Event #41: $1,500 Limit Hold'em

One bet at a time, Robert Nehorayan battled through a 596 player field that generated an $804,600 prize pool to win Event #41: $1,500 Limit Hold'em for $173,568 and secure his first bracelet. It is Nehorayan's best live cash, with his previous greatest also coming at the WSOP when he was awarded $58,570 for 146th place in the 2007 Main Event.

Over the last three days, plenty of action has taken place at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino which concluded in a heads-up battle between Nehorayan and winner of the 1997 Event #1: $2,000 Limit Hold'em, Kevin Song. Song nearly missed out on winning his second bracelet 21 years after claiming his first.

Official Final Table Results

The final table saw players swing up and down in the chip counts, but Nehorayan was one of the constants throughout.

Speaking after his win, he said "It feels pretty good. I got a little frustrated throughout the match but fortunately was I able to overcome my emotions. The cards helped too obviously."

Nehorayan commended Terricita Gutierrez and spoke of his relief of getting past a player he saw as his toughest opponent.

"Terri was my toughest opponent because she's a limit pro. She plays 80/160, 40/80 every single day. That's her game."

Nehorayan admitted he doesn't see himself as a poker pro and even has a nickname due to his recreational nature.

"People call me 'Rec Rob.' Funny thing, I was playing No-Limit Hold'em one night, I think 20/40/80 at Commerce and I called a huge bet on the river with just an ace. This kid just flipped out, and he said: How do you call with just an ace!? Another kid was like: that's Rec Rob! He's a recreational player; he can't fold an ace!" Nehorayan laughed.

Despite his recreational nature, Nehorayan was able to defeat a wealth of experienced players who took their shot in Event #41 such as Dutch Boyd, Chris Ferguson, Daniel Negreanu, David Bach, Ari Engel, Marcel Luske and Jesse Sylvia.

Final Day Action

A total of 19 players returned for the third and final day who all had the goal of winning a bracelet, but for many of them, the dream didn't last long at all as seven players fell in the first 90 minutes of play.

Bracelet winner Matt Grapenthien was eliminated in 12th place for $8,846, securing his second cash of the series after a fifth-place finish in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship for $50,669, with Michael Lipner and Jeffrey Scheibner also fell before the official final table of nine.

Start-of-day chip leader Matt Woodward was the first player to go once the final table was set after Terricita Gutierrez rivered two pair with king-queen to beat Woodward's ace-king. Matt Russell finished in eighth place, with Oleg Chebotarev, the only non-American player at the final table taking seventh.

The action was them moved to the Brasilia Room Main Stage and at this point, Terricita Gutierrez, the final remaining lady, had built up quite a lead on her opponents. Two-time WSOP ring winner Brad Albrinck found out he would have to wait another day for a third bracelet after he was eliminated in sixth-place when Robert Nehorayan found the queen he needed with king-queen after Albrinck was all in on the turn and ahead with pocket fours.

Michael Jex, who made an amazing comeback from 30,000 chips to 400,000 before the final table was set, could not write the fairytale after he was left short once more and ultimately took fifth place for $36,860. His final chips went in again Gee with four-trey against queen-ten, but there was no help in the cards.

When the four remaining players returned from their dinner break, Terricita Gutierrez had nearly half of the chips in play but lost a series of big hands, which ultimately, saw her all in on the flop with ace-six-suited against Nehorayan. He took the lead when his king-queen hit on the flop and held to win the pot and send Gutierrez to the rail in fourth-place for $51,733.

David Gee, who now has $201,272 in WSOP earnings, was the last player to fall before heads-up play got underway after he lost a big hand against Nehorayan when his top pair ace lost to Nehorayan's queen-six two pair. Just several hands later Gee was all in with jack-seven and went up against Song's pocket aces and Nehorayan's king-seven with the latter taking the pot with two pair to eliminate Gee in third for $73,860.

Nehorayan took more than a 3/1 chip-lead into heads-up against Kevin Song but didn't have it all his way. Song made a comeback and at one stage took the lead, but Nehorayan was able to pull it back and ultimately sent Song to the rail after his ten-seven off suit beat Song's eight-six suited when the board came two-queen-ten-four-jack. Nehorayan joined Song as a bracelet winner and takes away the $173,568 first-place prize.

PokerNews will be covering every event at the 2018 World Series of Poker so be sure to check with all the updates as the most prestigious poker series in the world continues over the next three weeks.

Hand #287: Robert Nehorayan raised on the button and Kevin Song called.

The flop came     and Song check-called Nehorayan's bet.

They both checked through the   on the turn and the   on the river. Song showed    and Nehorayan tabled    to use the eight as the kicker to win the pot.

Hand #288: Song folded his button, leaving himself with 205,000.

Robert Nehorayan	4,295,000	395,000
Kevin Song	205,000	-270,000

Hand #266: Kevin Song got a walk.

Hand #267: Robert Nehorayan got a walk.

Hand #268: Song got another walk.

Hand #269: Song raised his button and Nehorayan called. The flop came    , Nehorayan check-folded to Song's bet.

Hand #270: Nehorayan raised on the button and Song called. The flop came    , Song check-called Nehorayan's bet. The turn brought them the  , now Song bet-folded to Nehorayan's raise.

Hand #271: Song raised the button and got a fold.

Hand #272: Nehorayan raised his button and got a fold.

