June 30, 2019 (Las Vegas) - Anatolii Zyrin has been playing poker professionally for ten years. He is a streamer and has a following in Russia and 3,500 subscribers on his YouTube poker vlogs. Today he won a World Series of Poker bracelet in the $1,500 Omaha mix, just three weeks after finishing second at his first WSOP final table.
Earlier this summer, Zyrin finished second to Brett Apter in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout, after entering heads up play with a chip lead. He said Apter was “perfect.”
Zyrin said it was a combination of good play and good cards, but whatever it was, Zyrin couldn’t hold on and eventually finished runner-up to Apter.
Today, he won the $1,500 Omaha Mix, topping a field of 717 players to collect the $199,838 first prize and the World Series of Poker gold bracelet. To get there, he defeated the defending champion Yueqi Zhu, despite very little experience in Limit Omaha Eight or Better and Big-O.
He hopes that now his parents will better appreciate his chosen profession, now that he has found global success in poker.
“This tournament is something unimaginable,” he said, “I want to dedicate this win to my parents.”
He also added that he appreciates the support of his fans and his forum community, as well as the Russian players and fans at the WSOP.
The tournament win felt even less likely to win the tournament after playing a big pot that left him with two big blinds. Since he is a content creator he wanted to table his hand and get a photo of his bad luck, however he had actually won the high hand in the pot.
The final table started Saturday evening and the final four players bagged to return Sunday at 2 p.m.
John Evans was eliminated in ninth place and took home $12,201. This was Evans’ second final table of the summer, he finished second in the $1,500 Eight-Game Mix. The two final tables are the only two cashes this summer. He has two final tables on just four WSOP cashes.
Bracelet winner Ivo Donev was eliminated in eighth place. Donev fell to Alan Sternberg and took home $16,075 for his best finish since 2017 when he finished fourth in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. His bracelet victory came in Limit Omaha at the 2000 WSOP.
Sternberg didn’t last much longer and was eliminated by Yueqi Zhu, the defending champion in this event. Sternberg took home $21,582.
Then Iori Yogo fell to Zhu as well. Yogo called for his tournament life on the river against Zhu. Zhu had a flush and a better low to eliminate Yogo.
Aron Dermer was the last elimination on Saturday evening. He finished fifth and took home $41,112. Mesbah Geurfi did the honors.
The final four players continued for a level with no eliminations and would return Sunday at 2 p.m. Two bracelet winners would return, James Van Alstyne and Zhu. Zhu had 72 WSOP cashes before winning his first bracelet in this event last year. He was also at his second final table of the summer, finishing fifth in the $10,000 2-7 Triple Draw. Von Alstyne won the 2009 $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.
Anatolii Zyrin was the chip leader when play resumed, but shortly after play started, Zhu hopped in front and was looking to pull away and defend his title.
Zhu spent the next level climbing further up the leaderboard, becoming the first player to cross the 4-million chip mark. He had built a two-to-one chip lead over his next closest opponent, Guerfi.
Zyrin doubled through Zhu and then eliminated Guerfi in fourth place with two pair, after Guerfi missed a flush draw. Guerfi took home $58,289. This brough Zhu one step closer to his second bracelet. He now only held a slight chip lead three-handed. Zyrin was just behind him after his earlier scoop and Van Alstyne was at roughly a two-to-one deficit.
Van Alstyne got even shorter when he raised Zhu on the river in a PLO Hi-Lo hand, but Zhu came over the top getting a quick fold from Van Alstyne. He was eliminated in third place shortly after. He took home $84,106, just two spots from winning his second WSOP bracelet.
The heads up match started out close to even, with Zhu looking to go back-to-back winning this event last year. Meanwhile, Zyrin was seeking his first bracelet, after falling short in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout finishing runner-up to Brett Apter.
Zyrin worked his way into a huge lead and had Zhu facing an uphill battle. As Zyrin won each pot, he hit the table softly with his fish in celebration. Finally, Zhu was eliminated in second place, falling just short of defending his title.
Zyrin won the event and claimed his first bracelet about three weeks removed from his runner-up finish in the Shootout.
Final table payouts: (Click here for the complete list of results)
1) Anatolii Zyrin ($199,838)
2) Yueqi Zhu ($123,466)
3) James Van Alstyne ($84,106)
4) Mesbah Guerfi ($58,289)
5) Aron Dermer ($41,112)
6) Iori Yogo ($29,518)
7) Alan Sternberg ($21,582)
8) Ivo Donev ($16,075)
9) John Evans ($12,201)