Event #45: $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha

Loren Klein is the newest member of poker’s gold bracelet club.  The victory was made all the more satisfying by the long journey to reach this moment, which included several prior cashes in World Series of Poker events, and a mixed emotional reaction to a second place finish in a gold bracelet event back in 2010.

The poker pro from the Northern Nevada town outside Reno known as Verdi, NV won the $1,500 buy-in Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha tournament.  The duel game competition was played over three days and nights and concluded at the Rio in Las Vegas.  This tournament included a rotation of two of the most popular forms of poker played today – No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit  Omaha.

“They are definitely my two best games,” Klein said afterward.

Klein collected $241,427 in prize money, making this the biggest win of his career at the series, which dates back nearly a decade.  Klein has now cashed 23 times and earned nearly $700,000 at the annual Las Vegas summer classic.

Klein, age 34, won his victory in this tourney via total domination.  He seemed to be in total command throughout.  He also prevailed at a final table which included quite a few  players seeking their first WSOP victory.  In the end, however, everyone else seemed to be playing for second place, especially given Klein’s massive chip advantage on Day Three, which was never in serious danger of leaving his side of the table.

“You have to use a different strategy when you have that kind of chip lead,” Klein said.  “I think I utilized a strong one.”

The ultimate moment of triumph came when Klein scooped the final pot of the tournament against Dmitry Savelyev, from San Bruno, CA who finished as the runner up.  His share of the prize pool amounted to $149,177.

As for future plans, Klein already has his sights set on winning gold bracelet number two.  “I’ll be playing the Pot-Limit Omaha tomorrow,” he said.

This tourney attracted 919 entrants which created a prize pool totaling $1,240,650.  The top 138 finishers collected prize money.

Aside from the winner, here’s a brief report of the other top finishers who made the final table:

Second Place:  Dmitry Savelyev, 45, a Russian-born player from Hollywood, FL finished in second place.  He was paid $149,177.  This marked his fourth time to cash at the series, and was by far his deepest run.

Third Place:  Rick Alvarado, from Ontario, CA collected $104,784 for an impressive third-place finish.  This was his fourth occasion to make a WSOP final table and tenth time to cash.  This was also his richest cash prize won here at the summer series.

Fourth Place:  Michael Noori, from Tarzana, CA earned $74,634 as the fourth-place finisher.  He’s now cashed 17 times at the WSOP and another six times on the WSOP Circuit.  This was his biggest cash score at the series, to date.

Fifth Place:  Matthew Humphrey, from Avon, IN is enjoying a solid ’16 series cashing for the fourth time, including two final table appearances (previously a 4th and now a 5th).  He collected $53,915 for this effort.  Humphrey also owns two WSOP Circuit gold rings, both won at Harrah’s New Orleans.

Sixth Place:  Eric Penner, from West Palm Beach, FL cashed for the third time at the WSOP and was paid $39,510 for coming in sixth.

Seventh Place:  Alexandr Orlov, from Moscow, Russia has cashed 17 times, but this was his first time to make it to a final table at the WSOP.  He pocketed $29,378 in prize money.

Eighth Place:  David Callaghan, from Dublin, Ireland took eighth place and received $22,168.  This was his second time to come in 8th at the series.  He’s not finished in-the-money nine times.

Ninth Place:  Steven Gagliano, from West Babylon, NY rounded out the final table as the ninth-place finisher.  He received $16,980.