$800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack (Event #37)

It took three days for a field of 2,808 to be whittled down to one, and in the end, it was Salt Lake's Robert Mitchell who captured his first ever WSOP gold bracelet in Event #37: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack. The 41-year old claimed the first-place prize of $297,537, the largest slice the nearly $2,000,000 prize pool had to offer. The American caught a hot streak of cards early on the final day and rode it all the way to the eventual gold.

Not for the first time this summer, the tournament was finished off in style: holding pocket aces, Mitchell's sole remaining opponent Marco Bognanni raised it up with pocket threes. Mitchell put in a three-bet with the blades, and Bognanni whispered the two words everyone holding aces wants to hear:

"All-in."

The four-bet shove was for more than fifty big blinds and a pot of nearly all the chips in play. Sweated by a large group of friends, after each of them hastily made their way to the Amazon room to rail their buddy, they saw five blanks roll off the deck. Mitchell jumped in the arms of his ecstatic rail, high-fived every single one of them and was lifted onto their shoulders.

The accomplishment means Mitchell can now call himself a WSOP gold bracelet winner. Validation is the first thing that sprung to the new champ's mind, although his love for the game outweighs the now-complete chase for the gold.

"Obviously, the money is surreal, but that's what poker players play for - the bracelet. To have one now on my resumé feels good and it gives me more validation as a poker player."

With someone sporting a love for the game as Mitchell does, his plans with the unexpected windfall of nearly $300k are clear: it's business as usual.

"I'll be here for the rest of the series. I'll just be grinding, going back at it."

Event #37: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack Final Table Results

Mitchell was coming off a 17th place in Event #17: No-Limit Hold'em Shootout, which meant he won his first table and got close to winning the second.

"Actually, that Shootout helped me a lot, getting so close to a bracelet," Mitchell said. "I kind of played a little too fast three-handed, here I realized I was gonna pick my time, be in the moment, and play my best game. That tournament helped me win this one."

Whereas others may feel a deep run like that may not happen on short notice - or ever again - the Shootout bolstered Mitchell's spirits that he was close to winning the big one.

"One-hundred per cent it did. I knew I was going to have another shot at it. I've been playing poker for a long time and felt like it was long overdue. It's awesome."

Action of the Day

While his spirit was high, the cards certainly fell Mitchells way too. Especially in the early stages, it seemed he could do no wrong as the field of 26 that started the day quickly got whittled down to 12 in the early stages. Mitchell, who started the day with just 20 big blinds, quickly working up his way to the biggest stack overall after winning several key coin flips.

Start-of-the-day chip leader Hamid Feiz was one to fall to Mitchell and finished in 15th place when Mitchell check-raised a king-high flush all in on the river. Feiz called, mucked his cards, and saw a depressing day for him come to an end before the big money was divided.

The final table officially consisted of two previous bracelet winners - Nick Jivkov and Benjamin Moon - but it would only be the latter that took a seat on the Amazon Thunderdome stage. Jivkov was knocked off at the same time Josh Boulton busted at another table, and Jivkov took ninth place without playing a hand at the final table. There would be no repeat performance for Moon either, as he ran his pocket nines into Axel Hallay's pocket tens to bust in seventh.

Six players made themselves up for a final table live streamed on CBS All Access. Despite the deep-stacked play allowed by the structure, Kamel Mokhammad quickly fell to Mitchell by jamming his jack-ten into Mitchell's ace-ten. Bognanni then snapped off Benjamin Underwood in fifth with a flopped full house against a rivered straight. Not too long after, Francois Evard bowed out in fourth after whiffing ace-queen versus Hallay's fives.

That left Hallay, Bognanni, and Mitchell to duke it out three-handed with deep stacks. The trio did so for hours on end, with nearly equal stacks at some point. About 60 hands after Evard's bust, it would be Hallay who'd be the first to break. The Frenchman, backed by a boisterous rail of countrymen as is tradition, three-bet shoved ace-jack over a Mitchell open, only to be snapped off by ace-king. Five blanks later, the field was heads-up.

With more than fifty bigs for each player and hour-long levels, a long grind seemed to loom ahead for both. Instead, some perfect timing with aces gave Mitchell his victory soon into the heads-up battle. There was only one thing he could think of; he ran to his rail and celebrated the improbably-quick victory with his friends.

"It's such a surreal feeling to have everybody here on the side. I've known the guys for a long time, throughout the Salt Lake community, it was an awesome feeling. I was so happy I could win it for them too."

Hand #132: Robert Mitchell called and Marco Bognanni checked behind and then bet out 1,5 million on the     flop, which took down the pot.

