WSOPC Event #11: $1,700 MAIN EVENT

Johnny “World” Hennigan has just won his fourth World Series of Poker gold bracelet.

The longtime professional poker player from Las Vegas won the $10,000 buy-in Deuce-to-Seven Draw Lowball (Limit) Championship, which was played over three days and nights and just concluded at the Rio in Las Vegas.

Hennigan collected $320,103 in prize money, making this one of the most sizable wins of his career.  Yet, it was also one of several high points in a poker career filled with many spectacular moments.  He previously won gold bracelets in 2002 (Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split), 2004 (Limit Hold’em), and perhaps his most prestigious title, a victory in the $50,000 buy-in Poker Players Championship, in 2014.

Hennigan also won one of the final WSOP charity events held which was called “Ante-Up for Africa,” in 2008.  He donated the bulk of his $136,000 cash prize to the charity.

That said, the tough poker pro wasn’t in a charitable mood in this tournament.  The Philadelphia native won his victory by coming out on top at a final table which included numerous tough challengers.  Chris Klodnicki started off Day Three as chip leader.  Close behind was Michael Gathy, seeking what might have been his second gold bracelet victory within a week and fourth overall during his career.  Then, there was J.C. Tran, Viacheslav Zhokov, Scott Abrams, Abe Mosseri, Brant Hale, and Andrey Zhigalov.  This was a formidable lineup, indeed.

After Tran was eliminated in third place, that left Hennigan to battle Gathy for the title.  Hennigan began the duel with nearly a 3 to 1 chip lead.  However, both players knew the real battle had only just begun.  The final two battled for about 90 minutes before Hennigan was finally able to subdue his very tough Belgian rival.  Unusually earnest and humble about his victory, Hennigan acknowledged that he was very fortunate at times and caught good cards.  He even admitted he didn’t play particularly well, which is quite a statement given that he joined the exalted ranks of only 41 players who have won four or more WSOP gold bracelets.

The ultimate moment of triumph came when Hennigan scooped the final pot of the tournament against Gathy who finished as the runner up.  His consolation prize amounted to $197,838.  Credit the player from Brussels, who is enjoying a remarkable WSOP with a victory already to go along with this second-place finish.

Hennigan has quietly become one of the most feared poker players in the game, in both cash games and tournaments.  Previously a pool shark who grew up in Philadelphia, Hennigan earned the nickname “Johnny World” due to his willingness to bet on just about “anything in the world.”  That’s especially true for – himself.

This exciting tourney attracted 125 entrants, which was pretty much a collection of the world’s best tournament players.  The larger-than-expected field created a prize pool totaling $1,175,000.  The top 19 finishers collected prize money.

Aside from the winner, here’s a brief report of the other top finishers who made the final table:

Second Place:  Michael Gathy is enjoying a marvelous series, with one win already and now a runner up finish.  In fact, the poker pro from Brussels, Belgium now has two second-place finishes and close to $900,000 in winnings at this WSOP after collecting $197,838 in a noble effort.

Third Place:  J.C. Tran, the pride of Sacramento, CA came in third.  This marked his 54^th time to make the money at the series.  The two-time gold bracelet winner who earned his biggest payout by coming in fifth in the 2013 WSOP Main Event was paid $142,547 this time around.  Tran now has about $4.7 million in career WSOP earnings.

Fourth Place:  Chris Klodnicki, from Philadelphia, PA came in fourth, which paid $102,910.  This was his highest finish in three years and 35^th occasion to cash at the WSOP.  Klodnicki, runner up in the 2013 One Drop High Rollers tourney (which paid nearly $3 million) now has in excess of $6 million in WSOP-related earnings.

Fifth Place:  Viacheslav Zhukov, from Moscow, Russia, was aiming for what might have been a third career gold bracelet.  Instead, he busted out on the final day in the middle of the pack.  Still, Zhukov, who earned victories in 2011 and 2012 (both in Omaha High-Low Split), ended up collecting $74,439.  This was his 15^th time to cash at the series, which put him over the $1.5 million mark in earnings.

Sixth Place:  Abe Mosseri, from Longboat Key, FL hoped to win a second gold bracelet following his memorable victory in 2009 in this same event.  Mosseri was looking strong until a few hours into the final table when he went card dead and had to settle for sixth place.  The poker pro originally from New York City picked up his 15^th series cash, which was good for $53,951.

Seventh Place:  Brant Hale, from Moore, OK has now posted some impressive cashes at the summer series – five in all.  This was his deepest run, so far, which was worth $39,179 at the payout window.