$2,500 Mixed Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or Better, Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better (Event #51)

Brazil has a new hero.

It took over 30 levels over three long days for Yuri Dzivielevski to become the latest WSOP bracelet winner after he triumphed in Event #51: $2,500 Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better and he could not have been happier about the accomplishment.

"This is the most special moment, for sure," Dzivielevski said in an interview after his victory. The mixed game event saw 401 hopefuls enter the tournament on June 22nd to generate a total prize pool of $902,250. After 10 one-hour levels of play, that number became 128. Those 128 returned yesterday to play 10 more one-hour levels, with 61 making the money and only 12 advancing to the final day of play earlier this afternoon to battle it out for a gold bracelet and the first place prize of $213,750.

The journey was nowhere near complete when the day began. It took around 10 minutes into the 11th level of play today for Dzivielevski to become triumphant after him and eventual runner-up Michael Thompson agreed to extend the match into the one-hour courtesy level offered to players should they find themselves heads-up at what would be the end of a normally scheduled Day 3.

Final Table Results

Day 3 Action

With the split-pot format and a talented lineup of players from around the world, action was constantly back-and-forth from the get go. The unofficial final table of nine was reached just before the first break of the day and it took over an hour from that point for the first elimination to occur. Thompson, Daniel Ratigan (8th place), and Andrey Zaichenko (4th place) battled as short stacked for close to three hours before Ratigan was eliminated.

During those three hours, Dzivielevski found himself go from being in the middle of the pack to commanding chip leader, finding himself with around one-third of the chips in play when the tournament reached seven-handed play. Another two hours went by with a dinner break in between before Alex Livingston (7th place), who was consistently among the top three in chips was eliminated by Dzivielevski in a huge, multiway pot in a hand of Stud Hi-Lo where Dzivielevski's tens and threes were good to secure the knockout and bring his stack to over three million, greater than half the chips in play. Shortly thereafter, Philip Long (6th place) found himself short as the increasing levels got larger and larger and was eliminated after Thompson scooped a pot in Omaha Hi-Lo for the last of his chips.

The fifth place finisher was current WSOP Player of the Year frontrunner Dan Zack, who secured his tenth cash of the series shortly after its halfway point. Zack battled back from crumbs several times but was unable to survive after being crippled a final time when he doubled up eventual third place finisher Denis Strebkov in a hand of Stud Hi-Lo after his pair of kings lost to Strebkov's pair of aces.

Shorty after the final break of the night, Zaichenko found himself short and was eliminated by Dzivielevski, who had maintained his stack at around three million. The dynamics then changed when play became three-handed. Strebkov had the momentum shift his way as he built his stack from as low as 500,000 up to 2,400,000.

Then it became Thompson's turn as he found himself down to 330,000. He doubled twice in a row, once in each game, and then took down a massive hand in Stud Hi-Lo that went three-ways to the river. Dzivielevski folded to Thompson's bet while Strebkov called and lost to a full house, deuces full of queens. He then had over half the chips in play with Dzivielevski and Strebkov at 1.6 milion and 1.1 million, respectively. Dzivielevski was not done, however.

When asked about the journey, Dzivielevski remarked: "I think the most important part is to be present, to be happy and you have to work with what you have. I cannot think about what I lose or what I can win. If I think [about those things], I'm going to be anxious and it's not good because I cannot go to the past and recover everything I have, so I live in the moment."

As the levels rose and the number of bets in the tournament decreased, Dzivielevski started to win a few pots. It wasn't long before he knocked out Strebkov and entered heads-up play versus Thompson with stacks nearly even. Thompson was the one who jumped out to an early lead, however, Dzivielevski was able to battle back to even stacks.

The biggest hand of the night then came in a Stud Hi-Lo hand that saw raises on both fourth- and fifth streets. By the end of the hand, both players had a king-high flush though Dzivielevski had a higher kicker. This gave him a three-to-one chip lead, which he later increased to five-to-one after hitting a straight in Omaha Hi-Lo. Thompson was able to hang around for another 10 minutes, doubling up once in the process, but eventually found himself all in and drawing dead on the turn with two pair and a flush draw against Dzivielevski's full house, queens full of kings.

