Brandon Wittmeyer Wins First Ever World Series of Poker 50/50 No-Limit Hold'em EventWittmeyer Tops Field of 1,123 Entrants For First Career Bracelet and $200,618 First-Place Prize |
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One of the new events for the 2015 World Series of Poker was the $1,500 buy-in 50/50 no-limit hold’em tournament. The event featured a unique format where half of the field finished in the money, collecting a minimum of $1,000. It wasn’t until the final 10 percent of the field remained that the payout structure normalized and began to pay out progressively higher amounts.
Ironically, the inaugural event, sponsored by daily fantasy sports site DraftKings, was won by 31-year-old professional sports bettor Brandon Wittmeyer. The Chicago native who now lives in Las Vegas topped a field of 1,123, earning his first career bracelet and the $200,618 first-place prize.
This was Wittmeyer’s second final table of the summer, having finished third in a $2,500 no-limit hold’em event just four days prior for $215,964. He now has $500,757 in career live tournament earnings.
“I’ve played about eight tournament this year so far," said Wittmeyer. "It’s amazing to have this happen to me back-to-back making two final tables, and now this. I just thought it would be neat to cash again since they were paying half the field. I didn’t expect to come this far again, let alone win it.”
To earn the title, Wittmeyer had to defeat rising tournament star and part-time poker journalist Derek Gomez heads-up. On the final hand, Gomez got it in with A
10
against Wittmeyer’s A
Q. The flop came down K102
, giving Gomez the best hand. The turn was the 2, leaving Wittmeyer drawing to just seven outs. The river, however, was the Q, and Gomez was eliminated in second place, earning $123,907.
Other notables at the final table included Mukul Pahuja (4th), Tom Braband (5th) and Matt Affleck (6th).
Here is a look at the final table results.
| Finish | Player Name | Prize | POY Points |
| 1 | Brandon Wittmeyer | $200,618 | 960 |
| 2 | Derek Gomez | $123,907 | 800 |
| 3 | Ping Liu | $77,516 | 640 |
| 4 | Mukul Pahuja | $56,245 | 480 |
| 5 | Tom Braband | $41,540 | 400 |
| 6 | Matt Affleck | $31,079 | 320 |
| 7 | Perati Muhamet | $23,650 | 240 |
| 8 | Stefano Terziani | $18,268 | 160 |
| 9 | Michael Whitman | $14,266 | 80 |
For more coverage from the summer series, visit the 2015 WSOP landing page complete with a full schedule, news, player interviews and event recaps.
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