The final five players returning for Day 4, the Final Day of Event #40: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship, has been set in stone. Today, those final five names will be chiseled down to one Champion.
Leading the way when the players take their seats at the PokerGO final table will be end-of-day chip-leader Kevin Gerhart (2,720,000-2x WSOP Winner). This marks the second day in a row that Gerhart has led the chip counts at the end of the day, and he will be looking to do it one more time on his way to a potential WSOP championship bracelet alongside the $361,124 in first-place cash.
Event #40: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship Final Five Seat Draw
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Bets
1
Brandon Shack-Harris
United States
540,000
5
2
Eddie Blumenthal
United States
2,400,000
20
3
Bryce Yockey
United States
1,445,000
12
4
Marco Johnson
United States
1,840,000
15
5
Kevin Gerhart
United States
2,720,000
23
Standing in the way of Gerhart we have Eddie Blumenthal (2,400,000) who bagged up second in chips after a late-run towards the end of play on day three. Today, a win would lock up Blumenthal’s first WSOP gold bracelet, as he looks to improve on his 4th place finish in Event #9: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Eight or Better Championship earlier this series.
Rounding out the final five are Marco Johnson (1,840,000-2x WSOP Winner), Bryce Yockey (1,445,000-1x WSOP Winner), and Brandon Shack-Harris (540,000-2x WSOP Winner). Look for each of these experienced poker professionals to keep everyone sharp at this championship finale.
Play will resume with 23 minutes left in level 23; with blinds of 30,000/60,000, playing 60,000/120,000 limits.
Final Table Results and Remaining Payouts
Place
Winner
Country
Prize (in USD)
1
$361,124
2
$223,194
3
$155,971
4
$111,701
5
$82,033
6
Chris Vitch
United States
$61,819
7
Jake Schwartz
United States
$47,835
8
David Benyamine
France
$38,035
Please join us here on PokerNews for updates throughout this PokerGO final table, or live here at the Rio Hotel and Casino at the main featured table in the Amazon Room. The cards will be in the air at 4:00 p.m. local (PST) time or streaming on PokerGO beginning at 5:00 p.m. local (PST) time, where they will play until a new champion is crowned.
Kevin Gerhart started things off with a pre flop raise. Brandon Shack-Harris re-raised and Eddie Blumenthal cold-called the three bets and Gerhart came along as well.
The flop was Blumenthal checked and Gerhart bet out. Then, Shack-Harris called all-in for his remaining chips, and Blumenthal called.
The turn was the and the action went check-check.
The dealer placed the river card and the action went the same way.
Kevin Gerhart:
Eddie Blumenthal:
Brandon Shack-Harris:
After all the cards were turned face up, it was Shack-Harris's aces that took down the high, and the nut low of Blumenthal's that won the low.
Kevin Gerhart completed and Brandon Shack-Harris then raised for Gerhart to call. Shack-Harris bet on fourth to earn a call and then bet on fifth with 20,000 behind. Gerhart raised and Shack-Harris called all-in.
Shack-Harris had paired his ace to fall behind the made queen low of Gerhart, but took the lead again on sixth when he improved to a jack low. However, Gerhart came right back on seventh with an eight to make a ten low, and Shack Harris paired up again to hit the rail.
Kevin Gerhart raised from the hijack and was called by Bryce Yockey from the big blind.
The dealer spread the flop of and Yockey check-raised the bet by Gerhart and was called.
The on the turn prompted the action to go check-check.
The river was the and this time Yockey led out and was called by Gerhart, who then tabled for a king-high club flush and was awarded the pot after Yockey tossed his cards into the muck.
Eddie Blumenthal: / /
Bryce Yockey: / /
Kevin Gerhart: / fold on sixth
Kevin Gerhart was the bring-in and Eddie Blumenthal completed. Bryce Yockey moved all-in for 120,000 total and was called by Gerhart and Blumenthal. On fourth and fifth, Blumenthal bet and was called by Gerhart before another bet by Blumenthal on sixth forced a fold from Gerhart, who exposed the in the hole.
Once all cards were turned over, Yockey was drawing dead with a made nine-eight as Blumenthal already had a seven-six. The deuce as Yockey's final card improved his hand but was too little too late. He has been eliminated in 4th place for $111,701.
Eddie Blumenthal raised from the button with 30,000 behind and was called by Marco Johnson in the small blind and Kevin Gerhart in the big blind. On the flop, Johnson checked and Gerhart bet for Blumenthal to call all-in and Johnson to call.
The two remaining players checked down the turn and the river. Gerhart's was holding and mucked while Johnson had for trips queens. Blumenthal's was no good and he departed in third place for $155,971.
Marco Johnson doubled his severe short stack to 410,000 and he got it in again right after.
