Monday, February 11, 2019 5:21 PM Local Time
Zach Mullennix Wins Event #5, $600 No-Limit Hold'em ($19,758)
Fort Lauderdale pro Zach Mullennix has claimed the title in Event #5, $600 No-Limit Hold'em, earning $19,758 and his first gold Circuit ring. Mullennix entered the day with the shortest stack of Day 2's 15 surviving players, then stormed to the chip lead well into the final table.
"On my second hand I got a double-up," Mullennix told the WSOP. "Then I slowly grinded it up from there. Once we got down to five I started to pick up some hands and then I got the chip lead."
Still, as often happens, Mullennix needed a dose of good fortune to stay there. One of the biggest pots at the final table placed Mullennix against eventual fourth-place finisher Russell Sullivan. Mullennix called an all-in shove from Sullivan (who had been playing aggressively) with ace-jack, only to find Sullivan waiting with ace-king. Mullenix had over half of his own stack at risk, but he caught a jack on the flop and finished the hand with over half the chips in play.
Yet it came down to a duel for the win between Mullennix and Day 2's starting chip leader, David Berman, who briefly took the lead before Mullennix surged ahead for good. The final hand brought big action on the turn of a board, when Mullennix bet 100,000 and Berman check-raised to 330,000. Mullennix pondered for about 30 seconds before calling.
When the arrived on the river, Berman almost immediately announced, "All in."
This sent Mullennix deep into the tank for several minutes. At one point, Mullennix said, "I can't really beat anything," but his tanking continued. Finally, another two minutes later, he dropped in chips for the call.
Berman said, "You won the ring. Good call." Mullennix turned over for two pair, while Berman showed his for a stone-cold bluff. Later Mullennix explained his lengthy thought process, in which he finally concluded that Berman likely hadn't check-raised the turn with a holding containing a jack. Mullennix's reasoning turned out to be correct, and the result was his first Circuit win.