Adam Hendrix Wins 2021 Poker Masters $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha EventThe Alaskan Poker Pro Defeated A Field of 69 Entries To Earn $186,300 |
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Adam Hendrix made it down to heads-up play for a chance at his first title in a PokerGO Tour event back in June of 2021. He ultimately finished as the runner-up in that $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em high roller during the U.S. Poker Open. Just over three months later, the Alaskan poker pro once again found himself squaring off against one final opponent at the PokerGO studio with a title on the line. This time around, Hendrix emerged victorious, earning $186,300 as the champion of the Poker Masters $10,000 pot-limit Omaha event.
“I feel good,” Hendrix told PokerGO reporters after coming out on top. “I’ve had a bunch of seconds in my career and not any real first places that are notable, and grinding through that is just icing on the cake to win it. I’m amazed right now. I’m very happy.
“Last time I was in here, I got second to Joey Weissman and I had a huge chip lead. I maybe made some plays that didn’t work," continued Hendrix. "This time, when it got down to it, I had him down to 500k and he doubled and I was trying to keep composed, but sometimes you’re replaying that previous tournament in your head. So it feels really good to hit that on the river.”
This was the second-largest payday of Hendrix’s career, behind the $384,615 he earned as the runner-up in €1,100 buy-in side event at the European Poker Tour Barcelona series. He now has just shy of $2 million in career tournament earnings to his name.
In addition to the title and the money, Hendrix also earned 360 Card Player Player of the Year points as the champion of this PLO event. This was his second title and fifth final-table finish of the year. With 1,636 points and $576,467 in POY earnings to date, Hendrix now sits in 45th place in the 2021 POY race, which is sponsored by Global Poker. Hendrix also took home 186 PokerGO Tour points for the win. This was his fourth qualified score for that point race. He now sits in 35th place on that leaderboard.
Hendrix came into the final day as the second shortest stack among the remaining six players, while World Poker Tour Aria Summer Championship winner Matthew Wantman sat atop the chip counts. He chipped up in the early going, then knocked out Chris Brewer in sixth place ($41,400) to move into second place. This was Brewer’s 15th POY-qualified final table of the year. He now sits in 11th place in the POY race as a result.
Not long after that, Wantman added to his lead by flopping a ten-high straight against the nine-high straight of Jake Schindler (5th – $55,200). This was Schindler’s 12th final-table showing, moving him into 26th place in the rankings. Brewer and Schindler are now back-to-back in the PokerGO Tour points race, sitting at seventh and eighth place, respectively.
Hendrix went on to eliminate Brent Roberts (4th – $69,000) and Jake Daniels (3rd – $69,000) in rapid succession, setting up a heads-up showdown with Wantman for the title. Wantman began with 5,455,000 to Hendrix’s 3,175,000 in chips. The pair battled it out for more than three hours, with Hendrix eventually overtaking and then extending his own lead. Wantman fought back from the brink to regain a slight lead, but Hendrix was able to build more than a 2:1 advantage by the time the final hand was dealt. With blinds of 100,000-200,000, Hendrix raised to 600,000 from the button with AK72. Wantman called from the big blind with Q1085. The flop came down 982. Wantman bet pot as the first to act and Hendrix raised enough to put Wantman all-in. Wantman called and the turn brought the 3 to make Wantman the favorite heading into the river. The A on the river gave Hendrix aces and deuces for the win. Wantman earned $138,000 as the runner-up finisher.
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:
Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points | PokerGO |
1 | Adam Hendrix | $186,300 | 360 | 186 |
2 | Matthew Wantman | $138,000 | 300 | 138 |
3 | Jake Daniels | $89,700 | 240 | 90 |
4 | Brent Roberts | $69,000 | 180 | 69 |
5 | Jake Schindler | $55,200 | 150 | 55 |
6 | Chris Brewer | $41,400 | 120 | 41 |
7 | Erik Seidel | $34,500 | 90 | 35 |
8 | Frank Crivello | $27,600 | 60 | 28 |
Photo credits: PokerGO.