Marco Johnson:
Kevin Gerhart:
The flop left Johnson drawing dead as the turn and river only improved Kevin Gerhart to quads. Johnson's run ends in second place and he takes home $223,194.
A new three-time WSOP bracelet winner has been crowned in Event #40: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship. American mixed game specialist Kevin Gerhart went wire-to-wire and converted his lead at the start of the final day after defeating Marco Johnson in heads-up.
Out of a field of 149 entries, Gerhart outlasted some of the biggest names in the world of poker and claimed the biggest slice of the $1,389,425 prize pool. For his efforts, he earned a top prize of $361,124 while runner-up Johnson had to settle for a consolation prize of $223,194.
While today's victory is the biggest in terms of money earned, he considers the first bracelet in Event #54: $1,500 Razz back in 2019 as the most important one. "I would consider the first one, the Razz one, the most important just because it opened the doors for me for bigger and better things. I just started playing 10ks this year so it's something new to me and I haven't experienced this field very much but I have played against all these guys in the $1,500's. I am just so happy to have all my friends that support me through everything."
It was a tough battle throughout the last four days and Gerhart praised not only the four opponents on the final day but also those who busted earlier in the money. "If you look at just the final nine or even the last 16, there are so many names, so many bracelets, so many top level players. I am so happy that I get to proof myself year after year after year with three bracelets and be hopefully considered among the top in the world right now."
Final Table Result Event #40: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship
Place
Winner
Country
Prize (in USD)
1
Kevin Gerhart
United States
$361,124
2
Marco Johnson
United States
$223,194
3
Eddie Blumenthal
United States
$155,971
4
Bryce Yockey
United States
$111,701
5
Brandon Shack-Harris
United States
$82,033
6
Chris Vitch
United States
$61,819
7
Jake Schwartz
United States
$47,835
8
David Benyamine
France
$38,035
Gerhart headed into the final day as the chip leader after a long session at the tables on the previous day, where the field was whittled down from 16 contenders. That included a long spell with just one elimination on the nine-handed unofficial final table.
"It was so difficult. Playing nine-handed, anything is difficult, the hand ranges you have to play, tighten up so much and the short stacks kept doubling and doubling. By the end of the day I got home, I had no energy to think about anything and went straight to sleep for twelve hours," the eventual champion admitted.
Gerhart described runner-up Johnson as a tough competitor. He described one especially difficult Stud Hi-Lo hand in which Johnson's raise caused him to "almost throw up" as it was difficult to fold. However, once they headed into the next Limit Hold'em round, Gerhart went on a heater in which he "just had it over and over. I kept getting value bet after value bet in and he just called off."
That short spell sent Gerhart into an overwhelming lead and he eventually finished the job in an Omaha Hi-Lo hand in which he flopped an unbeatable full house.
During the final table, Gerhart had a large rail going and which created a familiar boisterous atmosphere in the Thunderdome while three WSOP events played down to a winner at nearly the same time.
"It is unbelievable to have 30 people cheering for you at the same time, just the energy I felt from the crowd. The only rail I had the last few days were my girlfriend and my girlfriend's parents who just came into town Thursday night," Gerhart said in the interview after his victory.
The victory also comes at a special time as he celebrates his birthday next week and received the "best present I could have asked for." It was the fifth cash of the ongoing series in Las Vegas but Gerhart will be skipping the $50,000 Poker Players Championship to go back to his usual $1,500 Events and add a "couple of 10k buy-ins, play the Main Event and call it a year."
After the 2021 WSOP has wrapped up, Gerhart said he will certainly take a break from poker and promised his girlfriend a trip anywhere in December and January to spend some time together.
Action of the Final Day
Only five players returned to their seats on the main feature table in the Amazon Room and Gerhart was the chip leader ahead of Eddie Blumenthal while Marco Johnson was in third place. Another two WSOP bracelet winners were in contention including Bryce Yockey and Brandon Shack-Harris with the latter as the distinct short stack.
There would be no third victory for Shack-Harris as he fell in the opening stages, and Yockey's stack was decimated before he bowed out in a three-way Razz hand against Blumenthal and Gerhart. Throughout the entire 124 hands on the final day, which was live-streamed on the PokerGO platform, Gerhart remained in the lead and was only temporarily threatened by Johnson during heads-up play.
Blumenthal's fate was sealed in a Limit Hold'em hand in which Johnson made trips queens and the heads-up action commenced with a near two-to-one lead for Gerhart. After nearly closing the gap at one point, Johnson dropped to a severe short stack and was unable to mount a comeback to claim his own third WSOP gold bracelet.
This concludes the PokerNews coverage for this event but the live reporting team is providing exclusive updates throughout the entire 2021 WSOP in Las Vegas from start to finish.