Event #4: Limit Hold 'em
Location: Las Vegas
Buy-in: $1,000 (+60)
Number of Entries: 73
Total Prize Money: $70,810
On Day One, 64 players were eliminated. On Day Two, nine players returned for the final table and were eliminated in the following order:
9th Place: Sam Lewis, $2,125
Lewis came to the final table short-stacked and won his first hand, doubling up. But his glory was fleeting. Lewis moved all-in on the turn with A-8 as his two pair - Aces and Eights, also known as "the dead man's hand." Unfortunately, David A. Sternbaum had 4-4 and flopped bottom set when a Four appeared.
8th Place: J.J. Liu, $2,830
Liu is one of only two players to make multiple final tables at the Rio (Blair Rodman is the other). In fact, she's the only woman to make an appearance through the first four events. Liu looked to be in a great spot to double up and move up the money ladder, but she was flattened by a bad beat. Liu was dealt A-K and was in the lead until the river. She was all-in and up against A-3. Liu went out when a Three fell on the river.
7th Place: Naresh "Sunny" Shai, $3,540
Shai went out next when he was dealt J-10 and was up against Jim Meehan's K-K. When the flop came Q=9=2, Shai had an open-ended straight draw, and a raising war broke out. A Ten on the turn gave Shai some extra options, but when a blank came on the river, the pocket Kings had held up.
6th Place: Paul Kroh, $4,250
Kroh came to the final table with high hopes of winning his second gold ring in a month, but those hopes were dashed when he was blinded down to his final 5,000 or so and had to make a stand with 9-7 in the blind. Chip leader Aitan Hillel was dealt K-Q, good enough to play in that spot, and when a King flopped, Kroh's hopes vanished. Kroh made a pair of Sevens, but that was not good enough to top the Kings.
5th Place: "Minneapolis Jim" Meehan, $4,995
Meehan was the only player at the final table to hold a WSOP gold bracelet. The 2003 event winner, decked in his usual cowboy hat and unlit cigarette, was low on chips throughout, but managed to survive nearly three hours into the finale. On his final hand, Meehan was dealt A-Q, which dominated Andy Bloch's A-9. When the flop came 10=8=7, Meehan was all-in with two overcards. Bloch wasn't going anywhere with the outside straight draw and, when a Jack fell, Bloch had taken Meehan's final chip.
4th Place: P.T. Hayes, $5,665
On his final hand, Hayes moved all-in with A-10. Andy Bloch had a dog of a hand (J-4), but a Jack came on the flop and a second Jack came on the end.
3rd Place: Aitan Hillel, $7,790
Hillel looked to be in a good spot to extend the evening's play when he was dealt A-7 versus Bloch's A-5. But Bloch spiked a Five on the turn and knocked out Hillel.
Runner up: David A. Sternbaum, $14,160
1st Place: Andy Bloch, $25,495
The heads-up duel between Bloch and Sternbaum added another hour to the marathon. On the last hand, Sternbaum was dealt J-9 and picked up a nice draw when the flop came Q=10=2. Sternbaum was all-in when a Nine fell on the turn, good for a pair and a straight draw. But Bloch had Q-3, good for top pair. A harmless Six rained down on the river and Bloch's pair of Queens was the winner.
View final results.