Ben Heath Wins First World Series of Poker Bracelet In $50,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller

After being the beneficiary of one of the most controversial blunders of the 2019 World Series of Poker, European poker pro Ben Heath earned one of the biggest paydays of the series.

Heath defeated an elite, 110-entry field to win his first WSOP bracelet in the $50,000 no-limit hold’em high roller. He defeated Andrew Lichtenberger heads-up to win $1.484,085.

Along with the bracelet and the seven-figure payday, Heath was also awarded 1,020 Card Player Player of the Year points. This was his second final table and first title of 2019. He now sits in 35th place in the POY race sponsored by Global Poker.

The blunder in question came when Dmitry Yurasov was eliminated in fourth place. Sam Soverel raised from under the gun and Yursaov moved all in on the button. Lichtenberger folded from the small blind and Heath went into the tank from the big blind.

The tournament was being played with a shot clock and when Heath threw a time extension into the pot, Soverel folded his hand out of turn. Heath quickly called and his A-Q held up against Yurasov’s A-10 to send him home in fourth.

“Luckily, it was going in anyway,” Heath told WSOP reporters after the tournament. “Like, that would be a pretty tragic spot if I had a slightly worse hand.”

Heath added that he “genuinely thinks [Soverel] did it by mistake.” So did the tournament staff when they were explained the situation by the dealer and the players at the table. Soverel, who finished third, received no penalty from his action.

The victory is Heath’s first major tournament victory. Over his career, he has been a consistent winner in Europe’s high-stakes tournaments but broke through for a victory of any significant size on Monday evening.

“It feels better than I thought it would,” said Heath about his bracelet win. “I was real sure when I was younger that I didn’t really want one. I’d take second. But I really wanted one this year.”

After Yurasov was out in fourth, Heath took the chip lead into three-handed play. He extended when he knocked out Soverel in third and battled Lichtenberger in a back-and-forth heads-up match that went Heath’s way.

Heath earned his first cash in a tournament with a buy-in of more than $10,000 earlier this year when he finished fourth in the $25,000 no-limit hold’em high roller at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Since then, three of his four cashes this year have come at those stakes and his other cash was a seventh-place finish in the C$10,000 partypoker Millions North America main event in Montreal.

The final six players came back on Monday for the tournament’s final day. Chance Kornuth was the first player eliminated and Nick Petrangelo busted in fifth place for $335,181.

Final Table Results:

For more coverage from the summer series, check out the 2019 WSOP landing page, complete with a full schedule, results, news, player interviews, and event recaps.

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