Event #54: Big Blind Antes $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em

"Ay! Campeão! Ay! "Campeão!"

A whole lot of chanting in Portuguese could be heard coming from the Twitch stream table in Brasilia this afternoon as Diogo Veiga became the first Portuguese player to lift WSOP gold in Las Vegas for the country's third bracelet overall.

"Yesterday we had the Bulgarian rail as well, so there was kind of a match between the rails and it was pretty intense," said Veiga. "Today the Portuguese rail won. They are a big part of my win and I'm really happy."

Veiga's second-largest career cash of $522,715 that came with the bracelet for winning Event #54: Big Blind Antes $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em followed his largest cash worth about US$555,000 by less than three months. That one came for a sixth-place finish in the partypoker MILLIONS Grand Final Barcelona €10,300 Main Event in April.

In his winner interview, Veiga mentioned that he learned from that deep run in Spain and was happy to better the finish in this one. Until April, Veiga had not a single score in the six-figure range, and didn't even have a score that exceeded $40,000, making 2018 his breakout year in a big way. He hopes to carry the momentum from the first half of the year right into the rest of it.

"Perhaps now I'll see what more there is I can play," he said. "The strategy won't change. I had 15 tough days before, but now, this is a turning point. I'm going to play the Main Event and just see what happens. It's still going to be a great summer."

Official Final Table Result

Event #54 Overview

The $3,000 buy-in Big Blind Antes event drew 1,020 players who battled for a chunk of the $2,754,000 prize pool. A total of 252 players survived the first day of play, and the money was reached on Day 2 when they got down to 153 players, the minimum payout worth $4,513.

Jonathan Abdellatif led the final 31 players into Day 3, and bracelet winner Barry Hutter took over the lead just after play got down to two tables. Bulgaria's Radoslav Stoyanov then grabbed the lead from Hutter after he eliminated two-time bracelet winner Kristen Bicknell in 11th place to set up the unofficial final table. Both Radoslav and Hutter took big stacks into the final table, as did David Yan.

Anna Antimony sent Ryan Hall out in tenth, picking up pocket tens against Hall's shove with pocket deuces, to get down to the official final table. Todd Ivens was out next in ninth place when he turned aces-up with ace-seven but trailed Abdellatif's flopped set of eights and hit the rail.

Ireland's Cathal Shine was eliminated in eight place, shoving his ace-jack from the small blind into the ace-queen suited of Hutter in the big blind, which would be a theme for Hutter at this final table. Neither player made a pair and Hutter's ace-queen high pipped Shine, who had to settle for $49,126.

Antimony entered the final table as one of the shorter stacks, and despite getting a double up against Hutter, her kings against his ace-jack, she would eventually fall in seventh place when she shoved her queen-jack from the cutoff and Hutter looked her up with ace-seven in the big blind. Despite flopping a pair of queens and a gut-shot, Hutter spiked an ace on the turn and held.

After doubling up several opponents at the final table, Yan dwindled to under ten big blinds and shoved with jack-six in the small blind. He ran into the jack-nine of Abdellatif, who called in the big blind and rivered nines-full to end Yan's run in sixth place.

Despite doubling up with ace-queen through Abdellatif's ace-three, long-time WSOP regular Tom McCormick would eventually be the fifth-place finisher when he four-bet shoved pocket jacks from the big blind and got called by Veiga, who had three-bet Abdellatif's open-raise with ace-four suited.

Veiga found an ace on the flop to send McCormick out with a six-figure score and his 72nd summer WSOP cash, still without a win. The remaining four players finished out the level before bagging up, Hutter with the lead and Veiga not far behind.

Final Day's Action

With the support of his friends on the rail, who alternated between chants of "Campeão" and "Buffalo!" Veiga stood by while Hutter knocked out the third- and fourth-place finishers to get heads-up.

In the ninth hand of the final day, the short stack upon entering the day, Abdellatif, shoved his remaining nine big blinds from the small blind with ten-five. Unfortunately for him, Hutter called from the big blind with a dominating queen-ten, and he couldn't find help from the board. Abdellatif was out in fourth place, taking home a $163,404 payday for his efforts.

Stoyanov suffered a similar fate as Abdellatif, shoving from the small blind when folded to him with nine-four suited. Once again, Hutter was in the big blind and called with a superior hand, king-queen this time, which held up on the ace-high and pair of tens runout.

