Event #62: Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better (8-Handed)

Kevin Gerhart won his fourth World Series of Poker bracelet — and second bracelet of the series — on Wednesday, Nov. 3 by taking down Event #62: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better for a score worth $186,789. Gerhart sealed the victory by beating Dustin Dirksen in a heads-up battle to send Dirksen out in second for $115,440.

Gerhart, a mixed game specialist who has $782,658 in WSOP earnings to his name, earned his first bracelet of the series at the Rio Convention Center just weeks ago by winning Event #40: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship for $361,124.

"It's absolutely amazing," Gerhart told PokerNews about his run this fall. "It's unreal and more than I ever could have expected. All these different mixed disciplines are so much more fun than playing No-Limit Hold'em."

To get his fourth bracelet, Gerhart had to navigate through a field of 725 players in a tournament that generated a total prize pool of $967,875. Gerhart entered Day 3 second in chips out of 13 remaining players and used his stack to lean on his opponents.

Event #62: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Final Results

"PLO8 is hugely about just applying maximum pressure on your opponents and making them fold," he said. "Equities run so close in that game that even if you get the smallest edge by being more aggressive than your opponent, you have to take it."

Final Table Action

The official final table of eight turned to seven when Dylan Wilkerson jammed into the full house of Matthew Kaplan as the player at risk. But it was Gerhart who did most of the eliminating on Wednesday, including knocking out Michael Trivett, Roman Hrabec, Sterling Lopez, and Kaplan — who Gerhart sent home in third place to get heads-up play underway.

It seemed inevitable that the heads-up battle would be between Dirksen and Gerhart as Dirksen prodded the chip leader throughout the day and predicted it would end with the two of them.

"Just double me up three times and I'm there," Dirksen said in good spirits in the early stages of the final table. "I bet you've never heard a short stack talk this much shit."

It was a heads-up match that almost never happened. While playing four-handed, Dirksen was all-in with pocket sixes and dominated by the flopped trip sevens Gerhart. But Dirksen spiked a six on the river to improve to a full house and stay in contention.

The final hand of the tournament occurred when Gerhart, holding     , put Dirksen all-in on a board of      . Dirksen called with      for second pair and was no good against the top pair of Gerhart. But Gerhart was not betting for value, the four-time bracelet winner told PokerNews.

"I can rep that I have queen-ten and get my opponent to fold a worse hand," he said about the final hand. "But I turned my top pair into a bluff and my opponent snap-called me with second pair. I thought I was dead when he snap-called, obviously. I did not turn my hand over in a winning fashion, let's say that."

Gerhart said much of his poker variant prowess can be credited to a $80/$160 mixed game that started at the Wynn and has since moved to Resorts World. "I get to bounce ideas off of and play against some of the best players in Vegas on a daily basis in mixed games, which definitely helps my skill level."

That wraps up the PokerNews live reporting teams coverage of Event #62: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better. Head over to the WSOP live reporting portal to check out coverage of other events.

All of the chips went into the pot pre-flop between Dustin Dirksen and Kevin Gerhart.

The hands were tabled and it was the      held by Dirksen versus the     .

The dealer ran out the board of       and that earned Dirksen the scoop and the double up.

Dustin Dirksen	9,360,000	3,010,000
Kevin Gerhart	8,765,000	7,587,500

The action began with Sterling Lopez who moved all-in on a flop of     and was called by Kevin Gerhart.

The hands were tabled and it was the      for a seven-high straight held by Lopez that was behind the      for an eight-high straight held by Gerhart.

The turn card was the   and changed nothing.

The river card   sealed the deal for Gerhart and Lopez was eliminated in 4th place and took home $58,695 in cash.

Kevin Gerhart	9,600,000	3,100,000
Sterling Lopez	0	-2,615,000

The action began with Matthew Kaplan who moved all-in from the hijack and was called by Sterling Lopez from the cutoff.

The hands were tabled and it was the      versus the      held by Lopez.

The dealer flopped the     and Kaplan was ahead with one pair of tens.

The turn card was the   and no change.

The river card was the   and that secured the double up for Kaplan, and he was awarded the pot.

Sterling Lopez	2,615,000	-1,010,000
Matthew Kaplan	2,525,000	525,000

The action was picked up on a board of      with Alexandr Orlov who led out and moved all-in versus Dustin Dirksen who snap-called.

The hands were tabled and it was the      for nut-nut held by Dirksen that was in the lead against the      held by Orlov.

The dealer dealt the river card   and confirmed the scoop for Dirksen, and Orlov was eliminated in 5th place and took home $42,823 in cash.

Dustin Dirksen	3,175,000	875,000
Alexandr Orlov	0	-1,820,000