button in SafariPoker is About More Than Bracelets For Salute to Warriors Champion Prashanth Nataraj
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"My highest score [before today] was $40,000. So I was personally trying to beat that. And once I beat that, I was like, oh, we need to take this down now!"
Plenty will dream of lofting a World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet in celebration, but Prashanth Nataraj manifested it. Once he surpassed his all-time highest score, he felt that there was more glory to be claimed, and he was correct.
When play resumed in the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, for the final day of Event #59: $500 Salute to Warriors, Nataraj was one of 35 players still in contention for the title. As the field dwindled and the finish line drew closer, the prospect of capturing a maiden WSOP bracelet became increasingly realistic. Roughly eight hours later, he had done just that, securing the title and the $208,800 top prize.
Alongside the enormous sum of money amassed to compete for, a very significant sum of nearly $180,000 will be donated to United Service Organizations (USO) and other charities dedicated to supporting veterans. An amount that will no doubt have a huge impact on the charities helping those who served their country.
Nataraj felt that this added even more meaning to his maiden bracelet victory.
"One thing we struggle with as poker players is finding meaning in the game we play and, you know, what does it represent in the grand scheme of things? Because you get that with a lot of other hobbies and professions, some kind of, you know, fulfilment, some kind of satisfaction. So this event, having that built in to the tournament, makes you feel like you're already contributing to it and you're part of a cause. So that really makes it even more special that, hey, you won, but also through you, someone else won, and you're doing some good in society. So it makes it even more special."
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prashanth Nataraj | United States | $208,800 |
| 2 | Laurance Essak | United States | $137,370 |
| 3 | Jeevan Lobo | India | $101,600 |
| 4 | Sebastian Crema | Canada | $75,800 |
| 5 | Holly Foley | United States | $57,020 |
| 6 | Robert Brobyn | United States | $43,260 |
| 7 | Lexy Gavin-Mather | United States | $33,120 |
| 8 | Daniel Wirgau | United States | $25,570 |
| 9 | Julien Duveau | France | $19,930 |
From One Bracelet Winner to Another
As Nataraj strolled away from the table, clutching his newly earned WSOP hardware, he bumped into another bracelet winner, in fact, the record bracelet holder, Phil Hellmuth.
"Congratulations," Hellmuth said as he inducted Nataraj into the bracelet winners club with a fist-bump.
It was an unexpected encounter to top off an already life-changing moment, and Nataraj was all too aware of how great the moment was.
"Winning a bracelet feels like crazy because you don't really plan for it. Of course, like everyone wants to win it and it's kind of like an aspirational thing that you look forward to, but you don't really imagine yourself winning it until you actually do."
Remarkably, Nataraj's deep run came from having nearly no rest in between playing days, but that didn't stop him from locking in and keeping focused until the very end.
"Yesterday was really stressful for me because, you know, day one ended at like, you know, 1 a.m. I slept at 3 a.m. I was planning to sleep, you know, really sleep in, but I had a lot of calls coming in in the morning, and I had like personal stuff to take care of. So I only ran on about two, three hours of sleep yesterday, so it was like really excruciatingly painful for me."
He admitted that he did indulge in a lovely five or six-hour sleep before the final day, and that seemed to do the trick.
"I felt like great today, even though I didn't have the chipstack, I just started the day with just ten big blinds."
"I was planning to, like, just run it up as much as possible because for me, my last highest score was $40,000. Yep. So I was personally trying to beat that. And once I beat that, I was like, oh, we need to take this down!"
Coolers Galore on Day 3
When the 35 returning players took their seats at the start of the day, the tournament was finely poised, with an average stack of just 16 big blinds, leaving little margin for error.
By the time the first break rolled around, after just two hours of play, only 13 players remained. Among the eliminations, there were coolers galore. Running full houses beating flopped sets, rivered three outers, and even a rivered two outer as the cherry on top.
Perhaps the most notable casualty of the opening session was 2006 WSOP Main Event champion Jamie Gold. On the 20th anniversary of his famous victory, the story had been building nicely for another deep run, but after running into a superior hand preflop, his tournament came to an end in 17th place.
The pace of eliminations slowed after the first break, but once Allen Lanier exited in 13th place, Sachino Yoshii (12th) and Sho Shiratori (11th) were not far behind, setting the stage for the unofficial final table.
With an average stack of just 18 big blinds, the final table began as a battle for survival. Chips changed hands repeatedly, with the action seeing a lot of all-ins, many of which went unchallenged.
Much like earlier in the day, once the first domino fell, several more followed in quick succession. After Samuel Rannou was eliminated in 10th place, a 20-minute flurry saw Julien Duveau (9th), Daniel Wirgau (8th), and Lexy Gavin-Mather (7th) all make their exits.
Not content with those eliminations, Jeevan Lobo went on a one-man mission, taking out three players in half an hour, to reduce the lineup to just three going into what would end up being the tournament’s final comfort break.
Those eliminations were where Lobo’s hot streak ended, though. After nearly an hour of three-handed play, Lobo attacked the blinds preflop, only to run into pocket queens, which put an end to his deep run.
Nataraj began heads-up play with a two-to-one chip lead over Laurance Essak and never looked like relinquishing it.
Ultimately, the match came to an end in an unavoidable clash at the shallow stack depths. Nataraj's superior ace-high held up, securing him the title, the bracelet, and the top prize of $208,800.
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"Shout-Out to All of My Friends"
As a parting message, Nataraj shared that he couldn't be more appreciative of those who have supported him on his path to glory.
"I'd just like a big shout-out to all of my friends. I feel like I had the best rail. It was just fantastic, I feel so supported."
