“I don’t have any fear. I mean, I’m here to play my game,” Tomlinson said afterward. “It doesn’t mean I’ll win ten gold bracelets, but from the moment I sat down I knew I could win.”
Tomlinson was more than aware of the challenge he was up against.
“Before the final table started, one of my buddies told me – do you know that guy? He won a few bracelets. That one of there? He wrote a poker book,” Tomlinson said. “Me? Hey, I’m a football coach.”
Tomlinson topped a final table which included German poker-pro Dominik Nitsche, who just missed out on what would have been his fourth career win. Nitsche finished 3rd.
Finishing 2nd was Pierre Milan, from Paris, who was hoping to become the year’s first gold bracelet winner from France. Milan, who captured his first win last year in the $2,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event, added another $350,994 to his poker bankroll. His WSOP career earnings now total in excess of $1 million. The payout was bittersweet for Milan, who could have won with just a break or two at the right moment.
Meanwhile, this marked the fifth career cash for Tomlinson, who previously posted min-cashes in 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2013 – but nothing close to the magnitude of this victory. His victory came on a hand where not only his pocket aces held up, they ended up making a full house. The huge hand was poker’s equivalent of spiking the ball and then running it in for a two-point conversion.
Tomlinson was humble afterwards, knowing he’d been the underdog throughout, only to play the best poker of his life on the way to a huge milestone victory. “I was up against some really tough players who were staring me down,” Tomlinson said. “But I had a four-day run where everything just went well….that’s what’s so great about poker – anyone can come here and win.”
This was the 25th event on the 2015 WSOP schedule, which drew 493 players. The sizable turnout produced a prize pool totaling $2,317,100.
As for what Tomlinson expects to do $567,724, his share of the prize money, he said he’ll celebrate with his family back in Florida.
“I also have three daughters, all in college,” Tomlinson said. “One is at Florida State, the other is attending Florida Atlantic University. Then, I have one more at ‘Nova (Villanova). That should take care of part of it.”
“I had so many friends who were watching and sending me good wishes. My football team is like my family, I’m sure they’ll be ecstatic when they hear about this. This is a dream come true.”
Following Tomlinson atop of the final standings, the official order of finish at the final table (2-8) was as follows:
Second Place: Pierre Milan, a 26-year-old poker pro from Paris came up just short in his bid for a second WSOP victory in two years. He had the chip lead a majority of time during the four-hour heads-up match. But he couldn’t close out the win. Milan had the chance to be France’s first player ever to win two gold bracelets, although double winner Tuan Le (now American) was born in Paris.
Third Place: Dominick Nitsche, from Minden, Germany has been on a huge roll at the WSOP since he won his first title four years ago. Nitsche won two gold bracelets last year, and was primed to get to the big stage again, were it not for Milan and Tomlinson who stubbornly wouldn’t move aside. The German pro settled for a $220,657 payout.
Fourth Place: Jonathan Jaffe, from Longmeadow, MA cashed for the 17th time at the series. He’s made it into the money at least once every year since 2008. Jaffe collected $158,373 for 4th place.
Fifth Place: Andrius Bielskis, from Lithuania enjoyed a breakthrough moment of sorts with his 5th place showing, the best he’s posted in three cashes. Bielskis pocketed $115,507.
Sixth Place: Jonathan Little arrived at the final table as the chip leader, and went out in disappointing fashion, finishing 6th. This was Little’s 27th career cash. His $85,616 payout here put him in excess of $600,000 in career WSOP winnings.
Seventh Place: Anthony Zinno, from Boston, MA is a 33-year-old poker pro and a 3-time World Poker Tour champion. He was also the WPT Player of the Year. Zinno added $64,484 to his poker bankroll for this 7th-place finish, which was his ninth time to cash at the WSOP. Zinno has now made two final tables at this series, following his 6th-place finish in the Omaha High-Low Split championship.
Eighth Place: Dan O’Brien, the popular poker personality and pro player from Las Vegas was the first player to exit the final table. The former Wall Street investor originally from Mt. Simi, NY pocketed $49,331. He cashed 7 times last year. This was his 2nd cash at the 2015 series.
OTHER IN-THE-MONEY FINISHERS:
Aside from the top eight-finishers, some other notable gold bracelet winners who reached the money included – Shaun Deeb (22nd), Paul Volpe (36th), Konstantin Puchkov (51st), Mike Leah (66th), Jeremy Ausmus (105th), and Tony Gregg (141st).
Paul Volpe cashed again, his fourth for this year’s series. Volpe, a gold bracelet winner last year, now has two second-place finishes, a 12th, and a 36th-place showing in this event, making him a serious contender in the WSOP Player of the Year race.
Ismael Bojang continues to distance himself from the competition when it comes to being a cashing machine. The Vienna (Austria)-based poker pro posted his fourth cash of the year and 24th since the start of the 2013 WSOP. In that span, this is the most cashes by any player at the WSOP. He also established the record for most cashes in a single year during 2014, with 13.
FUN FACTS:
Gender breakdown: There were 477 males who entered this event, compared with just 16 females.
The average age of participants was 34.5 years – about the WSOP average for all events.
EVENT DIRECT LINKS:
For this event’s results, visit:
http://www.wsop.com/tournaments/results.asp?grid=1136&tid=14225
For Jeffrey Tomlinson’s official player profile page, visit:
http://www.wsop.com/players/playerprofile.asp?playerID=45434
For the Live Reporting Log for this event, please visit:
http://www.wsop.com/tournaments/updates.asp?grid=1136&tid=14225
For photos from this event, please visit:
http://www.wsop.com/tournaments/photos.asp?grid=1136&tid=14225