Ben Yu Wins His Fourth Career World Series of Poker Gold Bracelet

Ben Yu is the latest player to add to his bracelet collection at the 2021 World Series of Poker. The 35-year-old poker pro defeated a field of 329 total entries in the $10,000 buy-in six-max no-limit hold’em event to secure his fourth piece of WSOP hardware and the first-place prize of $721,453. This was the third-largest payday of Yu’s career, and it increased his lifetime earnings to more than $8.2 million.

With this victory, Yu became the eighth player to earn bracelet number four or higher so far at the 2021 WSOP in Las Vegas, joining John Monnette (4), Anthony Zinno (4), Phil Hellmuth (16), Adam Friedman (4), Farzad Bonyadi (4), Brian Rast (5) and Shaun Deeb (5).

In addition to the title and the money, Yu was also awarded a bevy of rankings points as the champion of this prestigious event. The 1,200 Card Player Player of the Year points he took home was enough to see him move into 102nd place in the 2021 POY race, sponsored by Global Poker. He was also awarded 721 PokerGO Tour rankings points, which moved him just outside the top 20 in that points race.

The final day of this event began with 19 players remaining and Yu firmly in the middle of the pack. Boris Kolev and Matt Berkey were eliminated at the same time on the final two table, setting up the official final table of six while they each earned $62,505. Yu was the shortest stack to start, but was able to maneuver his way out of the bottom of the chip counts as six-handed play continued.

Four-time bracelet winner Asi Moshe was the first to hit the rail. He got all-n on a J1072 board with J9 facing the A8 of Mike Sowers. The 4 on the river completed Sowers’ flush to send him the pot, while Moshe settled for $97,660 as the sixth-place finisher.

Steve Yea was the next to go. He got all-in preflop with pocket kings but was unable to hold against the A10 of Ariel Mantel. Two pair on the flop gave Mantel a big lead which he never relinquished and Yea was eliminated in fifth place ($137,303).

Mantel continued his rise by doubling through Sowers, with his A-K holding against A-Q to see him surge up the leaderboard. Sowers was ultimately the next to be knocked out. He got his last five or so big blinds in preflop with A-8 leading the K6 of Yu. A king on the river sent the pot Yu’s way, and Sowers was sent home with $198,205 for his fourth-place showing.

Yu was able to take and extend the lead during three-handed action. He expanded his advantage even further when he three-bet shoved over the button open of Mantel with K7 and beat the JJ of his opponent. Yu turned two pair and dodged Mantel’s few outs on the river to narrow the field to just two. Mantel earned $293,578 as the third-place finisher.

With that heads-up play began with Yu holding 16,865,000 to Nikita Kuznetsov’s 2,875,000. It didn’t take long for him to convert the lead into a win. Yu raised to 275,000 from the button with JJ and Kuznetsov shoved for 3,010,000 with 22. Yu quickly called and the AQ348 secured the pot and the title for Yu. Kuznetsov was awarded $445,892 as the runner-up.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:

Winner photo credit: WSOP / Melissa Haereiti.

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