Event #60: $10,000 Short Deck No-Limit Hold'em

There were five players who returned for the final day of Event #60: $10,000 Short Deck No-Limit Hold'em and it was the start-of-day chip leader Shota Nakanishi who walked away with his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet along with $277,212.

Nakanishi overcame a record-setting field of 110 entries at this buy-in level for the short-deck variant of no-limit hold'em. It was a tall order for the Japanese poker player with four of the best players in the world joining him at the table on Day 3. It came down to a battle between Nakanishi and Ben Lamb but Nakanishi found a way to come out on top.

"I play lots of short deck, many times," Nakanishi said after his victory. "I've been playing online for three years. I also enjoy no-limit hold'em and sometimes pot-limit Omaha."

There was a large contingent of Japanese supporters on the rail and they burst into cheers on the final hand of the day. Lamb found himself back on the short stack and got his chips in the middle with ace-queen but ran dead into the ace-king of Nakanishi who found a clean runout, something that doesn't occur often in this highly volatile game.

Final Table Payouts

Final Day Action

There were five players that returned to the felt at 1 p.m., well besides Sean Winter who showed up ten minutes late. The players waited for him to arrive after pitching the cards on the first hand but it didn't take long after that for the chips to start flying.

In just the second hand of the day, Lamb flopped a straight and scored a huge double-up through Stephen Chidwick who flopped two pair and turned a flush draw. Chidwick was down to just 25 antes, which in this game, is not very much. Just moments later, Chidwick was the first to hit the rail in fifth place.

After a short break in between levels, four players returned to felt and Winter was on the short stack. The "lucky ladies" were not so lucky today as his pocket queens were no match for the pocket kings of Nakanishi. Winter made yet another final table this summer but came up just short of capturing his first gold bracelet.

Nakanishi held a distinct chip lead over Lamb and Brian Rast going into three-handed play. However, it was the two short stacks that got tangled up in a massive pot. Rast called Lamb's all-in shove with king-queen and Lamb turned over the pocket aces. While anything can happen in this game, Lamb flopped an ace and Rast was unable to recover. Left with just crumbs after the hand, Rast soon bowed out in third place.

That set the stage for the heads-up battle between Japan's Nakanishi and America's Lamb. It was the Japanese who struck first, pulling away from the American in the early going. But with plenty of chips in play, there was still work to be done. Lamb continued to fight back and came so close to drawing even with pocket aces once again. However, Nakanishi found a chop with ace-nine and still held a slight lead.

Moments before the match finished, it was Lamb who tried to run a three-bet bluff on the turn. However, Nakanishi made trips already and wasn't going anywhere. Lamb shut it down after making a pair on the river and Nakanishi collected a huge pot that set him up for the victory.

"I'm so happy! Very happy right now," Nakanishi said with his supporters surrounding him. "I'll play the Main Event, yes," Nakanishi confirmed he will be sticking around Las Vegas for the Main Event but likely won't be playing anything else until next year. He also noted that his big plans for the quarter-million payday will be putting the money into the bank for the future.

That wraps up the coverage for this event but keep it tuned into PokerNews for coverage from all of the events going on this summer, including the Poker Players Championship taking place right now.

For most, the saying, "I could win that poker tournament in my sleep," is laughable at best. But not for Eric Goldstein, who fell asleep Wednesday night, and then woke up to discover he'd won an $80 satellite into the 2022 WSOP Main Event on WSOP.com.

Goldstein told PokerNews he forgot he was registered for the satellite, which only awarded one seat into poker's most prestigious annual tournament, a $10,000 buy-in event.

Read the incredible story on PokerNews

Shota Nakanishi limped in and Ben Lamb raised to 140,000 on the button. Nakanishi called and the flop came    . Nakanishi checked to Lamb who bet 180,000 and Nakanishi folded.

On the next hand, the two players limped in and the flop fell    . Lamb checked to Nakanishi who bet 100,000 and Lamb check-raised to 350,000. Nakanishi asked for a count but decided to lay his hand down.

Shota Nakanishi	3,950,000	-75,000
Ben Lamb	2,650,000	75,000

The remaining two players are going on their scheduled 15-minute break.

A flop of     was spread across the felt and Shota Nakanishi led out with a bet of 40,000. Ben Lamb called and the   came on the turn.

Nakanishi checked this time and Lamb threw in a bet of 120,000. Nakanishi called and the   hit the river. Nakanishi checked again and Lamb went to cut out a bet of 425,000. Nakanishi quickly folded and Lamb dragged in the pot.

On the next hand, Lamb limped in and Nakanishi raised to 110,000 on the button. Lamb re-raised to 380,000 and Nakanishi announced all in. Lamb snap-called and the cards were tabled.

Ben Lamb:   
Shota Nakanishi:   

The board ran out       and the two players chopped the pot.

Shota Nakanishi	4,550,000	-150,000
Ben Lamb	2,050,000	150,000

In another limped pot, the flop of     was spread across the felt. Shota Nakanishi checked to Ben Lamb who flicked in a bet of 30,000. Nakanishi called and the   landed on the turn.

Both players checked and the   completed the board. Two more checks and Nakanishi showed    for two pair to win the pot.

On the next hand, Lamb limped in and Nakanishi raised to 115,000 on the button. Lamb called and the flop fell     Lamb checked to Nakanishi who reached for a bet of 75,000 and Lamb instantly folded.

Shota Nakanishi	5,400,000	390,000
Ben Lamb	1,200,000	-390,000

Shota Nakanishi raised to 125,000 from under the gun and Brian Rast pushed his last 90,000 chips in the middle from the cutoff. Ben Lamb got out of the way and the two hands were tabled.

Brian Rast:   
Shota Nakanishi:   

Nakanishi held a dominating lead but the flop of     gave Rast a straight draw. The  ,   runout was no help to Rast who was ousted in third place.

The remaining two players are taking a quick break before heads-up play begins.

Shota Nakanishi	4,350,000	200,000
Ben Lamb	2,250,000	-110,000
Brian Rast	0	-61,000

Shota Nakanishi limped in from under the gun and Ben Lamb checked the button. The flop came     and Nakanishi led out with a bet of 40,000. Lamb called and the   peeled off on the turn.

Nakanishi threw in a bet of 110,000 this time and Ben Lamb slid out a raise to 330,000. Nakanishi called and the   paired the board on the river. Nakanishi announced all in and Lamb quickly ditched his cards to the muck.

Shota Nakanishi	4,150,000	350,000
Ben Lamb	1,080,000	-390,000