Mike Linster in the big blind, William Kopp under the gun, and Michael Rodrigues each committed 300,000 chips to see a flop of 6♥8♠8♣.
After a check from Linster, Kopp bet 350,000 which got a call from Rodrigues but a fold from Linster.
On the 8♦ turn, Kopp kept coming with a bet of 1,000,000. Again Rodrigues called, setting up the river 2♥.
Kopp now checked and Rodrigues shoved his remaining 3,615,000 stack into the middle.
Kopp thought for a couple of minutes and then made the call.
Rodrigues showed A♥A♦7♠2♣ for a full house of eights full of aces. Kopp showed A♠K♠9♠9♦ for an inferior full house of eights full of nines, sending a massive pot to Rodrigues who takes over the chip lead with that win.
Sterling Savill raised to 325,000 in the cutoff and was met with a three-bet to 1,155,000 on the button by Mike Linster. William Kopp folded in the small blind and Michael Rodrigues then cold-called from the big blind.
With just under 1,500,000 total, Savill debated briefly and then made the call, leaving himself just 300,000 behind.
On the 10♠Q♠Q♣ flop, Rodrigues led out for pot, 5,375,000, which sent Linster to bolt out of his seat. Savill called off his last 300,000, and a visibly frustrated Linster folded his A♥K♦10♦2♥ face up, leaving Savill's fate to Rodrigues.
Sterling Savill: A♣9♠5♣3♠
Michael Rodrigues: A♠10♥4♥2♠
Savill was drawing very thin, and after the 6♠ on the turn gave Rodrigues his nut flush, the 7♦ on the river was meaningless, sending Savill to the rail in third place.
In what would be the last hand of the tournament, Michael Rodrigues limped on the button and William Kopp raised to 600,000. Rodrigues then reraised to 1,800,000 and Kopp called.
The flop came J♥10♣9♥ and Kopp bet pot, which was enough to put Rodrigues all in. Rodrigues called and hands were revealed.
Michael Rodrigues: A♥7♠5♥3♥
William Kopp: A♦Q♠8♠3♠
The board ran out J♥10♣9♥K♦6♠ — giving Kopp broadway and eliminating Rodrigues in second place.
On Friday night, William Kopp bested a 1,125-player field and defeated Michael Rodrigues heads up in a one-sided match to claim his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet and the $259,549 first-place prize in Event #66: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better.
The Ohio native added to his $1 million in career-tournament earnings and joined his sister, Katie Kopp, who won the 2022 Casino Employees Event, as a WSOP bracelet winner. Today's victory marks Kopp's eighth cash of the series and his biggest cash to date.
"It feels really good, especially since my best friend won a bracelet this year and my sister won one last year," Kopp said when asked how he felt about his victory.
Kopp attributes part of his success to having a strong poker family.
"When we were growing up we were always about poker. We're pretty close...me, my sister, and my mom. We all talk poker and help make each other better," Kopp said.
...a pair of lucky socks may also have helped, according to Kopp.
"It's the first time I wore my lucky socks in two years," Kopp explained. "The last time I wore them I had a big score too."
2023 WSOP Event #66 Final Table Results
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1
William Kopp
United States
$259,549
2
Michael Rodrigues
Portugal
$160,418
3
Mike Linster
United States
$113,991
4
Sterling Savill
United States
$82,104
5
Joseph McCarthy
United States
$59,953
6
Loni Hui
United States
$44,391
7
John Goyette
United States
$33,335
8
Anthony Zinno
United States
$25,394
9
Aaron Wallace
United States
$19,627
Action of The Day
Day 3 began with a flurry of double-ups that saw Mike Linster, Anthony Zinno, and Philipp Krieger all double up through Kopp — more than halving his stack from the start of play. The escalating blinds kept forcing the action, however, and after Jorge Leon was knocked out early, Kopp was able to quickly rebound through the eliminations of both Krieger and Yuval Bronshtein to retake the chip lead and reduce the field down to a final table.
Wallace fell in ninth place in short order after getting his aces cracked by Kopp and Zinno quickly followed suit after bricking with a pair and a flush draw against Kopp’s top pair.
Despite entering the final table second in chips, John Goyette hit a bad run that saw both Linster and Joseph McCarthy double up through him to leave him short-stacked. Goyette would end up running into McCarthy's aces and failing to improve to bow out in seventh place.
McCarthy and two-time bracelet winner Loni Hui, who had been nursing short stacks for much of the day, managed to hold on for multiple pay jumps before exiting in sixth and fifth place respectively.
Four-handed play saw momentum shift massively in Rodrigues' favor after he managed to double through Kopp and take the chip lead. Rodrigues continued his ascension by eliminating Sterling Savill in fourth place, at which point Rodrigues held more than half the chips in play.
Kopp wouldn't be denied, however, as he gained a much-needed chip boost after knocking Linster out in third in a pot where Linster's low was counterfeited by a running two pair that left him second best.
Kopp began his heads-up duel against Rodrigues with a fairly significant chip deficit but was quickly able to grind Rodrigues' stack down with relentless aggression. A key turning point occurred when Kopp quartered Rodrigues with a six-high straight and nut low — giving Kopp an over two-to-one chip advantage. Just a few hands later, Rodrigues made his last stand with a flopped flush draw that ended up bricking out against Kopp's Broadway straight to end the tournament.
That's a wrap for PokerNews coverage of Event #66: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better here at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. Be sure to check out our live-reporting hub for continuing coverage of the 2023 World Series of Poker.