At that point, Dzivielevski's rail erupted and could not wait to rejoice with him, taking pictures with him and tossing him up into the air in celebration. Dzivielevski, despite the chaos around him, remains focused. He plans to keep playing and keep fighting for more titles. As the man himself put it, "I want to feel this feeling again and again."

Stay tuned to PokerNews all summer for more updates from every single event at the 2019 World Series of Poker.

Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better

Michael Thompson        
Yuri Dzivielevski        

Thompson was all in on the first bet on third street and the dealer dealt each player their cards face up to determine Thompson's fate. Dzivielevski's Brazilian rail started to chant as the cards were being dealt but it was to no avail this time as Thompson's hand scooped the pot to start the journey back.

Yuri Dzivielevski	5,300,000	-355,000
Michael Thompson	700,000	340,000

Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better

Yuri Dzivielevski:    /     
Michael Thompson:    /      (folded on sixth)

Dzivielevski was the bring in and Thompson called. Thompson bet fourth and Dzivielevski called.

Dzivielevski was first to act on fifth street and bet. Thompson called. Dzivielevski fired again on sixth and Thompson looked agonized as he deliberated over whether he wanted to commit the majority or entirety of his last remaining chips.

He seemed like he wanted to fold and second-guessed himself for a quick moment. However, his intuition took back over as he stated he was sure Dzivielevski had two pair and sent his cards into the muck, leaving about 360,000 behind.

Yuri Dzivielevski	5,655,000	480,000
Michael Thompson	360,000	-480,000

Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better

The flop read    . Yuri Dzivielevski put out a bet and was called by Michael Thompson. The turn was the  . Dzivielevski bet and was raised by Thompson, Dzivielevski put in the call. The river was the  . Both players checked.

Thompson announced two-pair but it was no good as Dzivielevski showed the      for a straight and send Thompson's chip stack spiraling down.

Yuri Dzivielevski	4,950,000	470,000
Michael Thompson	1,050,000	-485,000

Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better

Yuri Dzivielevski raised out of the big blind and was called by Michael Thompson.

The flop was the     Thompson bet and was called. Thompson was again called when he bet on the turn of  . The river was the   and action went check-check. Dzivielevski turned over the best hand with      to scoop the pot and get him back into shouting distance.

Michael Thompson	3,200,000	-900,000
Yuri Dzivielevski	2,815,000	900,000

Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better

After consecutive chopped pots to finish out the stud portion of the rotation, Michael Thompson completed from the small blind and Yuri Dzivielevski checked his option. The flop came     and both players checked.

The turn was   and Dzivielevski bet out. Thompson made the call and the river came  . Both players checked.

Dzivielevski tabled      for kings up and took down the pot.

Yuri Dzivielevski	3,095,000	345,000
Michael Thompson	2,920,000	-345,000

As the match for the bracelet is nearing its first ten minutes of play, there have been a few small back-and-forth pots with no real action. Here's an update on chip counts:

Yuri Dzivielevski	3,380,000	190,000
Michael Thompson	2,635,000	-190,000

Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better

Michael Thompson    /      /  
Yuri Dzivielevski    /      folded on seventh
Denis Strebkov    /      /  

Strebkov bet on fourth, fifth and sixth street and got calls from both opponents each time. On the river Strebkov slowed down and checked, while Thompson seized the initiative and bet, which folded out Dzivielevski and got a call from Strebkov.

Thomspon announced full house and showed     and Strebkov mucked looking dejected.

Michael Thompson	3,440,000	1,740,000
Yuri Dzivielevski	1,600,000	-635,000
Denis Strebkov	1,100,000	-980,000

Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better

Michael Thompson raised on the button leaving himself with only 100,000 back. Yuri Dzivielevski and Denis Strebkov both called. The flop came    . Thompson bet his remaining amount and both opponents called again. The turn was the  . Dzivielevski bet into the side pot which folded out Strebkov.

Michael Thompson:     
Yuri Dzivielevski:     

The river was the   and Thompson scooped the entire pot away from the chip leader.

Yuri Dzivielevski	3,200,000	-45,000
Michael Thompson	1,080,000	750,000