner-up, Samuel Bifarella, ousted Dibernardi when his bluff didn’t go as planned, ending his run in sixth place.

The most notable player on the FT and the crowd favorite, Steve Zolotow, was the next to fall. Zolotow moved all-in from the small blind for his last 3.15 Million, and Pechie called. Zolotow was holding and Pechie tabled . The flop gave Pechie a huge advantage. With an on the turn and an on the river, Zolotow walked out in fifth place while Pechie further extended his chip lead.

Soon after that, Kenny Robbins lost out to Maxime Parys’ that rivered top pair, dismissing Robbins in fourth place.

Despite accumulating Robbin’s chips, Maxime Parys could not extend his stay at the final table for long. He bowed out in third place when his failed to match up to Samuel Bifarella’s that spiked a King on the river.

Parys’ exit made way for the heads-up between Justin Pechie (31,175,000) and Samuel Bifarella (13,050,000), with the American pro holding an enormous chip lead. Though the Frenchman fought hard, he never managed to close the chip gap, ending up with a runner-up finish.

On the final hand, with the flop open , Pechie fired a bet of 1.3 Million into the 1.8 Million pot. Bifarella jammed and Pechie snap-called.

Samuel Bifarella

Justin Pechie

While Pechie had already flopped two pairs, Bifarella had a king-high flush draw and a gutshot straight draw. The on the turn gave the Frenchman 19 outs to hit on the river. But the sealed his fate, handing Pechie the victory.

Justin Pechie
Justin Pechie

 

Final Table Results (USD)

  1. Justin Pechie – $365,899
  2. Samuel Bifarella – $225,506
  3. Maxime Parys – $164,469
  4. Kenny Robbins – $121,224
  5. Steve Zolotow – $90,306
  6. David Dibernardi – $68,002
  7. Michel Leibgorin – $51,766
  8. Jeremy Wien – $39,843
  9. Dwayne Sullivan – $31,009

 

Content & Images Courtesy: PokerGO, PokerNews & WSOP

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