Event #22: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha

After three relatively quick days of play, the 2013 World Series of Poker Event #22, $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha has crowned a champion—Josh Pollock. The 29 year old from Silver Spring, Maryland topped a field of 1,021 players to win his first WSOP gold bracelet and $279,431 top prize.

The day kicked off with an early elimination when Brandon Crawford, who had finished as the Day 1 chip leader, fell on just the sixth hand of the final table. It happened when he got the last of his chips in on the turn with three pair only to run into Noah Schwartz's flopped nuts. The river failed to help Crawford and he exited in ninth place for $19,909.

It took awhile for the next elimination to occur, 61 hands in fact, but finally came in Level 21 (8,000/16,000) when David Greene fell to Josh Pollock. In Level 22 (10,000/20,000), Wisconsin's Eddie Blumenthal was eliminated by Schwartz, giving him his second seventh-place finish of the 2013 WSOP—the other came in Event #15 $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. for $28,778.

Later on in the same level, Eric Shanks of Chicago, Illinois got unlucky when his      was cracked by Pollock's      in an all-in preflop confrontation after the board brought three spades. Shanks exited in sixth place and took home $43,460.

On the first hand back from the dinner break, which was also the first hand of Level 24 (15,000/30,000), Shawn Silber was eliminated in fifth place by Pollock , though Silber was essentially done in by James Park when he was crippled in the last hand before dinner. Three hands later (Hand #133 of final table), James Park also eliminated KT Park—no relation.

Unfortunately for him, James wasn't able to ride that moment past third place. That's where he finished when he ran queens into kings against Schwartz. That left Schwartz with a nearly 3-1 chip lead going into heads-up play against Pollock.

Schwartz seemed destined to win his first bracelet, but over the course of a 62-hand-long heads-up battle, Pollock managed to score a few fortunate doubles and then took the chip lead shortly thereafter. From there, he whittled Schwartz down and then delivered the fatal blow on Hand #215 of the final table.

Congratulations to Josh Pollock on becoming a World Series of Poker champion and taking home his first gold bracelet!

Hand #213: Josh Pollock got a walk in the big blind.

Hand #214: Pollock limped and Noah Schwartz checked his option. The     flop saw Pollock bet 75,000, Schwartz call and the   turn. Both players checked to the   river and Schwartz bet 100,000. Pollock thought for about a minute before making the call only to muck when Schwartz showed the      for a flush.

Josh Pollock	3,675,000	0
Noah Schwartz	925,000	0

Hand #207: Noah Schwartz raised to 125,000, Josh Pollock raised pot to 375,000 and Schwartz called. When the flop came out    , Pollock led out for 250,000 and Schwartz snap-folded.

Josh Pollock	3,675,000	375,000
Noah Schwartz	925,000	-375,000

Hand #204: Josh Pollock raised to 125,000, Noah Schwartz called and the flop came down    . Schwartz checked, Pollock bet 75,000 and Schwartz woke up with a check-raise to 225,000. Pollock took his time before three-betting, to how much we're not sure, but it was enough to do the trick as Schwartz folded.

Hand #205: Schwartz raised to 130,000 on the button and Pollock defended. The latter then led out for a pot-sized bet (360,000) on the     flop and Schwartz folded.

Josh Pollock	3,970,000	420,000
Noah Schwartz	630,000	-420,000

Hand #198: Noah Schwartz opened for 150,000, Josh Pollock called and the flop came down    . Pollock checked, Schwartz bet 200,000 and Pollock called. The   turn saw Pollock lead out for 450,000 and Schwartz make the call. The   river prompted Pollock to bet and Schwartz to bet 550,000. Pollock made a quick call with the      for a flush, which bested Schwartz's three tens.

Josh Pollock	3,550,000	1,350,000
Noah Schwartz	1,050,000	-1,350,000

The buzz inside the walls of the Rio extends beyond just the tournaments on the 2013 World Series of Poker schedule. Online poker in Nevada is a very, very hot topic right now, and WSOP.com is making a lot of noise.

While the site has yet to launch, you can head to the Lambada Room of the Rio or look for one of the beautiful and friendly WSOP.com ladies walking the hallways to sign up for a free, personal WSOP.com online poker account. This is a great way to get a jump on the site's registration, and plenty of people have already taken this opportunity.

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Players 21 years of age and older who sign up for a WSOP.com account will automatically be entered into the "36-Seat Giveaway" where a randomly-selected winner will win a seat into the next day's first WSOP gold bracelet event. One of the events eligible in this promotion is the $111,111 One Drop High Roller No-Limit Hold'em tournament that is expected to feature a $10,000,000 prize pool and allow you to play poker with the biggest names in the game. In total, $182,333 in WSOP seats, including a seat to the WSOP Main Event, are being given away during this one-of-a-kind WSOP.com promotion.