Hand #133: After Bognanni called and Mitchell checked, Mitchell then check-called a bet of 1.5 million from Bognanni, but then check-folded to Bognanni's 4.1 million bet on the   turn.

Hand #134: Mitchell raised to 3 million but folded after Bognanni three-bet to 10.3 million.

Hand #135: After Bognanni called and Mitchell checked, the two players then checked it down to the river on a board of       and Mitchell took the pot.

Hand #136: Mitchell raised it to 2.5 million and Bognanni made the call. After both players checked to the turn on a board of     , Bognanni bet out 4.2 million and Mitchell folded.

Robert Mitchell	59,400,000	-9,400,000
Marco Bognanni	53,000,000	9,400,000

Hand #123: Robert Mitchell got a walk.

Hand #124: Mitchell limped in, Marco Bognanni raised to 4,200,000 and Mitchell folded.

Hand #125: Bognanni raised to 2,600,000, Mitchell three-bet to 8,000,000 and Bognanni folded.

Hand #126: Mitchell raised to 2,500,000 and Bognanni folded.

Hand #127: Bognanni raised to 2,600,000 and Mitchell was the first in five hands to see a flop. The flop came down     and both players checked. On the   turn, Mitchell checked, Bognanni bet 2,000,000, and Mitchell folded.

Hand #128: Mitchell raised to 3,500,000 and Bognanni called. The flop came     and Bognanni check-called 2,000,000 from Mitchell. The   turn went check/check.

The river   completed the club draw and both players checked. Mitchell flung    open for a pair, which was good enough to win.

Robert Mitchell	66,300,000	1,200,000
Marco Bognanni	46,100,000	-1,200,000

Hand #111: Marco Bognanni limped in and Robert Mitchell checked. Mitchell bet 1,000,000 on the     flop and got called. He check-folded the turn against a bet of 2,500,000.

Hand #112: Mitchell raised to 2,500,000 and Bognanni folded.

Hand #113: Bognanni raised to 2,500,000 and Mitchell called. On the     flop, Mitchell check-folded to a bet of 2,000,000.

Hand #114: Limp Mitchell, check Bognanni. The flop was     and Bognanni check-folded to a bet of 1,200,000.

Hand #115: Bognanni raised to 3,000,000 and Mitchell called. The flop came     and got checked twice. The   rolled off on the turn and got checked again.

On the   river, Mitchell took it with a bet of 2,500,000.

Hand #116: Mitchell raised to 2,500,000 and Bognanni saw a flop. The flop was     and once again, two quick checks. The turn   didn't entice the players to move either, but the   on the river did. It was Bognanni who bet 3,000,000 and that was the end of it.

Robert Mitchell	70,900,000	-1,600,000
Marco Bognanni	41,500,000	1,600,000

Hand #110: Robert Mitchell raised to 2,000,000 on the button and Marco Bognanni folded the small blind. Axel Hallay three-bet shoved 18,300,000 from the big blind and Mitchell called it off.

Axel Hallay:   
Robert Mitchell:   

Mitchell had Hallay dominated and the Frenchman needed one his jacks if he was going to survive. The flop brought     and the French railed yelled for a "Trois", a three, to chop the pot.

Neither the turn   nor river   was what he was looking for, and now it was Mitchell's rail who erupted in cheers. Hallay shook his two opponent's hands and made his way off the stage in 3rd place, receiving a payday of $134,817.

Robert Mitchell	72,500,000	17,300,000
Marco Bognanni	39,900,000	11,000,000
Axel Hallay	0	-28,300,000

Hand #98: Robert Mitchell limped the button, Marco Bognanni called the small blind, and Axel Hallay checked. The flop was     and saw three checks. The turn was another jack, the  , and Hallay bet 2,500,000. Mitchell folded, and Bognanni called.

The river brought the   and Bognanni checked. Hallay bet 6,000,000 this time, and Bogdanni went in the tank. He tried chatting his opponent up to get a read on him, but Hallay didn't respond and remained deeply buried in his hoodie. The Italian eventually gave it up and the French rail cheered.

Hand #99: Bognanni limped the button and Mitchell checked. Mitchell came out with a bet of 1,000,000 on the     flop. Bognanni raised to 3,000,000 and Mitchell called. The turn was the   and Mitchell checked. Bognanni opted for the check behind this time.

The   prompted a bet of 3,900,000 from Mitchell. Bognanni called it off and Mitchell showed him    for a pair of queens. Bognanni nodded and mucked to slip below the 20 big blind mark.

Hand #100: Mitchell limped the small blind in and Bognanni checked. An all-diamond flop of     was spread and Mitchell bet 1,000,000. Call from Bognanni.

