Brett Apter Wins 2019 World Series of Poker $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout31-Year-Old Tennessee Resident Tops Field of 917 To Win His First Bracelet and $238,824 |
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Brett Apter has won the 2019 World Series of Poker $1,500 no-limit hold’em shootout event, earning his first WSOP gold bracelet and $238,824 after overcoming a field of 917 entries.
“I feel like I’m in a dream. I wanted this ever since I first started playing poker. Ever since I won yesterday, and knew I was going to the final table, it hasn’t felt real. I’ve just been trying to live up every moment at the final table,” said Apter after coming out on top. “I was just soaking up every moment with all my friends here, playing heads up for a bracelet, and I just knew that I wanted to play my absolute best every second since it was going to be something I would never forget. I wanted no regrets.”
In addition to the title and the money, the 31-year-old Tennessee resident was also awarded 912 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win. This was his ninth final-table finish of 2019, and it was enough to see him make a dramatic leap in the standings. He now sits in 27th place on the POY race, which is sponsored by Global Poker.
In a shootout tournament, each table essentially plays sit’n’go, with a solitary player advancing to the next round from each starting table. After day 1 of this event the field had been narrowed to just 100 players remaining. They combined onto ten tables to play another sit-n-go to determine who would move on to the final table of the event.
Apter defeated eight-time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel to secure his spot at the final table. He didn’t get much going during the first several hours of play at the final table, but then managed to pick up pocket aces against Shintaro Baba abd Anatoliii Syrin, who both held ace-king, to begin his surge up the leaderboard.
Zyrin knocked out Tommy Nguyen in third place to take roughly a 4-to-1 lead into heads-up play with Apter. The lead was narrowed when Apter won an all-in with AK against the Q10 of Zyrin to chip up to 9.3 million, leaving Zyrin with 13.6 million.
Apter was able to battle his way into the lead in time for the final hand of the tournament to be dealt. Apter limped in from the button for 400,000 and Zyrin raised to 1 million. Apter called and the flop came down Q104. Zyrin checked to Apter, who bet 900,000. Zyrin check-raised all-in for 8.8 million. Apter quickly called and flipped up the AA. Zyrin was behind with Q9 for top pair. The turn was the 7 and the river the 4. With that Apter made the nut flush to secure the pot and the title, sending Zyrin to the rail with $147,594 as the runner-up finisher.
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:
Place | Player | Winnings (USD) | POY Points |
1 | Brett Apter | $186,356 | 912 |
2 | Anatolii Zyrin | $115,174 | 760 |
3 | Tommy Nguyen | $73,333 | 608 |
4 | Adrian Scarpa | $73,333 | 456 |
5 | Manuel Ruivo | $31,151 | 380 |
6 | Cary Katz | $31,151 | 304 |
7 | Shintaro Baba | $31,151 | 228 |
8 | Michael O’Grady | $31,151 | 152 |
9 | Kenna James | $19,436 | 76 |
10 | Marko Maher | $15,331 | 46 |
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.