Brent Hart Takes Down World Series Of Poker $5,000 No-Limit Event

Brent Hart won his first World Series of Poker bracelet in on Saturday in Las Vegas. That victory was good for $660,284 and was the biggest win of his poker career, taking his total earnings close to $1.5 million.

“It’s truly surreal, I’m like floating right now,” Hart said after the win, telling reporters he had been chasing a bracelet for 15 years.

“I was playing with house money because at the bare minimum, I was going to get some game from these seasoned vets, these multi-bracelet winners, and it just worked out,” he said, shouting out his strong rail which cheered him to vicotry. “Today was my time. Man, it’s been a long time coming.”

This $5,000 buy-in eight-max no-limit hold’em tournament attracted a field of 660 entries to set the prize pool at $3,036,000. The top 124 players all took home at least $9,964 in prize money.

There were 239 that advanced to day 2, and after the money bubble burst on the second day of play the final 41 made it to day 3. The penultimate day of the tournament saw the field reach the final seven players.

Many big-name notables were lost along the way, including Andrew Ostapchenko, Nate Silver, Brian Rast, Sam Soveral, and Sami Bechahed that all finished in the top 25. Erik Seidel suffered a particularly brutal beat to end his tournament run.

“Sick field, every table,” admitted Hart. “It was great because I was able to learn something every day. I was able to sit with seasoned players and pick up small nuances here and there, so it was a win-win,”

Hart actually dropped to last in chips during four-handed play for a bit before he started the climb back to the top. But Eddie Ochana had been busy during that time as he took out Shant Marashiian in fifth place, Kartik Ved in fourth place, and Alexander Queen in third place all in a row.

With his third-place finish, Queen now moves into 11th place in the Card Player POY rankings, having already won the Borgata Winter Poker Open for $613,063, and taken fourth in the WPT Hard Rock Poker Showdown for another $305,000.

Hart faced a huge chip disadvantage at the start of the heads-up final, but he soon scored a double and then chipped away to take the lead.

The final hand saw Ochana get all in with K-3, but he was covered and dominated by the K-J of Hart. Ochana found some hope when a three fell on the flop, but Hart came from behind to win the hand and the tournament thanks to a jack on the river.

Ochana took home a nice $440,204 payday to see his career earnings climb above $2.6 million. This was the WSOP Circuit ring winner’s best finish yet, having also taken third in a $5,000 six-max no-limit hold’em event at the 2008 WSOP for $368,891.

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

Visit the Card Player 2024 World Series of Poker page for schedules, news, interviews, and the latest event results. WSOP coverage sponsored by Global Poker.

Photo credit: WSOP / Regina Cortina.

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