Veiga had his work cut out for him and had to climb back from a more than 3-2 deficit in chips against Hutter heads up. After slipping a bit, he found a double up, flopping the nut straight on the flop with six-three. The chips went in and Veiga had to fade Hutter's flush draw and gut-shot for a higher straight, which he did.

From there, the two battled back and forth, and eventually Veiga climbed into a comfortable lead. Though Hutter started making a comeback, Veiga grinded him down again and then raise-called Hutter's 18-big blind shove with   , needing help against   . He found that help on the     flop, prompting an eruption of cheers from the Portuguese rail.

The   turn provided a sweat, giving Hutter outs for a flush, but the   river was safe for Veiga. Hutter's bid for bracelet number two ended with his 22nd WSOP cash, a runner-up finish for his best live cash worth $323,019. With the score, Hutter's WSOP earnings are closing in on $1 million, while his overall tournament winnings sit above $4.35 million, according to Hendon Mob.

Veiga credited his rail for the king on the flop that locked up his bracelet win.

"[The rail] called for that king on the flop way more than me!" said Veiga. "The last hand is definitely on them... The other ones are on me!"

Veiga was beside himself after the win, his compatriots standing by, still hyping him up.

"It feels amazing. I can't believe it yet," said Veiga. "The adrenalin is still too high. I can't say much more than that, I'm just super happy."

That concludes coverage of Event #54, but there's still more poker to be played at the 2018 World Series of Poker. You can follow the live updates for all remaining events right here at PokerNews.

Hand #266: Barry Hutter limped and Diogo Veiga raised to 700,000. Hutter called and the flop came    . Veiga checked and Hutter bet 700,000. Veiga folded.

Hand #267: Veiga limped and Hutter checked. The pair checked a      board and the river was the  . Hutter check-folded to a bet of 300,000.

Hand #268: Hutter raised to 600,000 and Veiga called. The flop came     and both players checked. The turn was the  . Veiga bet 800,000 and Hutter folded.

Hand #269: Veiga raised to 500,000 and Hutter raised to 1,700,000. Veiga moved all in and Hutter folded.

Hand #270: Hutter raised to 600,000 and took down the pot.

Diogo Veiga	11,500,000	1,600,000
Barry Hutter	3,900,000	-1,600,000

Hand #256: Barry Hutter received a walk.

Hand #257: Hutter raised to 600,000 and took down the pot.

Hand #258: Diogo Veiga raised to 500,000 and took down the pot.

Hand #259: Hutter limped and Veiga checked. The flop came     and Veiga check-called a bet of 200,000. The turn was the  . Both players checked and the river was the  . Veiga checked and Hutter bet 700,000. Veiga called and was shown    from Hutter for two pair and took down the pot.

Hand #260: Veiga limped but folded when Hutter raised to 800,000.

Diogo Veiga	10,300,000	-1,500,000
Barry Hutter	5,100,000	1,500,000

Hand #245: Barry Hutter limped and Diogo Veiga checked his option. The flop     was checked by both players. The turn was the  . Veiga bet 300,000 and Hutter folded.

Hand #246: Veiga limped and Hutter checked his option. The whole board of       was checked down. Hutter showed    and Veiga won with   .

Hand #247: Hutter raised to 400,000 and Veiga called. Veiga checked the     flop and Hutter bet 400,000. Veiga raised to 950,000 and Hutter folded.

Hand #248: Veiga limped and Hutter checked. Hutter checked the     flop and Veiga checked behind. The turn brought the  , pairing the board. Hutter checked again and Veiga bet 200,000. Hutter called and the river was the  . Both players checked and Hutter won with   .

Hand #249: Hutter limped and Veiga checked. The flop was     and Veiga checked. Hutter bet 200,000 and took down the pot.

Hand #250: Veiga limped and Hutter raised to 500,000. Veiga called and the pair saw a     flop. Hutter bet 500,000 and Veiga folded.

Diogo Veiga	9,200,000	100,000
Barry Hutter	6,100,000	-100,000

Hand #235: Barry Hutter raised to 400,000 and took down the pot.

Hand #236: Diogo Veiga limped and Hutter raised to 500,000. Veiga called and the flop came    . Both players checked and the turn brought the  . Hutter check-called a bet of 550,000 and the river was the  .

