Norbert Szecsi Wins WSOPE Event #6: No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha Mixed Event (€86,596)
A royal flush at the final table helped Norbert Szecsi win his second World Series of Poker gold bracelet after victory in Event #6: No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha Mixed Event. He takes home €86,596 in prize money after besting a field of 241 players.
Since winning his first bracelet in 2013 in a $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em event, Szecsi has had two runner-up finishes in WSOP events in 2014 and 2016. Now he has gone one step further and added another piece of gold to his collection.
WSOP Player of the Year leader Shaun Deeb takes home €53,731 for his second-place finish, just missing out on a third bracelet of 2018. A fourth top-three finish does not make him mathematically certain to win the Player of the Year title just yet, but it would take a herculean effort from another player over the remainder of the WSOPE festival to deny the four-time bracelet winner.
Here are the final table results:
| Place | Name | Country | Payout (EUR) | Payout (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norbert Szecsi | Hungary | € 86,596 | $99,585 |
| 2 | Shaun Deeb | United States | € 53,731 | $61,790 |
| 3 | Netanel Amedi | Israel | € 36,705 | $42,211 |
| 4 | Julien Sitbon | France | € 25,618 | $29,461 |
| 5 | Samuel Albeck | Germany | € 18,276 | $21,017 |
| 6 | Jaroslav Peter | Czech Republic | € 13,334 | $15,334 |
| 7 | Vittorio Castro | Italy | € 9,953 | $11,446 |
| 8 | Van Tiep Nguyen | Czech Republic | € 7,606 | $8,747 |
Final Day Recap
Eight players remained at the start of play, with Netanel Amedi leading the way and Szecsi not far behind him. Amedi increased his stack over 2 million over the opening exchanges. However, Deeb battled back to lead at the first break of the day in a very fluid opening two levels.
Van Tiep Nguyen didn't manage to get anything going on the final day's play and was the first elimination of the day at the hands of Julien Sitbon, losing a flip to bust in eighth. It was Nguyen's second final table of the 2018 WSOPE after finishing fifth in Event #2 earlier. He was closely followed by Vittorio Castro who picked his spot with kings in pot-limit Omaha only to run into the aces of Szecsi.
Samuel Albeck doubled before Jaroslav Peter was cruelly sent to the rail. Having already doubled early in the day, Peter got his stack in with un-suited aces against the eights and fours of Amedi in PLO, only for Amedi to turn a set of eights.
At this stage Amedi and Deeb were above 2 million in chips, but Amedi would outpace his American opponent and move closer to 3 million with five players left.
Those five soon became four with the elimination of Albeck, his ace out-kicked by that of Deeb to bust in fifth. It soon became a back-and-forth battle between Deeb, Amedi and a resurgent Szecsi before Amedi once more exerted his dominance, eliminating Sitbon in fourth place.
Sitbon got it in with queens against Amedi's jacks in PLO, but the Frenchman improved to trip aces on the flop. However, a jack on the river gave Amedi a boat and eliminated Sitbon.
By the next break the stacks were level once more, with no breakthrough seeming likely.
Szecsi was the shortstack at the table and he three-bet jammed 
only to get called by the 
of Amedi. The flop came 
with the Hungarian's rail screaming for his outs. The turn was the 
but the river was the 
giving Szecsi a royal flush and a lifeline back into the contest.
Amedi was eliminated in the very next hand by Szecsi, who had gone from last to first in three hands before the start of heads up.
Heads-up play was a cautious and patient affair with both players knowing that one pivotal hand could change the entire dynamic of the contest. Deeb quickly turned the tables however to move out into an early lead, but the pendulum swung back the way of Szecsi after out-kicking Deeb when both players turned trips.
The very next hand Deeb three-bet all in on an ace-high turn only to run into Szecsi's top set meaning the likely player of the year was drawing dead, securing the Hungarian's second career bracelet.
, Szecsi checked again. Deeb bet 275,000, Szecsi raised the pot, Deeb looked at his cards again, checked how much Szecsi had behind, saw he was covered, and then decided to pot too, Szecsi snap-called.
as a formality for Szecsi to win the hand. 
on the turn. Deeb check-folded to Szecsi's bet.
in the small blind and Netanel Amedi raised to 120,000 in the big blind with 
. Deeb called.
and Deeb check-called 130,000. The turn was the 
but the river 
to give Deeb two pair and eliminate Albeck in fifth place for €18,276.
with Peter's aces holding. The turn 
sending Peter to the rail in 6th place.
changed nothing, and Albeck doubled up with his pair of nines.
on the river meant the end of Nguyen's tournament life as he was sent to the payout desk to collect €7,606.