Daniel Strelitz Wins 2019 World Series of Poker $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em BraceletPoker Pro Tops Stacked Final Table To Win His First Bracelet and $442,385 |
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Daniel Strelitz defeated a field of 400 entries to emerge victorious the 2019 World Series of Poker $5,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event. The poker pro from Southern California earned his first WSOP gold bracelet and $442,480 as the champion of this event.
“I’m feeling pretty good. I finally got it off my back. I came close a few times, and it’s kind of disappointing.” said Strelitz after securing his first WSOP title. “But it wasn’t like I was desperate. But it’s still just a massive relief. I’m super happy.”
This was the third largest score of his career, behind his win in the 2017 World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic main event and his runner-up finish in this year’s PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event. With this latest title, Strelitz increased his lifetime live earnings to just shy of $4.4 million.
In addition to the money and the bracelet, Strelitz also earned 1,440 Card Player Player of the Year points as the champion. With the 1,900 points, he took home from his second-place showing in the PCA this year, Strelitz now sits in fifth place in the 2019 POY race standings, which are sponsored by Global Poker.
Strelitz was far from the only player at the final table to make moves in the POY rankings. Shannon Shorr moved into second place on the leaderboard after notching his seventh final table of the year. Ali Imsirovic climbed to 10th place, with three titles and ten final-table finishes under his belt including this one. Maria Ho entered into a tie for 26th place with Bart Lybaert, with four final tables and a title earned in 2019.
The final day of this event began with Shannon Shorr holding just over half of the chips in play with six players remaining. Short stack Arsenii Karmatckii was the first to fall. He got all-in with pocket deuces and was called by the A9[[suit:club] of Ali Imsirovic. Both an ace and a nine hit the board and Karmatckii was knocked out in sixth place ($65,794).
Strelitz began his rise up the leaderboard by eliminating Maria Ho in fifth place. Ho got her last chips in with pocket eights, only to run into the pocket kings of Strelitz. Ho failed to improve and was sent home with $91,211.
Imsirovic got his last 550,000 in with pocket nines, and found two callers in Strelitz and Ognjen Sekularac. The flop came down 1073 and Strelitz fired out a bet of 350,000. Sekularac folded and Strelitz revealed his K10 for top pair. His tens held up from there and Imsirovic had to settle for fourth place and $129,018.
Sekularac ended up calling for his tournament life with KQ, only to find himself up against the AJ of Shorr. The board ran out K109Q2 and Shorr made a straight to beat Sekularac’s two pair. The Serbian earned $186,050 as the third-place finisher.
With that knockout, Shorr took 6.2 million into heads-up play against Strelitz, who sat with 5.9 million. The two battled it out for 42 hands. By the time the final cards were dealt, Strelitz had opened up a 9-to-1 lead.
Strelitz picked up pocket tens and raised to 200,000. Shorr shoved for 1,280,000 with Q4. Strelitz called and the K4383 runout secured the pot and the title for Strelitz. Shorr earned $273,416 as the second-place finisher.
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:
Place | Player | Winnings (USD) | POY Points |
1 | Daniel Strelitz | $442,385 | 1440 |
2 | Shannon Shorr | $273,416 | 1200 |
3 | Ognjen Sekularac | $186,050 | 960 |
4 | Almedin Imsirovic | $129,018 | 720 |
5 | Maria Ho | $91,211 | 600 |
6 | Arsenii Karmatckii | $65,794 | 480 |
7 | Maria Mcalpin | $48,377 | 360 |
8 | Pauli Ayras | $36,323 | 240 |
9 | Michael O’Grady | $27,848 | 120 |
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.