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Déjà vu for Young
Jason Young won his third and final table in the Event #17 ($1,500 No Limit Hold 'em Shootout) in dramatic fashion, collecting his first World Series of Poker bracelet and $335,565. Young's bracelet experience was an unusual one - he actually experienced the thrill of winning it twice.
When play was heads-up, Young and his final opponent, 58-year-old Mike Schwartz, both held top pair of jacks and all the chips went into the pot. Young's ace kicker held up and, thinking he had Schwartz covered, the 26-year-old jumped from his chair, celebrated with his friends, kissed the dealer on the cheek, and then ran over to pick up the bracelet.
After the tournament director counted the stacks, however, it turned out that Schwartz actually had a few chips left. It wasn't much, about 150,000 versus Young's 9,850,000, but Schwartz survived the first few blind all-in's and built enough of a stack that his decisions were no longer automatic.
"I've seen some crazy things happen, I've had some crazy things happen to me, so everyone was telling me 'no big deal, don't worry about it' . . . but I know better than that," Young later said.
Schwartz went on to make an astounding comeback, reaching almost 4 million as a dejected Young watched the bracelet slip further out of reach. Forty-five minutes into Schwartz's comeback he made a big raise before the flop and Young came back over the top for everything. Schwarz called, putting his tournament at risk with pocket fours against Young's A-J. The pot would have eliminated Schwartz or put him squarely in control, and when the flop came 6-8-2 the look of worry on Young's face eclipsed the usual look of exhaustion, a result of the marathon 19-hour Day 1. The ace of hearts on the turn brought applause from Young's cheering section, but the young New Yorker knew better than to get too excited. The river was a queen and it was finally time for Young to celebrate with a holler that resonated throughout the Amazon Room.
"I just wanted the bracelet," Young said afterwards. "If I would have come that close to getting it, then lost it, I don't even know what I would have done."
Young, who recently quit his $35,000 a year job with the parks and recreation department, was also very excited about the $335,565 that came with the bracelet.
"This tournament, it was like I worked 10 years in two days. That's not bad, man. That's not bad at all," Young said. "I can't even fathom the money. I don't even know what that kind of money looks like."
Mike Schwartz, an executive from Encino, CA, collected $209,527 in his first WSOP tournament ever. The third place finisher, banking $129,675, was John Strzemp III, son of John Strzemp who finished second to the legendary Stu Ungar in the 1997 Main Event.
For a complete list of payouts visit the WSOP Results page.