Both players checked and Hutter took down the pot with   .

Hand #237: Hutter limped and Veiga checked. The flop came     and Veiga checked and Hutter bet 200,000. Veiga raised to 550,000 and Hutter called.

The turn was the  . Veiga bet 900,000 and Hutter called. The river was the  . Veiga checked and Hutter checked behind. Veiga showed    for trip queens and took down the pot.

Hand #238: Veiga raised to 350,000 and Hutter called. The flop came     and Hutter check-folded to a bet of 350,000.

Hand #239: Hutter limped and Veiga checked. The flop was     and Veiga checked. Hutter bet 200,000 and Veiga raised to 650,000. Hutter folded.

Diogo Veiga	8,500,000	1,100,000
Barry Hutter	6,800,000	-1,100,000

Hand #224: Diogo Veiga limped and Barry Hutter raised to 500,000. Veiga folded.

Hand #225: Hutter limped and Veiga checked. The flop came    . Veiga check-called a bet of 200,000 and the turn was the  . Both players checked and the river was the  . Veiga checked and Hutter bet 350,000 and Veiga folded.

Hand #226: Veiga limped and Hutter checked. The flop came     and Hutter check-folded to a 160,000 bet from Veiga.

Hand #227: Hutter limped and Veiga raised to 450,000. Hutter called. The flop came    . Veiga bet 375,000 and took down the pot.

Hand #228: Veiga raised to 350,000 and Hutter called. The flop came     and it checked to Veiga who bet 300,000. Hutter called and the turn was the  . Hutter again checked and Veiga bet 750,000. Hutter called.

The river was the  . Both players checked. Hutter showed    and Veiga took down the pot with   .

Hand #229: Hutter limped and Veiga checked. The flop came     and Veiga check-folded to a bet of 200,000.

Barry Hutter	9,900,000	-1,500,000
Diogo Veiga	5,400,000	1,500,000

Hand #219: Barry Hutter limped the button and Diogo Veiga called. The flop was     and Veiga check-called Hutter's bet of 225,000. Both players checked the   turn and the river was the  .

Veiga checked, Hutter bet 350,000 and Veiga let it go, the pot going to Hutter.

Hand #220: Veiga limped the button and Hutter checked his option. The flop brought     and Hutter led 225,000. Veiga raised to 550,000 and Hutter moved all in. Veiga called for his remaining 1.46 million and the cards were on their backs.

Hutter:   
Veiga:   

Veiga had the nut straight, but Hutter had spade outs, or a six to give him a higher straight. The   turn and the   river secured the double up for Veiga and the match goes on.

Hand #221: Hutter limped the button and Veiga made it 450,000. Hutter shoved to put Veiga to a decision for the rest and Veiga thought it over before folding.

Hand #222: Veiga limped the button and Hutter checked. The flop brought     and Hutter checked. Veiga bet 160,000 and Hutter called.

The   turn and the   river were checked through and Hutter tabled   . Veiga tabled    for a better pair to drag the pot.

Hand #223: Hutter opened to 400,000 on the button and Veiga let it go.

Barry Hutter	11,400,000	-1,200,000
Diogo Veiga	3,900,000	1,200,000

Hand #216: Diogo Veiga raised to 300,000 and took down the pot.

Hand #217: Barry Hutter raised to 300,000 and Veiga three-bet to 1,020,000. Hutter called. The flop came     Veiga continued for 725,000 and Hutter called.

The turn was the  . This time both players checked. The river was the  . Veiga checked and Hutter bet 1,280,000. Veiga thought for a couple of minutes before calling.

Hutter showed    for top pair, and Veiga shook his head as he mucked.

Hand #218: Veiga limped in the small blind and Hutter raised to 400,000. Veiga folded.

Barry Hutter	12,600,000	3,100,000
Diogo Veiga	2,700,000	-3,100,000

Hand #210: Radoslav Stoyanov moved all in for 835,000 from the small blind and Barry Hutter called in the big blind.

Radoslav Stoyanov:   
Barry Hutter:   

The flop came     giving Stoyanov a gutshot. The turn was the  . The river was the   and Stoyanov was eliminated in third place for $228,241.

Barry Hutter	9,200,000	1,000,000
Diogo Veiga	6,100,000	400,000
Radoslav Stoyanov	0	-1,500,000