The turn brought another   and Mitchell checked. Bognanni bet 1,500,000 and Mitchell quickly winged it.

Hand #101: Bognanni raised to 3,200,000 in the small blind and Hallay folded.

Hand #102: Bognanni popped it to 2,200,000 on the button this time and big blind Mitchell wanted to see a flop. The     prompted a check from Mitchell, 1,800,000 from Bognanni, and a fold.

Hand #103: Hallay raised to 2,000,000 on the button, Bognanni three-bet shoved 25,900,000 from the big blind and Hallay threw it away.

Hand #104: A walk for Hallay.

Robert Mitchell	55,200,000	1,700,000
Marco Bognanni	28,900,000	-1,700,000
Axel Hallay	28,300,000	0

Hand #87: Marco Bognanni limped in on the button, Axel Hallay called and Robert Mitchell checked.

The flop     and turn   got checked around. Bognanni bet 3,000,000 on the   river and netted two folds with it.

Hand #88: Mitchell limped the small blind, and Bognanni checked. The     flop got checked. Mitchell bet 1,000,000 on the   turn and won the hand.

Hand #89: Mitchell raised to 2,000,000 on the button, Hallay three-bet shoved 15,400,000 from the big blind and got it through.

Hand #90: Bognanni limped and Halley completed. Mitchell raised to 4,500,000 and got the others out of the way.

Hand #91: Mitchell limped and Bognanni checked. On the     flop, Mitchell bet 1,000,000 and Bognanni called. The   turn brought a check from Mitchell. Bognanni bet 2,700,000 and Mitchell called.

The river was the   and both players checked. Bognanni won the hand on showdown with   , having paired the flop. Mitchell's paired nine on the turn wasn't enough and Bognanni bumped his lead to 10.5 million over Mitchell.

Marco Bognanni	52,500,000	5,800,000
Robert Mitchell	42,000,000	-4,700,000
Axel Hallay	17,900,000	500,000

The three remaining players are on a 15-minute break.

Hand #76: Robert Mitchell completed the small blind and Marco Bognanni checked his option. The flop brought     and Mitchell bet 800,000. Bognanni called. The turn was the   and Mitchell checked. Bognanni bet 2,200,000, and Mitchell called.

The   river brought the fourth diamond. Mitchell came out blazing with a bet of 8,500,000. Bognanni surrendered and gave it to Mitchell.

Hand #77: Mitchell raised to 2,000,000 on the button, Hallay three-bet shoved 8,100,000 from the big blind and Mitchell called.

Axel Hallay:   
Robert Mitchell:   

The     flop kept the Frenchman in the lead. The turn   did so as well, even slashing an out from Mitchell. The river was the   and Hallay doubled up under thunderous cheers from the French rail.

Hand #78: Bognanni made it 2,000,000 on the button, Hallay, three-bet shoved 17,400,000 and Mitchell and Bognanni folded.

Hand #79: Walk for Bognanni.

Hand #80: Bognanni raised to 2,200,000 in the small blind and won the hand.

Hand #81: Hallay limped the small blind, Mitchell checked the big blind. The flop came     and Hallay bet 800,000. Mitchell called the bet.

The turn was the   and Hallay kept blasting with a bet of 2,500,000. Mitchell, however, raised to 10,000,000, and Halley folded.

Marco Bognanni	54,000,000	-5,000,000
Robert Mitchell	43,100,000	-1,400,000
Axel Hallay	15,300,000	6,400,000

Hand #67 Axel Hallay raised to 1,600,000 on the button and Marco Bognanni called. The flop was     and Bognanni checked. Hallay bet 3,000,000 and Bognanni called. The   turn went check/check.

The river was the   and after Bognanni checked, Hallay now bet 6,000,000. Bognanni considered it for thirty seconds while Hallay solemnly stared at the board. The Italian then check-raised all in and Halley let it go to be left with 21 big blinds.

Bognanni flashed the   and mucked the other card.

Hand #68: Mitchell made it 2,000,000 on the button and Bognanni called from the small blind. The flop came     and Mitchell bet 1,500,000, which Bognanni called.

The   on the turn brought four to a wheel and both players followed with a check. The   river prompted a check from Bognanni. Mitchell bet 3,000,000 but Bognanni came up with another big river check-raise, this time to 13,000,000, followed by a snap-release from Mitchell.

Hand #69: Bognanni limped the button and won it with a 1,000,000 bet on the     flop.

Hand #70: Bognanni made it 2,400,000 in the small blind and won the hand.

Hand #71: Bognanni got a walk.

Marco Bognanni	54,200,000	23,100,000
Robert Mitchell	45,000,000	-8,900,000
Axel Hallay	13,200,000	-14,200,000