World Series of Poker -- Men Nguyen Wins Seventh Bracelet

Men Nguyen captured event no. 10, the $10,000 7-card Stud World Championship at the 2010 World Series of Poker for his seventh career bracelet, moving him into a tie for sixth all-time and joining the likes of Billy Baxter and Phil Ivey.

Nguyen earned $394,800 for the victory and defeated Brandon Adams in an entertaining heads-up match during the early morning hours on Sunday. Though all eyes were focused on a possible rematch between last week’s Players Championship heads-up opponents Michael Mizrachi and Vladimir Schmelev, Nguyen stole the show with his crowd banter and fearlessness as he proceeded to play part of the tournament without even looking at his cards.

At one point during his heads-up match with Adams, Nguyen said, "I got six bracelets man. I want one more! How many you got? One? None? Don’t worry, you beat Men “The Master” and you’ll be famous tomorrow!"

Adams took the all of the playful needling well, even on the final hand when Nguyen came from behind to lock up the tournament with a five-outer on seventh street. Before the hand went down, Nguyen agreed to blindly get the rest of Adams’ chips in the middle with a 10 showing and Adams was happy to get a chance to double up with his queen. Adams went on to pair queens, but Nguyen was left with just a king-high straight draw with only the final down card to come.

Needing a king or a queen to win, Nguyen slowly squeezed out the back corner of the card and nearly fell off the stage in excitement when he realized that it was paint. Praying out loud for it not the be one of the jacks left in the deck, Nguyen turned over a king and his pair was enough to claim the title.

Here is a look at the final table results:

1. Men Nguyen — $394,800
2. Brandon Adams — $243,958
3. Steve Billirakis — $152,788
4. Nikolay Evdakov — $110,629
5. Joe Cassidy — $86,461
6. Michael Mizrachi — $68,949
7. Vladimir Schmelev — $55,991
8. Sirous Jamshidi — $46,206

Here is an account of the action as it appeared in the Card Player live updates.

Sirous Jamshidi Eliminated in Eighth Place ($46,206)

Sirous Jamshidi was all in on 5th street and Brandon Adams called with a pair of aces. They held up and Jamshidi was gone in 8th place. Their cards:

Adams: (A2)AQ5J(6)
Jamshidi: (89)81037(Q)

Adams was among the chip leaders following the hand.

Vladimir Schmelev Eliminated in Seventh Place ($55,991)

In a 5-way pot, Men Nguyen led out on 4th street, Steve Billirakis folded and Vladimir Schmelev reraised. Nikolay Evdakov and Brandon Adams folded and Nguyen re-raised Schmelev all in. Schmelev made the call and the cards were turned on their backs.

Nguyen: (88)JA3A(Q)
Schmelev: (K4)3453(10)

Nguyen made two pair and Schmelev was sent to the rail of his second final table of the series.

Michael Mizrachi Eliminated in Sixth Place ($68,949)

Losing a couple of hands following the dinner break put Michael Mizrachi in a pickle. He ended up getting all in against Brandon Adams, and the Grinder couldn’t connect. Adams hit two pair to knock Mizrachi out of the event. Their cards:

Mizrachi: (102)75AJ(4)
Adams: (10K)108J5(K)

Mizrachi finished one better than his runner up counterpart in the Players Championship, Vladimir Schmelev, who went out in 7th place. A 6th place finish in this event after winning his first career bracelet catapults Mizrachi to the top of the WSOP Player of the Year rankings.

Joe Cassidy Eliminated in Fifth Place ($86,461)

Short-stacked and with his back against the wall, Joe Cassidy was heads up with Nikolay Evdakov and got it all in on 4th street. The hands were:

Cassidy:(47)76108(Q)
Evdakov: (39)6942(A)

A pair of nines was good enough for Evdakov to send Cassidy to the rail in 5th place.

Nikolay Evdakov Eliminated in Fourth Place ($110,629)

Men Nguyen, Brandon Adams, and Nikolay Evdakov were three-way going to fourth street. Evdakov bet and both Adams and Nguyen called. Nguyen bet on 5th street and Evdakov raised, making Adams get out of the way. Nguyen re-raised and put Evdakov all in, who called. The hands were:

Evdakov: (AQ)A7310(8)
Nguyen: (67)610Q5(5)
(X-X)48A-FOLD

The pot to Nguyen to 2.5 million chips, while Evdakov exited in 4th place.

Steve Billirakis Eliminated in Third Place ($152,788)

Steve Billirakis got the remainder of his short stack in on 3rd street against Men Nguyen. Their hands were:

Billirakis: (10Q)4J3J(Q)
Nguyen: (K7)727J(9)

Nguyen hit three sevens, besting the two pair held by Billirakis, sending him to the rail in 3rd place. Left heads up were Brandon Adams and Men Nguyen.

Men Nguyen Wins Event No. 10 ($394,800) Brandon Adams Eliminated in Second Place ($243,958)

Men Nguyen and an extremely low-stacked Brandon Adams agreed to put it all in blind and they watched helplessly as the cards fell. The hands were:

Adams: (A3)QQ54(9)
Nguyen: (96)10KJ6

Seeing that Adams had a pair of queens, the Master took his last card face down as his groupies on the rail crowded around to see him peel up the corner. A queen would give Nguyen a straight, or a king would give him a better pair than Adams’ queens.

“King!” The announcement came as the crowd exploded into celebration. The K was turned over and Men Nguyen earned his 7th bracelet and $394,800 in prize money.

Adams capped an impressive day going from among the low stacks at the start of the day to runner up of the event, taking $243,958 for his work.

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