Brian Yoon flirted with the chip lead early in the day, but after just taking a big pot off of Danny Wong, he's now the man in command.
Action started with Yoon raising on the button and Wong three-betting from the big blind. Yoon called and drew two while Wong took just one.
Wong led with a bet, which Yoon called. Wong then patted his hand while Yoon took one.
Again Wong bet into his opponent, and again Yoon called. Wong patted once more, while Yoon still needed one card.
Another bet then came from Wong, but this time, Yoon raised him. Without much hesitation, Wong called, and Yoon rolled over for the winner to take a sizeable pot, and grab a sizeable lead atop the standings.
Three-handed play has gone on for over five hours, but unless Wil Wilkinson can make another comeback, the tournament could be heads-up soon.
Wilkinson raised from the small blind into Danny Wong's big blind. Wong called and drew two after Wilkinson drew one.
Wilkinson led out with a bet, but got raised by Wong. Wilkinson snap-called, then drew one card again.
Wong patted his hand, and now Wilkinson checked to him, then called a bet from Wong.
Wilkinson needed to draw one again, while Wong remained pat.
Wilkinson again checked and faced another bet from Wong. Wilkinson gave it some thought, cut out his remaining chips, and then folded to preserve his final four big bets.
Down to his last 80,000 in chips in the small blind, Wil Wilkinson put them in the middle after a raise on the button from Brian Yoon. Danny Wong also called from the big blind, so Wilkinson would have to fade two would-be tournament executioners.
Wong and Yoon checked down each street after the draws went as follows:
Wil Wilkinson: two, two, one
Danny Wong: three, three, one
Brian Yoon: two, two, two
Wilkinson could only show a pair of sevens, while Wong showed , which was more than enough to win the pot as Yoon also threw his hand into the muck.
After six hours of three-handed play, Brian Yoon and Danny Wong will now play heads-up for the first prize of $240,341 and the gold WSOP bracelet.
With two draws complete and nearly 500,000 in the pot, Danny Wong bet and Brian Yoon raised. Wong called to commit his last 215,000.
Danny Wong: /
Brian Yoon:
Wong was live and drawing one, but he peeled a and Yoon secured the win for his fourth WSOP gold bracelet. Wong was eliminated in second place for $148,341.
After three days of lowball action at the 2021 World Series of Poker, Brian Yoon defeated Danny Wong in heads-up play to win Event #57: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. The field of 90 runners generated an $839,350 prize pool that paid Yoon $240,341 for first place.
Yoon won his fourth WSOP gold bracelet and joins a list of four-time winners that includes Huck Seed, John Monnette, Michael Gathy, Robert Mizrachi, and Eli Elezra. This is his first bracelet in a mixed event after winning the first three in no-limit hold’em.
Wil Wilkinson finished in third after a three-handed battle that lasted nearly seven hours. Don Nguyen, Joao Vieira, Brandon Shack-Harris, and Jordan Siegel rounded out an experienced final table that fought their way through one of the toughest mixed game fields at the WSOP.
Other players finishing among the 14 players to make it into the money include Mike Matusow, Dan Smith, Nathan Gamble, Shaun Deeb, Michael Trivett, and Dan Zack.
Final Table Results
Place
Name
Country
Prize
1
Brian Yoon
United States
$240,341
2
Danny Wong
United States
$148,341
3
Wil Wilkinson
United States
$104,381
4
Don Nguyen
United States
$74,939
5
Joao Vieira
Portugal
$54,993
6
Brandon Shack-Harris
United States
$54,217
7
Jordan Siegel
United States
$31,290
Winner’s Reaction
“This is awesome because I would say that right now deuce-to-seven is my favorite game,” Yoon said about his first mixed game bracelet. “I’ve been working on this game for several years. I studied and I learned the game. I learned a lot of advanced stuff about this game and it’s great to get to use it.”
Yoon’s attraction to mixed games is based on finding less satisfaction in no-limit hold'em, a relatable feeling for the growing group of poker players and fans that have found their way to new variations in recent years.
“I’m not really enjoying no-limit as much as I used to, so I started playing other stuff. Draw variations were among the first games that I started playing.”
Yoon enjoys the relaxed atmosphere of mixed games just as much as winning at them.
“The vibes are different. Obviously, if you have someone like Crazy Mike (Thorpe) around, it’s going to be different. Even if he wasn’t there it’s a lot more chill.”
The relaxed pace and style of play also provide a different set of challenges that tend to create a more laid-back atmosphere.
“You’re restricted on betting and you can only bet so much, you can’t really give off too much information. Especially in this kind of game, they’re going to see how much you’re drawing so it doesn’t necessarily matter how much info you give off.
No-limit is super serious and people are more worried about giving away information. No-limit is a more complex game, there’s no doubt about that.”
Yoon is now a four-time champion, joining a long list of some of the best poker players in the world, but he’s not sweating his legacy.
“It feels good to tack on another one, but I don’t think about my legacy. I am not trying to grind out poker for the next 40 years. I’ll be around and playing in the Main Event for a while, but I’m not bracelet hunting or trying to catch Phil Hellmuth’s record. It just feels good to get into elite company.”
Final Table Action
Day 3 began with the eight players that survived Day 2, but Thorpe made a quick exit when Vieira made a seven-six to beat his eight-six and knock him out of the tournament in eighth place. The remaining seven players moved over to the featured table in the Amazon room for final table play.
With Vieira gone, the remaining four players were without a distinguished short stack and play began to stretch out.
Nguyen was next to go in fourth, finishing off a great three-day run that saw him build a stack early and stay consistently at the top of the leaderboard for most of the tournament. Nguyen was sent to the rail after Yoon forced a fold that left him with his last big bet. Wilkinson stepped in and finished the job on the next hand with a ten-nine as a live drawing Nguyen peeled a king on his last draw.
Three-handed play was a test of endurance and the lead changed several times without an elimination for nearly seven hours. After making his way from the short stack to the lead, and then back to the short stack, Wilkinson made a pair of sevens against Wong’s nine-eight and was knocked out of the tournament in third place.
Heads-up play was fast-paced and Yoon extended his lead early to put the pressure on Wong. It didn’t take long before the newly minted four-time champion put Wong near elimination. The big moment came when Wong drew to a seven-six and Yoon’s ten-eight held as Wong peeled a king to end the bid for his first WSOP gold bracelet.
This concludes coverage of Event #57: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship. Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews live reporting team for updates from every event at the 2021 WSOP.