Event #24: Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack (8-Handed)

Michael Prendergast of Chicago, Illinois, is the latest World Series of Poker bracelet winner after taking down Event #24: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack for his biggest-ever tournament score of $127,428. Prendergast earned the six-figure cash and his first bracelet after coming back from a significant chip deficit during heads-up play and defeating Jeffrey Barnes, who cashed for $78,755.

Prendergast entered the final table of eight as one of the shortest stacks but managed to triple up early on and ran his stack up from there.

Prendergast sent John Bunch home in eighth place when Bunch shoved his short stack and Prendergast had a full house by the end of the hand. Not long after, he eliminated Donnie Phan in sixth place when he had aces, which held after Phan shoved.

Event #24: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack Final Results

Heads-up play commenced when Barnes knocked out Jungwoong Park in a hand where Park was all-in before the flop and Barnes made a full house. Barnes had a 5:1 chip lead over Prendergast at one point but the eventual champion managed to double up multiple times and eventually took a small lead.

The final hand of the tournament occurred when Prendergast called off when facing a flop raise from his opponent. Prendergast was behind his opponent's pair of eights and had a flush draw that was no good, as his opponent had a better flush draw. However, Prendergast managed to make a pair of aces on the river and sent Barnes out in second place.

After the victory, Prendergast told PokerNews that he felt "absolutely wonderful" about winning a bracelet at his first-ever WSOP.

"I don't pay a lot of tournaments," Prendergast said. "I've got a wife and kids."

Prendergast, who dedicated the victory to his wife, said his strategy in the tournament was "to accumulate chips and survive when I had to," which included laying down a few big hands as a short stack when he knew he was behind.

"I decided to just do what I did the entire tournament and wait for a hand that I could hit the nuts with," he said about his late-stage strategy, also acknowledging that he "got the luck that I needed to win a tournament."

Action of the Day

Day 2 got off to a rapid start that consisted of elimination after elimination for the first few levels of play. The action slowed down for a while and, after over six hours of play, the eight players left standing were moved to a feature final table.

Popular poker vlogger Andrew Neeme was eliminated in 31st place when he got in a three-way all-in with aces against kings and queens. It looked like the massive pot would be going Neeme's way but Phan with the kings spiked a third one on the river. Neeme had him covered but was eliminated shortly after.

The tournament attracted a total of 1,572 entries and generated a prize pool of $801,720 with 236 places being paid. There were many notable players in the tournament who were not fortunate enough to make Day 2, among them Maria Ho, Shaun Deeb, Greg Raymer, David Williams and Barry Greenstein.

That wraps up coverage of Event #24: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack. Be sure to check for the PokerNews live reporting team's coverage of other WSOP events.

Action was on the flop as it read    . From the button Jeffrey Barnes bet 5,000,000. Michael Prendergast raised to 15,000,000, Barnes three-bet all in. Prendergast took a moment and called. Prendergast had Barnes very slightly covered as the cards were turned over.

Jeffrey Barnes:     
Michael Pendergast:     

Barnes had the substantial lead and was a 77% favorite with the pair of eights and the better flush draw. The turn was the   to not change much. But the river was the   to give Prendergast a pair of aces for the best hand and end Barnes' run at the bracelet as runner-up.

Michael Prendergast	47,100	-23,052,900
Jeffrey Barnes	0	-24,000,000

Jungwoong Park opened on the button and called off with a stack of around six million when Jeffrey Barnes raised in the small blind.

Jungwoong Park:     
Jeffrey Barnes:     

It was over on the turn as the board came out      and Barnes had a full house. The   river did not change the outcome and Park was eliminated in third place.

Jeffrey Barnes	39,000,000	16,000,000
Michael Prendergast	8,000,000	-1,500,000
Jungwoong Park	0	-14,800,000

Michael Prendergast opened on the button and Jeffrey Barnes defended in the big blind.

Both players checked on the monotone flop of    , and Barnes check-called a bet of three million on the   turn.

Barnes called once more when Prendergast bet five million on the   river and mucked when Prendergast showed      for a flush.

Michael Prendergast	23,000,000	12,900,000
Jeffrey Barnes	12,500,000	-9,000,000
Jungwoong Park	12,500,000	-4,000,000

Joao Simao opened in the small blind and chip leader Jeffrey Barnes defended in the blind.

Simao shoved on the flop of     and his opponent called.

Joao Simao:     
Jeffrey Barnes:     

The board ran out   , giving Simao a flush but giving his opponent a full house. Simao thought he might have a straight flush and asked the dealer to retrieve his cards from the muck, but a second look confirmed that he was beat.

Jeffrey Barnes	26,000,000	2,800,000
Joao Simao	0	-5,075,000

Daniel Wasserberg got all-in on the button against Joao Simao in the big blind.

Daniel Wasserberg:     
Joao Simao:     

Wasserberg ran into aces and couldn't get there as the board ran out       and he was eliminated in fifth place.

Jeffrey Barnes	23,200,000	0
Michael Prendergast	10,100,000	-3,200,000
Jungwoong Park	8,700,000	1,700,000
Joao Simao	5,075,000	1,075,000
Daniel Wasserberg	0	-5,000,000