Former U.S. Marine Ted Gillis has defeated Johnny “World” Hennigan heads up to earn his first WSOP gold bracelet at his first ever WSOP final table. The Texas native picks up the first place prize of $514,027 by outlasting the massive 2,086 player field. This marks his second WSOP cash, his first coming last year in a $1,500 No Limit Hold'em event.
"It means a lot," said Gillis about winning a bracelet. "Kind of made a mark in history."
Gillis took a big hit to his chip stack at the final table when his aces were cracked by Jacobo Fernandez's rivered flush but was able to recover from the hit and found himself heads-up against two-time bracelet winner Hennigan. Gillis crippled Hennigan early in heads-up play and was then able to finish the job just a few hands later to win.
The 48-year-old is from Houston, Texas. Gillis has only played a handful of events in his lifetime but can now call himself a bracelet winner after winning the the 19th event of the 2014 WSOP.
The final table featured just one bracelet winner, Hennigan, but did have two players with significant final table experience, Jacobo Fernandez (4th) and Hiren “Sunny” Patel, who was appearing at his third $1,500 No Limit Hold’em final table in two years. It is also worth noting that, by virtue of his third place finish and six-figure score, Dejan Divkovic becomes the winningest WSOP player from the country of Bosnia-Hercegovenia.The latest $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event drew 2,086 players, generating a $2,816,100 prize pool. The top 216 finishers all earned a payday. Some of the notables who cashed include Eric Mizrachi (207th), Darryll Fish (138th), Jason Somerville (84th), Darren Elias (53rd), Bryan Micon (25th), and Phil Collins (16th).Here are the final table results from the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event:1st: Ted Gillis- $514,0272nd: John Hennigan - $319,9933rd: Dejan Divkovic- $222,4294th: Jacobo Fernandez - $160,1935th: Mustapha Kanit - $117,0796th: Jaime Kaplan - $86,6097th: Hiren Patel - $64,9118th: Edison Shields - $49,2679th: Dylan Thomassie - $37,834