WSOP 2022: Sebastien Aube Wins Event #78: $2,500 NLHE For $499,636; India’s Abhinav Iyer Finishes 27th (₹11.14 Lakhs)

This year’s new addition, the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #78: $2,500 NLHE, made a three-day run for its 1,364-player starting field to play down to a winner. Twenty-two players returned for the final day’s play on Wednesday, where Canada’s Sebastien Aube (left-cover image) eventually struck gold, winning his first WSOP bracelet and a personal-best $499,636. France’s Julien Loire collected $308,817 in second place.

The only Indian player to cash the event, bracelet winner Abhinav Iyer (right-cover image), busted 27th on Day 2 for $13,999 (~₹11.14 Lakhs). It was Iyer’s 36th overall WSOP cash and his sixth of the series, pushing him over the $1 Million mark in lifetime WSOP winnings. He boasts an impressive $1,012,727 in recorded winnings at the WSOP, of which he has won $87,162 (~₹69.38 Lakhs) at the 2022 WSOP.

According to his Hendon Mob & WSOP.com profile, Sebastien Aube just had one ITM finish at the WSOP before the win in Event 71: $1,111 One More For One Drop (393rd for $2,815). The bracelet score has boosted his lifetime earnings to $502,451.

Aube entered the final day’s play as one of the top five chip stacks in the field and had a curvy start but slowly climbed back up. He had worked up a commanding chip lead by the time the final table was formed and carried it to the finish line.

In his post-match interview, Sebastien Aube said, “I played recreationally in my 20’s, and when I opened my last business in the pandemic, I came upon the MasterClass of Daniel Negreanu. I always liked the guy, so I was like, alright, let’s go. He really psyched me up. It’s the same recipe to succeed in poker as it is in business, so it really called to me.”

Aube came out to test the skills he picked up in the Masterclass for the WSOP Main Event. It was his first time playing in the series, and while the cards didn’t exactly fall his way in the Main Event, they sure did in this event.

The excited Sebastian Aube later shared, “I’m extremely psyched. I was in it for the bracelet mostly, and I’m very glad that I got it. I’m so excited; it’s a very good accomplishment for my second live cash in a tournament; a pretty good one to do it in.”

His girlfriend and 11-month-old child are currently in Montreal, Canada, and were getting updates on his status throughout the day. “I can’t wait to celebrate with my friends and family. My girlfriend is asleep now, but she is going to wake up and be so excited with the amazing news of my win.”

The event generated a hefty $3,034,900 prize pool and paid out 205 places.

Several well-known players cashed the event, including David Miscikowski (13th for $25,474), Kenny Hallaert (16th for $20,585), James Gilbert (17th for $20,585), Dominik Panka (37th for $11,785), Alex Livingston (50th for $10,061), Joey Weissman (52nd for $10,061), Angel Guillen (61st for $8,712), Martin Jacobson (70th for $7,654), Unibet Poker Team Pro Alexandre Reard (75th for $6,823), Joe Cada (80th for $6,823), Chance Kornuth (81st for $6,174), Andres Korn (87th for $6,174), Taylor Paur (93rd for $5,671), Justin Saliba (113th for $5,290) along with Indo-American bracelet winners Shankar Pillai (130th for $5,011) and Raj Vohra (143rd for $4,385).

Thomas MacDonald was eliminated in eleventh place for $31,945.

Unofficial Final Table Chip Counts

1. Sebastien Aube – 11,000,000
2. Brian Keith Etheridge – 8,575,000
3. Axel Hallay – 8,225,000
4. Leandro Vlastaris – 5,000,000
5. Brien Lee – 3,900,000
6. Jonathan Zarin – 3,100,000
7. Julien Loire – 2,600,000
8. Matt Berkey – 2,400,000
9. Ran Koller – 1,650,000
10. Santiago Plante – 1,350,000

Brien Lee was the first to exit the unofficial ten-handed final table (10th for $31,945).

Final Table Recap

Jonathan Zarin had his FT run cut short in ninth place. He jammed with and Brian Keith Etheridge looked him up with . The community cards opened , giving Etheridge a broadway straight.

Next on the chopping block was Ran Koller in eighth place, and he went down with against Matt Berkey’s .

100 minutes later, BetMGM Poker Ambassador Matt Berkey crashed out in seventh place after his all-in shove got picked up by Sebastien Aube’s .

Not long after that, Santiago Plante went out in sixth place, with his finding no succor against Axel Hallay’s .

The spate of eliminations continued unabated, and Leandro Vlastaris headed out in fifth place after running his into Sebastien Aube’s .

The action calmed down for some time before Axel Hallay joined the rail in fourth place. On the board , Sebastien Aube checked-shoved (two pairs), and Halley made the call with only to get a bad news.

Just minutes later, Brian Keith Etheridge busted in third place after his lost out to Julien Loire’s .

Entering the heads-up match, Sebastien Aube (27,000,000) held a marginal lead over Julien Loire (20,000,000), but things wrapped up quickly. The final hand saw Sebastien Aube moving all-in with the board open . Loire called with for a rivered straight. However, Aube tabled to take down the title with his full house!

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Sebastien Aube – $499,636
2. Jilien Loire – $308,817
3. Brian Keith Etheridge – $222,762
4. Axel Hallay – $162,627
5. Leandro Vlastaris – $120,177
6. Santiago Plante – $89,905
7. Matt Berkey – $68,102
8. Ran Koller – $52,240
9. Jonathan Zarin – $40,588

Content & Cover Image Courtesy: PokerGO, PokerNews & WSOP

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