Event #20: $5,000 Limit Hold'em

It took almost 27 hours and hundreds of min-raises, but finally Benjamin Scholl has been crowned the champion of Event 20: $5,000 Limit Hold'em. For that effort, Scholl goes home with all the glory, $206,760 in cash and of course the World Series of Poker gold bracelet.

When the day started, 17 players all had high hopes of being where Scholl stands right now, but only one could prevail. The first elimination of the day occurred during the first half of the very first level, with Ron Burke finding the rail in 17th place.

From there it was Mike Schneider who finished in 16th, Douglas Rutherford in 15th and Kenneth Shei in 14th. At this point Terrence Chan was slowly losing his chip stack as Chris Overgard was railed in 13th place.

Eventually Chan would bow out in 12th when he couldn't manage to run his short stack back up. The elimination of Matt Szymaszek in 11th place would send us to our unofficial final table of ten and the quick exit of Samuel Golbuff in 10th place would see us arrive at the official final table.

Final Table Lineup

Leading the final table was prominent player Jeff Shulman and the talk of the town was the fact that Jeff's father Barry Shulman was simultaneously on the final table of Event 19: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em. Jeff would end up doing better than his father, who finished in 8th place, but that's jumping ahead.

The first player to hit the rail at the final table was Ayman Qutami in 9th place, with his exit followed closely by Nicholas Derke in 8th. It was Andrew Prock who eliminated both of these players and so it was he who stole the chip lead from Shulman. However, Shulman managed to get the lead back as Matthew Woodward was eliminated in 7th place, Matt Glantz bit the dust in 6th and Raymond Dehkharghani in 5th.

Shulman's four-handed chip lead wouldn't last for long as Jesse Martin's elimination in 4th place would also see Shulman's stack start to dwindle. Shulman was almost down and out a few times, but clawed on to life multiple times to make a comeback. Shulman hung on to dear life as three-handed play marched on for multiple hours. Eventually Shulman's run would come to an end though, as he found the rail in 3rd place.

Going into heads-up, Benjamin Scholl held an almost four-to-one chip lead and it wouldn't take him long to overcome Andrew Prock. Eventually the last hand of the night played out and with that, Prock went home as the gallant runner-up, while Scholl takes home his first WSOP gold bracelet.

Event 20 Final Table Results

Thanks for tuning into our coverage of Event 20. There will be plenty more to come at the 2012 WSOP, so make sure to return to PokerNews to find out who joins Benjamin Scholl as the next gold bracelet winner.

Andrew Prock is on his last legs here in Event 20. A recent hand saw Benjamin Scholl open the button and Andrew Prock call in the big blind. The     flop would see Prock check-raise and Scholl call as a   hit the turn. This time Prock would lead and then call the raise of Scholl. Both players checked the   river and and Scholl's    would be too strong for Prock's   .

With that hand, Prock is left with just a couple of big bets.

Benjamin Scholl	2,300,000	150,000
Andrew Prock	185,000	-155,000

As you can see, Benjamin Scholl starts the heads-up battle with a substantial chip lead. Let's see how this turns out.

Benjamin Scholl	1,940,000	430,000
Andrew Prock	550,000	235,000

The rail is back and singing as Andrew Prock has raked in a pot to pick up some new chips. It started when Jeff Shulman raised in the small blind. Prock called in the big blind and a     flop was spread along the felt. Shulman opted to check-call a bet from Prock here and then do the same on the turn ( ) and the river ( ).

When it came to showdown, Prock tabled his   , with his turned two-pair sending Shulman's cards into the muck.

Jeff Shulman opened up the button and Andrew Prock three-bet from the small blind. Shulman then made it four bets to go and Prock called. The     flop would see Prock check-call a bet from Shulman and then both players checked down the turn ( ) and the river ( ).

Shulman's    was strong enough to trump the    of Prock as he raked in the pot.

Jeff Shulman	570,000	85,000
Andrew Prock	410,000	-85,000

The three remaining players have been sent on a 20-minute break. Jeff Shulman just raked in a small pot right before the break and we will have a full count update for you shortly. For your information, the 1,000-denomination chips are being taken out of the tournament and colored up.

Jeff Shulman is right back in this, with a large pot going the way of his stack, courtesy of Andrew Prock. It started with Shulman raising on the button. Prock then three-bet in the small blind and Shulman called as a     flop was dealt on the felt.

On the flop, Prock bet and Shulman raised it up. Prock called and then both players checked the   turn. The   river and Prock would lead out with a bet. Shulman promptly put in an extra bet and after some thought, Prock made the call. Shulman tabled his   , with his trip sixes enough to rake in the pot.

Andrew Prock	650,000	-520,000
Jeff Shulman	570,000	255,000

When Jeff Shulman was all-in for his last chips holding    on a    . he would be well ahead of Benjamin Scholl's   . However when a   landed on the turn, Shulman got out of his chair and was ready to leave, with Scholl making a wheel. When the dealer peeled off a   on the river, Shulman sat right back down as a wheel on the board meant it was a chopped pot to keep Shulman alive.