Event #13: Big Blind Antes $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em

After four days of play, Benjamin Moon can call himself the first ever winner of the $1,500 Big Blind Antes Tournament at the World Series of Poker. Moon got to take home his first ever gold WSOP bracelet and $315,346 for finishing in first place out of 1,306 total entries.

"I'm trembling, I'm just so excited! It's hard to explain. I only just started playing at the beginning of the year after taking a hiatus. Decided to try and go pro in October, playing the cash games in San Diego and then the tournaments in Los Angeles. Got a good start at the beginning of the year, since then cash has been going well and I decided to give it a shot here at the WSOP. And we're here now."

Moon was dominating the table and he had the following to say about it: "Kinda. I think that might be a bit of an understatement. My table draw was really fortunate. Colin (Robinson) was my biggest threat and I had position on him. I knew that there was so much pressure on everyone with these pay jumps so I just stayed aggressive the whole time."

Final Table Results

Action of the final day

The final table started six-handed today with 28 hands being played yesterday to cut the number of players down from nine to six. The players still needed to play about 20 minutes of the level they finished in yesterday and nothing really happened until near the end of the second level of the day. Bohdan Slyvinskyi was first to say goodbye to the rest when he ran his ace-seven into the ace-queen of Colin Robinson in the 56th hand of the final table which was broadcasted on Twitch.TV, thanks to PokerCentral.

Even though Nhathanh Nguyen doubled up through Moon at first, two hands later, Nguyen's deep run was done for today when his king-jack couldn't win against Moon's ace-seven. Nguyen got to take home $73,242 for his efforts and his first ever recorded live tournament cash. It would then take another 30 minutes for Moon to add another victim to his list. Steven Snyder shoved his king-four into the ace-ten of Moon for less than six big blinds. Snyder picked up a straight draw on the turn but the river didn't bring it for him.

Only fifteen minutes later, Robinson's run was over when he shoved with eight-five on the queen-four-six flop into the queen-six of Moon. Even though Robinson had a flush and straight draw, he couldn't beat the two pair of Moon, even after the turn and river had been dealt.

Romain Lewis had the loudest and biggest rail with all the French people coming over to the Brasilia stage to cheer him on for every pay jump he managed to grab. But in hand #91 of the final table, Lewis got it in with ace-deuce suited against the ace-jack of Moon. The four-nine-trey flop gave Lewis a straight draw, the eight on the turn added even more outs for Lewis as he now also had a flush draw. But eight of clubs on the river wasn't any of the outs he needed and Lewis cashed in for $194,837 for finishing as the runner-up which surpasses his biggest live cash ever.

The big blind ante is a new format that the WSOP is trialing this summer and Moon seemed very pleased about it: "I love the big blind ante. They do it in Los Angeles, all the tournaments I played there have mostly been big blind ante. So, it makes it way faster. There is only one negative if there was any. It's for short stack play, you seem to get punished more. Otherwise, it's great."

Moon will be back tomorrow, Saturday, June 9th, for the bracelet ceremony which will take place around 2:40 p.m. local time on the same Brasilia stage where he has just won. Keep following the PokerNews updates as the live reporting team will be here all summer to bring you all the action from the floor!

Hand #87: Benjamin Moon opened to 200,000 and Romain Lewis made the call. The flop fanned out     and Lewis check-folded to a bet from Moon.

Hand #88: Lewis opened to 325,000 and Moon folded.

Hand #89: Moon limped and Lewis checked to see a     flop. Moon bet and Lewis folded.

Hand #90: Lewis limp-folded to a raise of 350,000 from Moon

The final two players have been sent on a 15-minute break.

Hand #81: Benjamin Moon opened to 160,000 and Romain Lewis defended. The flop came down     and Lewis check-called a bet of 150,000.

Both players checked down an    run out and Lewis claimed the pot with the   .

Hand #82: Lewis limped and Moon checked to see a     flop. Two more checks saw the   on the turn and another two checks brought the   on the river. Lewis bet 310,000 and Moon check-folded.

Hand #83: Moon opened to 200,000 and folded to a three-bet jam from Lewis.

Hand #84: Lewis limped in and called a raise of 160,000 from Moon. An     flop was dealt and each player checked to bring the   on the turn.

Moon fired 250,000 and Lewis called. The   completed the board and Moon took down the pot with a bet of 450,000.

Benjamin Moon	7,900,000	200,000
Romain Lewis	1,800,000	-300,000

Hand #74: Benjamin Moon got a walk.

Hand #75: Moon raised to 160,000 from the small blind and Romain Lewis shoved for 1,210,000 and Moon folded.

Hand #76: Lewis shoved from the small blind and both Colin Robinson and Moon folded.

Hand #77: Robinson completed his small blind, Moon raised to 200,000 and Robinson folded.

Hand #78: Moon raised to 160,000 from the small blind and Lewis shoved in the big blind. Moon folded.

Hand #79: Moon raised to 160,000 from the button and the two other players folded.

Hand #70: Romain Lewis opened to 190,000 under the gun and cleared the table.

Hand #71: Benjamin Moon opened to 240,000 in the small blind and Lewis called from the big blind. Moon led a     flop and Lewis folded.

Hand #72: Lewis limped from the small blind and folded to a shove from Robinson in the big blind.

Benjamin Moon raised to 160,000 from the small blind and Nhathanh Nguyen shoved all in from the big blind. Moon asked for a count and the dealer confirmed Nguyen had 640,000 in front of him. Moon called.

Nhathanh Nguyen:   
Benjamin Moon:   

The flop came     to give Moon trip aces. The turn brought them the   which meant that Nguyen was now drawing dead. Before the   was even dealt on the river, the rest of the table got up to shake his hand. Nguyen was sent to the payout desk to collect his cash of $73,242 for finishing in 5th place.

Benjamin Moon	5,700,000	600,000
Nhathanh Nguyen	0	-665,000

Hand #56: Bohdan Slyvinsky open-jammed for 560,000 from under the gun and Colin Robinson put him at risk, after shoving from the cutoff to clear the rest of the table.

Bohdan Slyvinskyi:   
Colin Robinson:   

The board ran out       and Slyvinskyi became the first casualty of Day 4.

Colin Robinson	2,800,000	700,000
Bohdan Slyvinskyi	0	-560,000

Hand #45: Benjamin Moon opened to 120,000 on the button and Romain Lewis defended his big blind. The flop fanned out     and Lewis check-folded to a continuation bet from Moon.

Hand #46: Moon opened from the cutoff and everyone folded.

Hand #47: Nhathanh Nguyen bumped it up to 130,000 from the cutoff and called a three-bet jam from Bohdan Slyvinskyi in the small blind totaling 295,000.

Slyvinskyi:   
Nguyen:   

The board ran out       giving Slyvinsky a flush and the double up.

Hand #48: Lewis open-shoved from the cutoff and everyone folded.

Hand #49: Steven Snyder limped in from the small blind and called a raise worth 157,000 from Moon in the big blind. Snyder check-folded on the flop of a     board.

Benjamin Moon	3,700,000	1,030,000
Colin Robinson	2,400,000	0
Steven Snyder	1,400,000	-530,000
Romain Lewis	1,100,000	-200,000
Bohdan Slyvinskyi	590,000	175,000
Nhathanh Nguyen	583,000	-817,000