After the excitement and craziness during Day 4 of the Main Event that was played around them all day, the scene of Peder Berge and Jermaine Reid dueling heads-up for a bracelet in the empty Amazon room is certainly one of the most surreal ones you'll ever see at the World Series of Poker.
Peder Berge and Jermaine Reid traded raises back and forth through fourth, fifth and sixth streets until Berge was all-in.
Peder Berge: /
Jermaine Reid: /
Reid thought he was in great shape and on the verge of a bracelet as he showed in the hole for two pair, aces and kings, but the queen Berge hit on sixth street had given him trips to go with the he had in the hole.
Reid couldn't improve on seventh street with the , giving Berge a double-up and the chip lead.
Peder Berge completed and called after Jermaine Reid raised. Berge bet his pair of deuces on fourth and Reid called. On fifth, Berge bet again but folded when Reid raised.
The next hand, Berge completed again with the and finished with showing. He bet on every street and Reid called with on his board.
"I have nothing," Berge said on seventh. Reid showed for a pair of aces to take the pot.
On third street, Peder Berge opted to open for a completion showing the and was raised by Jermaine Reid holding the . Berge called to see fourth street, then called another bet from Reid.
On fifth street, Reid had the betting lead and did so, but was then raised by Berge. Reid called.
Sixth street saw Berge make a pair of sevens and now have the betting lead. He indeed bet and Reid called.
The players' action-inducing boards read,
Peder Berge: //
Jermaine Reid: //
Action was checked through on seventh street and Reid showed for two pair, nines and eights which was enough for the win.
Peder Berge and Jermaine Reid went to sixth street when Berge bet and Reid raised. Berge called the bet, then raised when Reid bet on seventh. Reid re-raised to put Berge all in, and Berge called.
Berge finished with for two pair, queens and deuces. Reid showed for a straight to win the pot, eliminating Berge in second place.
Jermaine Reid had some bad news for people watching him from back home in New York City that he was about to bust out. But things didn’t quite work out that way for the newest World Series of Poker champion in Event #69: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better.
Reid defeated Peder Berge heads-up following a marathon final table to win his first WSOP bracelet and the $113,459 top prize. A regular in the cash games at the Borgata in Atlantic City, it was the culmination of a dream Reid had for himself.
“It means a lot. It is something I set out to do this year," Reid shared with PokerNews after his victory. "I really didn’t think I would accomplish it. It was just a stretch goal. So I’m very, very surprised I actually got it. It feels amazing. The money is irrelevant. The bracelet is everything.”
It almost never happened. Reid came back from the dinner break at the bottom of the leaderboard among the four remaining players. He expected to be eliminated and told everyone he would soon be on his way back home.
“I expected to go out in fifth place," Reid said. "In fact, I sent out a message to my girlfriend saying, sorry, bad news. Things just turned around. I just got very lucky. Very, very lucky.”
Final Table Results
Place
Name
Country
Prize
1
Jermaine Reid
United States
$113,459
2
Peder Berge
United States
$70,126
3
John Hoang
United States
$48,138
4
John Monnette
United States
$33,734
5
Esther Taylor
United States
$24,145
6
Carol Fuchs
United States
$17,658
7
Espen Sandvik
Norway
$13,202
8
John Racener
United States
$10,095
Day 3 Action
Day 3 began with 13 players remaining out of a starting field of 372. Joseph Kupresanin, Richard Bremer, Glenn Cozen, Perry Friedman, and Joe Ranciato all hit the rail early in the day, bringing the field down to the final table of eight.
John Racener, who began the day as chip leader, was eliminated in eighth place, followed by bracelet winners Espen Sandvik (seventh) and Carol Fuchs (sixth). Esther Taylor, making her sixth WSOP final table appearance, would be the next to fail, but not before some controversy.
Taylor was involved in a big pot against John Monnette that went to seventh street. Taylor had just 10,000 chips behind and received the . When the dealer gave her the card, it hit her chip stack in the middle and flipped over. Monnette protested, and after a long pause, as a tournament official was called, it was ruled the card must be replaced.
Taylor failed to improve on the hand and was eliminated soon after. Monnette himself would finish in fourth place, just missing out on his fifth bracelet and second this year, but not before having some choice words for the dealers.
Then came the marathon three-handed session, as Reid, Berge, and John Hoang exchanged chips for more than three hours. Finally, in an all-in pot between Berge and Hoang, Berge turned up the to go with his to make a full house and beat Hoang’s .
Heads-up play would take nearly another two hours before Reid made a straight with to beat Berge’s for two pair.
Reid nearly went wire-to-wire in the tournament. He had the chip lead after Day 1 and kept that momentum all the way to the end. Even more remarkably, he did it while also working his day job. Reid is Vice President of Global Integration Systems at a tech company in New York. With the three-hour time difference between New York and Las Vegas, he worked during the day and finished just as this tournament was starting.
He was also in a hurry to leave the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. He expected to be at the airport to fly back to New York by 9 p.m. PST. He managed to reschedule for 7 a.m., just four hours after the tournament was completed.
He now has a piece of gold jewelry to carry in his luggage.