June 26, 2019 (Las Vegas) -Team Geiger (Barak Wisbrod, Daniel Dayan, and Ohad Geiger) are the winners of the $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em title. They take home $168,395 and each of the players won their first WSOP gold bracelet.
Barak Wisbrod, 23, and Daniel Dayan, 25, convinced their friend Ohad Geiger, 26, to join their team the day of the tournament. Geiger is a cash game player and was convinced to join the team with the caveat that Wisbrod plays at the end. It was Geiger’s first WSOP event and he played the early levels on Day 2 to allow his teammates to sleep in.
The team celebrated with Wisbrod after he eliminated Jerod Smith, to win the tournament.
“It’s amazing. It’s beyond amazing. We can’t even describe how important it is for us. Especially because we are tournament players,” Dayan said referring to himself and Wisbrod.
With his teammates watching and a rather large rail, Wisbrod took the chip lead and then held on to close out the tournament, which was part of the deal to get Geiger to play in the first place. Wisbrod felt a little extra pressure, but not because his teammates has selected him to finish the event, but more because a WSOP bracelet was on the line.
This was each of the player’s first time attending the WSOP.
“It was a different kind of final table. It’s really not about the money, it’s about the bracelet and I’m only 23. This is my first time in Vegas. I felt pretty good playing, but I did feel like there was more on the line when playing,” Wisbrod said.
The team was very excited to add to Israel’s all-time bracelet count. They also said they will be taking a few days off to let it sink in that they are all now WSOP bracelet holders.
The team topped a field of 976 teams and were the last team standing after three days of play. They took their share of the $878,400 and beat a pretty stacked final table.
The final table began with nine teams vying for the title and the team of Jie Xu and Shaotong Chang was the first to fall short. They took home $6,006 a piece for their finish after they got ousted by Team Smith (Jerod Smith, Matthew Moreno, and Lawrence Chan).
The eighth place finisher in the event was Team Hallaert, featuring Kenny Hallaert who has almost $3-million in WSOP tournament winnings with five final tables. His final tables include a sixth place finish in the 2016 Main Event, a fifth place finish in the first iteration of the Colossus, and a third place finish in 2017 at the $5,000 6-Max. He has $4,170,349 in career tournament winnings, not to mention an impressive online resume.
The other member of the team, Steven van Zadelhoff has just under $2-million in tournament winnings as well. He has 35 cashes, and this Tag Team final table is his best-ever WSOP finish.
Team Hallaert was eliminated when their aces got cracked by Team Geiger. Team Hallaert took home $15,674 for their eighth-place finish.
Team Marder (Michael Marder, Daniel Marder, and Paul Steinberg) was next to hit the rail when they ran into the pocket jacks of Team Geiger. Team Marder adds $20,750 to their career tournament winnings. This was Michael Marder’s second final table in as many years on just his fifth cash. This was Daniel Marder’s first WSOP cash and Paul Steinberg’s first WSOP final table.
Team Jung (Chahn Jung, Danny Wong, Steve Sung, and Aaron Motoyama) finished in sixth place after a seven on the river gave Team Smith a full house. Team Jung’s roster included two-time WSOP bracelet winner Steve Sung. This was Sung’s tenth final table appearance and he has over $3-million in WSOP winnings.
Another member of Team Jung, Danny Wong, was making his sixth final table appearance and added his share of the team’s $27,864 to his career earnings. Wong has $1,421,880 in career winnings on 53 cashes. Aaron Motoyama and Chahn Jung brought another 22 cashes to Team Jung’s resume.
The next team to hit the rail was Team Washinsky (Richard Washinsky and Fabio Coppola) when they fell to Team Hinds (John Hinds and Anthony Zinno). John Hinds, who was playing a majority of the final table while Anthony Zinno competed in the $50,000 Players Championship, had pocket aces and Fabio Coppola couldn’t catch up. Team Washinsky took home $37,944.
This was Coppola’s third final table and his best finish since his 2014 third place finish in the $1,500 10-game mix. His teammate, Washinsky was making his WSOP final table debut and this was his tenth WSOP cash.
Team Jurkiewicz (Timothy Jurkiewicz and Zach Gruneberg) got a lot of great content for their new vlog with a deep run in this event. Gruneberg was the player to get their remaining chips all in with ace-king and he was eliminated by Hinds who had pocket fives. This was Timothy Jurkiewicz’s tenth WSOP cash and he topped his previous best finish (89th place in 2016 $1,500 No-Limit Shootout).
Gruneberg was making his fourth final table appearance on his 33rd cash. He now has $663,189 in career tournament winnings.
Team Hinds (Anthony Zinno and John Hinds) was eliminated in third place. They won $73,329 for their finish. John Hinds got the team’s final chips all in against Wisbrod. This was Hinds second WSOP final table appearance and his best-ever WSOP finish.
Anthony Zinno now has 12 final table appearances with one bracelet win and 44 cashes.
That left Team Geiger and Team Smith heads up for the bracelet and the Tag Team title. It was Jerod Smith and Barak Wisbrod running the anchor leg for each team. Finally, Wisbrod finished off Smith and claimed the bracelet for his team.
This was the best finish for all members of Team Smith, Smith, Lawrence Chan, and Matthew Moreno.
The win was the best finish for all members for Team Geiger as well. They were excited to claim a WSOP title during their first summer at the WSOP in Las Vegas.
Final table payouts: (Click here for a list of the full results)
1) Ohad Geiger, Daniel Dayan, and Barak Wisbrod ($168,395)
2) Jerod Smith, Matthew Moreno, and Lawrence Chan ($104,025)
3) Anthony Zinno and John Hinds ($73,329)
4) Timothy Jurkiewicz and Zach Gruneberg ($52,390)
5) Fabio Coppola and Richard Washinsky ($37,944)
6) Danny Wong, Steve Sung, Chahn Jung, and Aaron Motoyama ($27,864)
7) Daniel Marder, Michael Marder, and Paul Steinberg ($20,750)
8) Steven van Zadelhoff and Kenny Hallaert ($15,674)
9) Jie Xu and Shaotong Chang ($12,011)