Event #1: $565 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em

Jordan Hufty was overcome with emotion just moments after winning the 566-strong Event #1: $565 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em for $61,909. Hufty defeated Jodie Sanders in a grueling heads-up match that lasted nearly four hours. It was fitting these two players were left standing when all the pieces fell into place, as they were the chip leaders throughout the entire day.

After embracing his friends on the rail, Hufty took a moment to himself at the feature table on the main stage and was seen wiping tears from his eyes. When asked about the emotion of winning a World Seris of Poker gold bracelet, Hufty struggled to find the right words.

"I've thought about this every day for the last 15 years and for it to actually happen is just unbelievable."

The Aria poker dealer and floorman was quick to credit a couple of his close friends for his success.

"I moved from Michigan to Las Vegas with these two guys and none of this would be possible without them."

Hufty says 95% of his poker is played online, 4% in live cash games, and maybe he finds time for 1% in live tournaments. Coming into today, he only had $1,900 in career live tournament earnings but that number will be growing exponentially now.

"I have a passion for poker, it's just something you can't explain. It's nice that this happened so early in the series so I will probably fire a few more events here and there."

At the start of the day, Hufty felt fairly confident coming in as one of the largest stacks and said he just needed to stick to his plan.

"I felt confident and I knew I just needed to avoid making mistakes and capitalize on my opponent's mistakes. When you are 70 big blinds deep heads-up, it can be a grind, but I never lost focus."

Some players will often get nervous being on the big stage and under the lights for the first time, but that didn't seem to faze Hufty.

"I've dealt a lot of nosebleed games and even been at this table on Poker After Dark before, just on the other side of it. I didn't feel out of place on the big stage like I thought I would."

Hufty mentioned he is going to take a couple of days off to celebrate and some tequila shots might be on tap for the weekend.

Final Table Results

Event Summary

In what has become the customary opening event of the World Series of Poker, the Casino Employees event got the summer started with another great turnout. Late registration remained open for 12 levels and a total of 566 entries were accounted for. This unique tournament doesn't necessarily attract the big names in the poker world, but rather it brings the gaming industry together for a game that they all love.

Some familiar faces to take to the felt included former gold bracelet winners Mike Majerus, Chad Holloway, Jon Friedberg, and defending champion Bryan Hollis. WSOP social media phenom Kevin Mathers took a seat along with PokerNews employees Simkha Blank and Milko van Winden, none of whom were able to spin up a stack to make the money.

It wasn't long after the dinner break on Day 1 when the money bubble burst with Jason Bardol and Ryan Side busting on the same hand. The two players would split the min-cash of $837 and the remaining 84 players rejoiced in excitement. There was a total of $283,000 up for grabs and the eliminations started to come fast and furiously towards the end of Day 1.

A few notables to make the money included Jon Friedberg (81st Place - $862), Ty Stewart (52nd Place - $1,085), Isaac Hanson (38th Place - $1,227), Johnny Gagelonia (33rd Place - $1,418), and former bracelet winner Dieter Dechant (17th Place - $2,018). After a full 20 levels were played on Day 1, there were just 13 players still standing with a shot at the title.

The action got off to a quick start on Day 2 with double knockouts happening on multiple occasions. The official final table was down to just eight players before the first level reached its end. Not long after that, Skyler Yeaton, Thomas Yenowine, Tom Booker, Won Kim, and Zachary Seymour all hit the rail in quick succession within one hour. It looked as though it would be a quick final table but the remaining three players were still fairly deep.

Three-handed play lasted for nearly 90 minutes with Hufty continuously holding the chip lead. Katie Kopp was on the short stack but she put up a good fight before eventually running into Hufty's pocket aces. That set the stage for the two chip leaders to battle in an epic heads-up duel.

Hufty started out strong and worked his way towards the two million chip mark before Sanders started to wrestle it away. The chips swung back and forth for hours with Sanders briefly claiming the lead for a hand or two. Hufty was clearly the more aggressive of the pair, and he eventually gathered too much momentum for Sanders to overcome.

After nearly four hours of heads-up action, Sanders got all of his chips in the middle with pocket threes and was called by the king-queen of Hufty. The board looked safe for a Sanders double up, but when the dealer placed the king on the river, Hufty broke down after capturing his first WSOP gold bracelet.

That brings an end to another event inside the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino for the PokerNews live reporting team. There is still plenty of action in the surrounding rooms that will wrap up later today and continue tomorrow.

Hand #188: Jodie Sanders got a walk in the big blind.

Hand #189: Jodie Sanders raised on the button to 80,000. Jordan Hufty moved all in with a covering stack and Sanders folded after giving it some thought.

Hand #178: From the button, Jordan Hufty opened to 80,000. Jodie Sanders moved all in over the top and that ended the matter as Hufty quickly folded.

Hand #179: Sanders limped in on the button and Hufty checked his option in the big.

The flop came down     and Hufty checked, then folded to a bet of 75,000 from Sanders.

Hand #180: Hufty opened with a raise to 80,000 on the button and Sanders called.

The flop came down     and Sanders checked, then folded to a bet of 40,000 from Hufty.

Hand #181: Hufty received a walk in the big blind.

Hand #182: Sanders received a walk in the big blind.

Players will now be taking a 60-minute dinner break and will return at roughly 8 p.m.

Hand #166: Jordan Hufty opened to 60,000 from the button and Jodie Sanders folded his big blind.