In addition to the 36-Seat Giveaway, a "Hot Seat" promotion will allow any player who signs up for a WSOP.com online account and wears their WSOP.com patch on their chest at the table while playing an event to be randomly selected to receive 500 bonus dollars deposited directly into their WSOP.com online account once the site has received all regulatory approvals and launches.

With 62 WSOP gold bracelet events and three winners promised for the Main Event, this promotion includes $32,000 worth of value to those participating.

Hand #185: Noah Schwartz opened for 100,000 on the button and Josh Pollock called from the big. Both players checked the     flop as well as the   turn and   river. Pollock tabled a pair of fours in the hole for two pair, which was good enough to win the hand.

Hand #186: Pollock opened for 100,000 and Schwartz folded.

Hand #187: Schwartz raised to 150,000, Pollock called and the flop came the    . Schwartz bet 150,000 and Pollock promptly folded.

Hand #188: Pollock limped, Schwartz checked his option and the flop fell    . Schwartz checked and then folded when Pollock bet.

Hand #189: Schwartz raised to 125,000 from the button only to have Pollock pot it to 375,000. Schwartz made the call and the     was run out on the flop. It went check-check to the   turn, and both players repeated the action to see the   river. Pollock checked, Schwartz bet 400,000 and Pollock folded while saying, "I believe you."

Hand #190: Pollock limped the button, Schwartz checked his option and the flop fell    . Schwartz checked, Pollock bet 50,000 and Schwartz check-raised to 200,000. Pollock folded.

Hand #191: Schwartz limped and Pollock checked his option. Pollock then check-folded to a bet on the     flop.

Hand #192: Schwartz raised to 100,000 on the button and won the hand.

Hand #193: Schwartz raised to what appeared to be 120,000, Pollock called and then both players checked the     flop. They did the same on the   turn and   river, and Schwartz showed      for a straight and the win.

Hand #193: Pollock limped, Schwartz said go and the flop fell    , which both players checked. They did the same on the   turn and   river, and Schwartz won with a      straight.

Hand #194: Schwartz called from the button, Pollock checked his option and the flop came down    . Pollock checked and then folded when Schwartz bet 100,000.

Hand #195: Pollock raised to 100,000, Schwartz called and the flop fell    . Schwartz checked, Pollock bet 150,000 and Schwartz raised. Pollock moved in and Schwartz called what little more it cost him.

Schwartz:     
    

The   turn kept Pollock in the lead, and the   river gave him the double. That was the last hand before the break, so we'll bring you exact counts in just a moment.

Hand #173: Noah Schwartz raised the button and Josh Pollock folded from the big blind.

Hand #174: Pollock raised to 100,000, Schwartz called and the flop fell    . Schwartz checked, Pollock bet 75,000 and Schwartz folded.

Hand #175: On an     flop, both Schwartz and Pollock checked. They did the same on the   turn and   river, and Schwartz tabled a pair of fives in the hole to win the pot.

Hand #176: Pollock raised to 100,000 from the button and Schwartz folded the big blind.

Hand #177: Schwartz called, Pollock checked his option and then both players checked the     flop. The   turn saw Pollock bet 75,000 and Schwartz fold.

Hand #178: Pollock raised to 100,000, Schwartz called and the flop fell    . Both players checked to the   turn, Schwartz bet 150,000 and Pollock called. The   river saw Schwartz check and Pollock bet 225,000. Schwartz called and showed      for a full house, which was good as Pollock only had     .

Hand #160: Josh Pollock limped the button, Noah Schwartz checked his option and both players checked the     flop and   turn. When the   hit the river, Pollock bet 50,000 and Schwartz called. Pollock tabled      for a straight and the win.

Hand #161: Schwartz limped, Pollock checked and the flop fell    . Schwartz bet, Pollock called and the   turned. Pollock check-folded to a bet of 140,000.

Hand #162: Pollock raised to 100,000 from the button and Schwartz called bringing about a     flop. Schwartz checked, Pollock bet 125,000 and Schwartz called. After the dealer burned and turned the  , Schwartz checked and Pollock bet 275,000. Schwartz folded.

Hand #163: Schwartz raised to 125,000 and won the pot.

Hand #164: Pollock raised to 100,000, Schwartz called and the flop came down    . Schwartz checked, Pollock bet 75,000 and Schwartz called. The   turn saw Schwartz check, Pollock bet 200,000 and Schwartz release his hand.

Hand #165: Schwartz raised to 125,000 and Pollock called. The latter checked    , as did the former, and the   peeled off on the turn. Pollock checked, Schwartz bet 150,000 and Pollock called. When the   completed the board on the river, Pollock checked for a third time and Schwartz bet 325,000. Pollock wasted little time in folding his hand.

Noah Schwartz	3,100,000	-300,000
Josh Pollock	1,500,000	300,000