Hand #273: Song raised on the button and Nehorayan raised. Song called. Song raised the     flop after Nehorayan had bet. Nehorayan called. The turn was the   and Nehorayan check-called Song's bet. The river completed the board with the   on which they both checked. Nehorayan showed    for the ace-kicker with the pair of kings on the board and that was enough to make Song muck his hand.

Hand #274: Nehorayan raised the button and Song called. They both checked through the     flop to the   on the turn. Song bet and Nehorayan folded.

Hand #275: Song raised on the button and Nehorayan called. They both checked on the     flop and Nehorayan bet on the   on the turn. Song folded.

Hand #276: Nehorayan raised the button and Song called. Nehorayan bet the     flop and Song check-called. The turn brought them the   and now Song check-folded to Nehorayan's bet.

Robert Nehorayan	2,900,000	900,000
Kevin Song	1,600,000	-800,000

Hand #254: Robert Nehorayan raised on the button and Kevin Song called. The flop came    , Song bet and Nehorayan called. The turn brought them the  , Song bet, Nehorayan raised and Song called. The river completed the board with the  , Song bet and Nehorayan wasn't happy. Still, Nehorayan made the call. Song showed    for the rivered straight.

Hand #255: Song called on the button and then called Nehorayan's raise. The flop brought them the     and Song folded to Nehorayan's continuation bet.

Song walked away saying he needed to take a quick 3-minute break and Nehorayan agreed. After the three minutes had passed, the floor told the dealer to deal one hand every two minutes.

Hand #256: Nehorayan raised his button and Song's hand was automatically folded.

Hand #257: Song's hand on the button was automatically folded.

Hand #258: Nehorayan raised on the button and Song called. The flop came with the    , Song check-called Nehorayan's bet. The turn brought them the  , again Song check-called Nehorayan's continuation-bet. The river completed the board with the  . Song bet.

"I can't believe this. I have aces here, that's the sick part." Nehorayan reluctantly called.

Song showed    for the rivered straight. Nehorayan mucked    and paid the call into the pot.

Robert Nehorayan	2,500,000	-1,000,000
Kevin Song	2,000,000	1,000,000

Hand #243: Kevin Song raised his button and Robert Nehorayan called. The flop came     and Nehorayan check-folded to Song's bet.

Hand #244: Nehorayan called on the button and Song opted to check. They both checked through the     on the flop to the   on the turn. Song bet and then called Nehorayan's raise. The river completed the board with the  , Song check-called Nehorayan's bet.

"You've got it..." Nehorayan said with a sigh.

Song showed    for the pair of tens on the flop.

Hand #245: Song called the button and Nehorayan raised. Song called again. The flop came    , Nehorayan bet and Song folded.

Hand #246: Nehorayan raised on the button and Song called. The dealer spread     out on the flop on which both players checked. The turn brought them the  , Song check-called Nehorayan's bet. They both checked on the   on the river. Song showed    and Nehorayan tabled    for the turned pair of fives.

Hand #247: Song raised his button and Nehorayan called. The flop came    , Nehorayan check-called Song's bet. The turn brought them the  , now Nehorayan check-folded to Song's bet.

Hand #248: Nehorayan raised on the button and Song called. The     came on the flop. Song check-raised Nehorayan's bet and Nehorayan folded.

Hand #238: David Gee raised on the button and Robert Nehorayan and Kevin Song both called in the blinds.

The flop came    , both Nehorayan and Song checked. Gee moved all in for 45,000 in total and both Nehorayan and Song called.

The turn brought them the   and Nehorayan bet.

"How can you bet?" Song said with some bewilderment.

Song called.

"How can you call?" Nehorayan said with a smile.

The river completed the board with the  , Nehorayan continued with another bet and Song called again.

David Gee:   
Kevin Song:   
Robert Nehorayan:   

Gee had flopped a pair of sevens but couldn't compare to the pocket aces of Song. But Nehorayan had the even better hand as he had flopped two pair, kings and sevens, to win the whole pot and eliminate Gee in third place.

Robert Nehorayan	2,855,000	855,000
Kevin Song	1,625,000	-375,000
David Gee	0	-165,000

Hand #228: David Gee raised his small blind and Robert Nehorayan called. The flop brought them the    , Gee continued with a bet, and Nehorayan called. The turn came with the  . Gee bet but then folded to Nehorayan's raise.

Hand #229: Nehorayan raised his small blind and Kevin Song folded the big blind.

Hand #230: Song raised his small blind and Gee folded.

Hand #231: Song raised from the button and Gee three-bet in the small blind. Song called. The flop came    , Gee bet, and Song folded.

Hand #232: Gee raised his button and Nehorayan three-bet in the small blind. Song got out of their way and Gee called. The flop was the    , Nehorayan bet, Gee raised, and Nehorayan folded.

Hand #218: Robert Nehorayan raised from the button and Kevin Song three-bet in the small blind. Nehorayan called. The flop came    , Song bet, and Nehorayan called. The turn brought them the   and Song continued with another bet. Nehorayan called again.

The   on the river completed the board. Song's continuation bet got another call from Nehorayan and Song tabled    for the full house and pot.

The players went on a five-minute emergency bathroom break as one of the players had stomach problems. The tournament clock kept running in the meantime.

Hand #219: Nehorayan got a walk.

Hand #220: David Gee raised from the button and both Nehorayan and Song folded.

Hand #221: Nehorayan raised his button and the others folded.

Hand #222: Song raised his button and got no action.