Hand #167: Sanders opened from the button to 60,000 and Hufty called from the big blind.

The flop was     and Hufty check-folded to a bet of 40,000 from Sanders.

Hand #168: Hufty opened to 60,000 on the button and Sanders called.

On the     flop, Sanders checked, then called a bet of 60,000 from Hufty.

The turn was the   and Sanders checked again. Hufty put out a big bet of 240,000 and this time Sanders folded.

Hand #169: Sanders opened with a raise to 70,000 from the button and Hufty called.

Both players checked on the     flop to see the   on the turn. There, Hufty led out with a bet of 65,000 and Sanders called.

Both players checked on the   river. Hufty showed his    but it was no good as Sanders flopped better with    and he took down the pot.

Hand #170: Hufty opened with a raise to 60,000. Sanders called.

The flop was     and both players checked. On the   turn, Sanders led with a bet of 70,000 and that earned him the pot.

Hand #156: Jodie Sanders opened with a raise to 60,000 on the button and Jordan Hufty called from the big blind.

On the     flop, Hufty checked, then folded to a bet of 60,000 from Sanders.

Hand #157: Hufty opened with a raise to 60,000 and Sanders called.

Players checked until the board showed       and Sanders checked for a third time. Hufty put out a bet of 45,000 which Sanders called. Hufty took another look at the board and mucked his hand without showing, so Sanders took it down with no showdown.

Hand #158: Sanders opened with a raise to 60,000 and Hufty defended from the big blind.

The flop was     and Hufty checked then called a bet of 55,000.

On the   turn, Hufty checked again, but this time folded to a bet of 80,000 so Sanders took down the pot.

Hand #159: Hufty opened to 60,000 but folded when Sanders three-bet to 155,000.

Hand #160: Sanders opened to 60,000 and found resistance in the form of a three-bet to 160,000 from Hufty. Sanders thought it over for a bit before opting to four-bet, making it 660,000 and that would earn him the pot.

Hand #145: Jodan Hufty opened with a raise to 60,000 on the button and Jodie Sanders called from the big blind.

The flop was     and Sanders checked, then called a bet of 60,000.

On the   turn, Sanders check-called a bet of 110,000 from Hufty.

The river was the   and Sanders changed gears and decided to lead out, betting 90,000. Hufty moved all in with his covering stack and Sanders didn't take too long to fold.

Hand #146: Hufty received a walk in the big blind.

Hand #147: Hufty opened to 60,000 and that earned him the pot.

Hand #148: On the button, Sanders opened to 60,000. Hufty thought for a moment, then moved all in for about 700,000 effective. Sanders thought for a bit then folded.

Hand #149: Hufty opened with a raise to 60,000 then folded to a three-bet of 145,000 from Sanders.

Jordan Hufty	2,100,000	120,000
Jodie Sanders	730,000	-120,000

Hand #143: Jordan Hufty raised to 48,000 on the button and Jodie Sanders called. The flop came     and Sanders checked to Hufty who bet 40,000. Sanders check-raised to 110,000 and Hufty quickly mucked his hand.

Hand #144: Sanders opened to 48,000 and Hufty defended his big blind. The flop fell     and both players checked to the   on the turn.

Hufty led out for 38,000 and Sanders stuck around to see the   on the river. Hufty fired another barrel of 140,000 and Sanders thought for a moment before making the call. Hufty flipped over    while Sanders hit the four on the river with   .

Hand #133: Jodie Sanders raised to 55,000 and Jordan Hufty called from the big blind. The flop came     and Hufty checked to Sanders who continued for 40,000. Hufty check-raised to 155,000 and Sanders made the call. The turn was the   and Hufty fired another 240,000 which got Sanders to lay his hand down.

Hand #134: Hufty opened to 53,000 and Sanders defended his big blind. The flop fell     and both players checked to the   on the turn. Sanders checked again and Hufty bet 45,000 which earned him the pot.

Hand #135: Sanders bumped it up to 48,000 on the button and Hufty called. Both players checked the     flop along with the   on the turn. The   completed the board and Hufty led out for 35,000. Sanders' cards hit the muck and Hufty dragged another one.

Hand #136: Hufty raised to 48,000 on the button and Sanders three-bet to 150,000 from the big blind which caused Hufty to quickly fold.

Hand #137: Sanders opened to 52,000 and Hufty mucked his cards.

Jordan Hufty	1,980,000	130,000
Jodie Sanders	850,000	-130,000

Hand #123: Jodie Sanders raised to 53,000 and Jordan Hufty called. The flop came     and both players checked to the   on the turn. Hufty checked again and Sanders tossed in a bet of 60,000. Hufty called and the   paired the board on the river. Hufty checked for the third time and Sanders pushed in a bet of 200,000. Hufty thought for a couple moments and then made the call. Sanders tabled    for a flush and Hufty's cards hit the muck.

Hand #124: Hufty opened to 48,000 on the button and Sanders folded.

Hand #125: Sanders opened to 55,000 on the button and Hufty three-bet to 190,000. Sanders called and the flop came    . Both players checked to the   on the turn and Sanders checked again. Hufty bet 90,000 and Sanders mucked his cards.

Hand #126: Hufty raised to 48,000 and Sanders defended his big blind. The flop fell     and Hufty won the pot with a bet of 55,000.

Hand #127: Sanders folded his button and Hufty received a walk.

Jordan Hufty	1,850,000	400,000
Jodie Sanders	980,000	-400,000