After three days of action at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, Gruneberg outlasted a field packed with Omaha specialists to claim his third bracelet and the top prize of $271,552 from a $1,750,973 prize pool. The victory pushed his live earnings past $2.5 million and marked his first six-figure score outside of No-Limit Hold'em.
A defining factor of his final day was the relentless support from his rail, who cheered every pot and even outdid the Brazilians backing third-place finisher Erick Mossinger. Once Gruneberg seized the chip lead four-handed, he never looked back.
Runner-up Hokyiu Lee continued his strong summer after finishing second in a $1,500 PLO event just days earlier, but once again fell one spot short of a bracelet.
Event #53: $1,500 Five Card Pot-Limit Omaha Final Table Results
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1
Zachary Gruneberg
United States
$271,552
2
Hokyiu Lee
Hong Kong
$180,230
3
Erick Mossinger
Brazil
$127,560
4
Kamel Mokhammad
Ukraine
$91,530
5
Gianluca Cedolia
Canada
$66,610
6
Ravi Shankar
United States
$49,160
7
Bouwe Claushuis
Netherlands
$36,810
From Pennsylvania to Paris
This was Gruneberg's third career bracelet, with each of his previous two coming online in Hold'em events. Speaking with PokerNews, he made it clear how this one compared.
"It means way more," he said when asked how a live bracelet stacks up against one won online. "Of course, they were really cool. I'd always wanted to win a bracelet, since watching Chris Moneymaker."
"It's a whole different experience," he added, noting that sharing the moment with friends on the rail made the victory even sweeter.
"I'd always wanted to win a bracelet, since watching Chris Moneymaker."
Gruneberg described the new event as "awesome" and hopes it becomes a permanent fixture on the WSOP schedule. "You can be a little bit more aggressive," he said, explaining that players can sometimes "get a little bit scared" by the extra card in their opponent's hand. There are also "a lot of really cool bluffs" available in the format, something he learned long before five-card PLO reached the WSOP in Pennsylvania home games.
Not all of his friends were convinced, joking that the extra card simply added more gamble to the game, but Gruneberg retorted, "Let's see what you say when Liberto or Schulman go on to win it!"
Although his previous bracelet success came in Hold'em, he was equally proud to earn what he jokingly called a certification in mixed games. His good friend and former WSOP roommate Eddie Blumenthal recently won his first mixed-game bracelet, and now Gruneberg has joined him among the game's non-Hold'em champions.
Final Day Action
Only seven were seated as play began on the final day, and it would be Dutch national Bouwe Claushuis to depart first, after a whole 90 minutes of play. As the table shortstack, he got it in on the flop against start-of-day chip leader Kamel Mokhammad, but was outflushed on the turn to leave him drawing dead.
It would take a while for the next hopeful to bust, with Ravi Shankar flopping a wrap and wagering all of his chips late in the third level of play. Erick Mossinger was right there with him, as he had also flopped massive, and he held on to send his opponent packing.
Ravi Shankar
The fifth place finisher, Gianluca Cedolia, suffered a tale as old as time for his elimination, as his aces got all in on the flop while ahead, but ended up behind. Gruneberg scored his first knockout of the day by turning a flush to have his opponent drawing dead, as play became four-handed.
Final day action continued to be cagey, with few all-ins or calls between the final four. Hokyiu Lee managed to get a massive double from Gruneberg, cracking his aces by turning Broadway, before scoring another shortly after, this time through Mokhammad, by turning the same straight again.
Hokyiu Lee
The chip lead changed hands repeatedly throughout four-handed play. Although Mokhammad had the advantage when it began, it didn’t take too much time for Mossinger to take it away from him. Before long, Gruneberg picked up a few chunky pots and moved into possession of almost half the chips in play.
The doubles didn’t stop coming for Lee, as he won yet another huge all-in through start-of-day chip leader Mokhammad, shortly before Mokhammad himself busted out. He was left short, and turned a straight against the set of Mossinger, but his elation wouldn’t last long with Mossinger spiking a boat to secure the elimination.
Closing It Out in a Matter of Minutes
The podium was then set, and doubles continued being dished out to the short stacks despite their opponents’ commanding leads. Mossinger binked a river gutshot to survive, before Lee went runner-runner to crack Gruneberg’s top set.
It was Mossinger whose luck ran out first, as he was unable to boat up against Gruneberg’s flopped flush to send the tournament to heads-up play. He more than doubled his career earnings, with a score of $127,560 to take his total past the $200,000 mark.
Lee had reached his second heads-up match of the week, having placed second just days earlier in Event #35: $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha. Unfortunately for him, it was a matter of minutes until he would miss out on a bracelet again, with Gruneberg’s turned wheel holding true, much to the delight of his rail.
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