Bradley Ruben Wins Third World Series of Poker Bracelet In $1,500 Razz

Bradley Ruben became the seventh player at the 2021 World Series of Poker to win his third piece of WSOP gold Saturday evening at the Rio.

Ruben won the $1,500 razz to secure his third title and joined the likes of Ryan Leng, Chance Kornuth, Michael Addamo, David “Bakes” Baker, Kevin Gerhart and Anthony Zinno as this year’s class of three-time bracelet winners. Zinno, however, won a second event a few days later to take home his fourth.

The Florida native overcame being one of the short stacks for a good chunk of the last day to come out on top of a final table that featured two-time bracelet winners David “ODB” Baker and Yuri Dzivielevski, longtime mixed game specialist Matt Grapenthien, and 2019 WSOP main event third-place finisher Alex Livingston. He bested a 311-entry field to earn $99,188, the second-largest cash of his tournament career.

When the pandemic started, Ruben didn’t have a bracelet to his name. About 19 months later, he has three.

Ruben won his first in the summer of 2020 when he took down an international WSOP Online event for $220,160, besting a 990-entry field in the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha. Just a few months ago, he won a U.S.-based online series in the $600 pot-limit Omaha six-max event for $69,148. Before his victory on Saturday, Ruben’s best WSOP finish was a third-place in this exact event at the 2017 WSOP.

While he is clearly a shark in pot-limit Omaha, Ruben doesn’t play very much razz, which he thought was somewhat of an advantage.

“My theory is, if you play a game that you haven’t played much before, it’s more enjoyable,” Ruben told WSOP live reporters after the victory. “You’re kind of like a kid. You’re in awe of it. That’s helped me a lot in this tournament, and the one I got third in, in 2017.”

Along with an addition to an increasingly lengthy tournament resume, Ruben also picked up 480 points in the Card Player Player of the Year race. It’s his first POY-qualifying cash of 2021, but he told reporters that the victory only inspires him to get another qualifying score between now and the end of the series.

“I’ve always had the motivation. After winning the first one, I wanted to win a second one to legitimize it, and then I’m like ‘Alright, I’ve got to win a third one and I need to win my first live one,’” said Ruben. “So I always had that motivation and I’ll keep finding ways to motivate myself.”

The final table kicked off on the third and final day of the tournament with Charles Sinn leading the final eight players. Outside of Baker and Hassan Kamoei, who were extremely short on chips, Ruben was the shortest stack of tightly bunched players second through sixth in chips.

With just a single big bet at the start of the final table, Kamoei was the first player to go when he was eliminated by Grapenthien. Baker, on the other hand, doubled up multiple times which allowed him to ladder up the payjumps.

As Baker climbed, Livingston slid and was eliminated by Grapenthien in seventh. He was all in on third street with 6-7/2 against Grapenthien’s 8-4-/5. By the river, Grapenthien made a 7-5-4-3-A, which bested Livingston’s 10-7-6-4-2.

Grapenthien scored back-to-back knockouts by sending Brett Feldman home in sixth, allowing the final five players to go on dinner break.

Ruben started his ascent up the leaderboard when play resumed with the elimination of Baker in fifth. The longtime pro came back from dinner break as the shortest stack and got all in on third street with 7-6/4 up against Ruben’s A-3/7.

Ruben improved a seven-draw on fourth, while Baker hit an eight. Baker made a 9-8 on fifth to take the lead, but Ruben improved to a 7-6-4-3-A on the river to send the World Poker Tour Champion to the rail.

Dzivielevski was the next to go. He lost a large pot to Grapenthien early in four-handed play and was left with less than four big bets. He ended up busting at the hands of Sinn. They were all in on fourth street with Dzivielevski’s Q-7 draw In the lead against Sinn’s Q-10 draw.

Unfortunately for the Brazilian, he hit running kings on fifth and sixth street, while Sinn improved to a 10-8-7-4-3.

With Sinn and Grapenthien winning the two major pots that sent Dzivielevski home in fourth, they were neck-and-neck at the top of the leaderboard, while Ruben was the overwhelming short stack. However, Ruben quickly took over the chip lead by winning several small pots consecutively and then won a showdown against Sinn where there were bets on every street except seventh. Ruben’s 10-8-5-4-3 was good enough to win the pot and move into the chip lead for the first time.

After Ruben took over the lead, Grapenthien started to slide, losing pots to both Sinn and Ruben, leaving him as the short stack. He was eliminated in third by Sinn after getting all in on third street with A-2/3 against Sinn’s 9-7/A. Sinn made a 9-7 low on fifth, while Grapenthien hit paint and pairs the rest of the way.

Even after Sinn knocked out Grapenthien in third, he was still starting at a nearly 3-to-1 chip deficit against Ruben.

Ruben never let off the gas and Sinn never had much of a window to accumulate a meaningful chip stack. Ruben finished the job when Sinn committed the last of his chips on fifth with K-8/J-6-A against Ruben’s 8-5/Q-9-3.

Ruben’s Q-9 low was a considerable favorite against Sinn’s K-J low. Sinn paired his eight on sixth, while Ruben improved to a 9-8-6-5-3. It left Sinn drawing dead to the river and secured Ruben’s victory.

Final Table Results:

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