June 23, 2017 (Las Vegas, NV) - Loren Klein won his second career World Series of Poker bracelet on Friday evening. He defeated a field of 870 players in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event to win $231,483 in his second WSOP-branded win.
"It feels terrible," said Klein with a laugh. "No, it feels good."
This is Klein's second consecutive summer with a bracelet win. He won his first bracelet last year in the $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em / Pot-Limit Omaha event for $241,427. Just a few days later, he finished second in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship event for $552,713.
With over $1.45 million in WSOP earnings alone, and now multiple bracelets, Klein quietly put together a very impressive resume. The Reno-based poker pro is happier with it that way. He's a man of few words that just wants to play poker and make a good living.
"There's no need for any spotlight," said Klein.
Klein grew up in Michigan and like many others before him, he got his starts online. He gradually moved west and eventually made his way out to Nevada, where he began playing live once online poker wasn't a viable option for him to continue to make a living.
"I've been playing for 10 years or so," said Klein. "I started online and then played live after they took our jobs."
Most of Klein's best results came in pot-limit Omaha events. It comes as no surprise that it's his game of choice and can generally be found in those games when they are running.
"My favorite is PLO or PLO tournaments," said Klein. "But I'll play hold'em tournaments or hold'em cash."
When the final card was dealt and Klein sealed the win on his second bracelet, there was very little fanfare or celebration on his end. It was just another day at the office for him. His first reaction was to jump in the next tournament he could enter, the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo.
The calm demeanor that Klein posses comes from years of playing for a living and a drive to keep food on the table.
"I'm just trying to feed the family," said Klein. "My girlfriend and two dogs."
The final day of action started at noon with 18 players remaining, but in just a couple of hours, the field was down to the final table of nine. Klein started the day as the chip leader and he was able to maintain his spot at or near the top of the counts the whole day.
When the field combined to one table of 10 players, there was plenty of poker talent still remaining. Six-time bracelet winner T.J. Cloutier finished in 10th to leave the final nine players at a final table.
"T.J.'s results are super intimidating," said Klein. "It's tough to be at the table with one of the greats, but I tried to keep it together."
Cloutier ran pocket aces into Chun Law's set of sevens to hit the rail in 10th and Benjamin Juhasz's aces were cracked by Klein to send Juhasz to the rail as the first casualty of the final table.
Law continued to alternate knockouts with Klein, eliminating Segej Barbarez in eighth place for $21,172. They got all in on a flop of with Barbarez's in the lead against Law's . The came on the turn, keeping Barbarez in the lead with a full house, but the came on the river to give the Law the nut full house and the pot.
Klein scored the next knockout to keep him and Law at the top of the counts. He eliminated Timothy Batow in seventh place when he turned the nut flush and had Batow's two pair and a straight draw drawing slim.
Oskar Silo was eliminated in sixth place by Danny Wong after an all in preflop battle went Wong's way and Jordan Spurlick was eliminated by Jeff Williams in fifth place.
The final four players went on a 60-minute dinner break and when they came back, it was all Klein. Klein scored the final three knockouts in under an hour to secure his win. He eliminated Williams in fourth and Wong in third to go heads-up against Law.
Klein started out heads-up play with roughly 3-to-1 chip lead and sent Law home with a runner-up finish in just a few hands.
"I had to run good in the last few all ins," said Klein. "But before that I picked up a lot of chips as I could."
The final all in came on a flop of . Law showed , giving him a straight draw and a flush draw, while Klein tabled , which was good for a set and a bigger flush draw. The turn was the and the river was the .
Klein rivered the nut flush and Law took home $143,017 for his second place finish.
Full Results
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Final Table Results:
1st: Loren Klein - $231,483
2nd: Chun Law - $143,017
3rd: Danny Wong - $100,360
4th: Jeff Williams - $71,423
5th: Jordan Spurlin - $51,559
6th: Oskar Silow - $37,762
7th: Timothy Batow - $28,066
8th: Sergej Barbarez - $21,172
9th: Benjamin Juhasz - $16,215