Event #37: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha

"This is the best thing that has ever happened to me."

Those were the words out of Brandon Paster's mouth shortly after winning his first bracelet in Event #37 of the 2014 World Series of Poker. Paster ended Day 1 with the chip lead and after Day 2 he was second in chips, a mere 16,000 chips behind the eventual runner-up, bracelet winner Marcel Vonk.

When play started today, 11 players had dreams of winning a bracelet and the $264,400 first-place prize that went along with it. It would start off slow, with only a few eliminations in the first six hours of play, but then the chips started flying and Paster would use aggressive play and big hands to emerge victorious.

To ultimately get to that point, Paster would have to outlast a tough lineup that included AP Phahurat (11th - $14,908), Galen Hall (9th - $18,837), Kevin Saul (8th - $24,111), and PokerStars Team Online Pro Gabriel Nassif (3rd - $102,373).

When asked about the tough lineup, Paster said "I was gifted with the best situation possible. All the aggressive players were on my right. I was very comfortable the whole time. To be honest, it didn't feel like a WSOP final table."

The first big hand for Paster would come when he eliminated the very formidable Galen Hall when Hall's wrap draw was unable to hit and Paster hit a draw of his own by hitting the nut flush on the river. Gabriel Nassif would give Paster some trouble with well-timed raises and Paster would double up Nassif several times before he was finally able to knock him out in third place. The hand that would do the deed would see Nassif ahead on a     flop with his      but Paster's      would hit two pair on the turn and that would enough to send the Frenchman to the rail.

Heads up play was over in just three hands and the final hand would see Paster holding      to Vonk's     . Vonk would flop two pair and for a moment looked as if he would make it a match but the   on the river would have him celebrating with his rail and joking "it's no big deal."

A total of 967 entrants would turn up for this event creating a prize pool of $1,305,450 with 117 of those players receiving some compensation for their efforts. Among those cashing were the likes of Erick Lindgren (13th - $11,957), Martins Adeniya (16th - $9,712), Will Durkee (23rd - $7,989), Fabrice Soulier (42nd - $5,639), and Layne Flack (64th - $3,555). Humberto Brenes would also cash, for an amazing eighth time this WSOP, finishing in 102nd place for $2,480.

Plenty would enter the tournament with big dreams only to come up short. Jonathan Little, Chris Moorman, Joe Cada, Barry Greenstein, Dominik Nitsche, Scotty Nguyen, Annette Obrestad, Carlos Mortensen, Keven Stammen, Paul Volpe, David Williams, and Jason Mercier were just a few whose dreams were momentarily crushed.

The over a quarter-million dollars that Paster won was in his own words "my biggest score by a couple hundred thousand dollars." The poker professional told us afterwards that "I'm on cloud 9. This is unreal." Unlike most poker players who would be looking to parlay this success into bigger buy-in tournaments, Paster only has plans on playing one more tournament the rest of the summer (the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better) and then it's off to Amsterdam for a month or two and travel the world. "I got everything I want," he said. "Now it's time to party my face off."

Thank you following along with PokerNews in our continual coverage of the 2014 WSOP. We'll be here until the very end so make sure to check in often for updates on all the exciting poker action.

Brandon Paster opened for 150,000 and Gabriel Nassif called out of the big blind. The flop came     and Paster led out for 300,000. Nassif raised all in and Paster called. The hands were turned over:

Paster:     
Nassif:     

Nassif called out to his rail the cards he needed to avoid to stay ahead. One of those was a nine, which is precisely what the dealer would put out on the turn as it was the  . Now it was Nassif who needed to catch a card but he would be unable to do it on the   river and would be eliminated in third place.

Brandon Paster	4,000,000	1,380,000
Marcel Vonk	335,000	-500,000
Gabriel Nassif	0	-900,000

Hand #144: Brandon Paster raised to 125,000 in the small blind and got the big blind of Gabriel Nassif.

Hand #145: Paster raised from the button for 125,000 and won the blinds.

Hand #146: Marcel Vonk limped from the small blind and Paster checked his option. On the     the Dutchman bet and scooped the pot.

Hand #147: Vonk raised to 100,000 from the button and got himself the blinds.

Hand #148: Nassif limped from the small blind and Vonk checked. They checked through the       board and Nassif won the pot with a king in his hand.

The remaining three players are now on a 60 minute dinner break.

Hand #137: Gabriel Nassif raised to 80,000 and won the blinds.

Hand #138: Matt Humphrey opened to 85,000 and it was folded to Brandon Paster who re-raised the pot. Humphrey insta-shoved for the rest of his stack and Paster called. Their hands were as follows:

Humphrey:     
Paster:     

The flop came     giving Paster an open-ended straight draw. He would get there on the   turn but that would also give Humphrey outs to the nut flush. The river was the   and an excited Paster went over to his rail. "Run good," he said. "Run f***ing good!" Humphrey was eliminated in fourth place which was good for $74,306.

Matthew Humphrey

0

-775,000

Hand #131: Matthew Humphrey raised to 125,000 from the button and claimed the blinds.

Hand #132: Marcel Vonk limped from the small blind and Brandon Paster raised to 120,000. Vonk called and they saw the     flop. Vonk moved all in for 230,000 and got called.

Vonk:     
Paster:     

The   turn gave the Dutchman a straight and the   river completed the board.

Hand #133: Matthew Dames raised to 150,000 and got the blinds without resistance.

Hand #134: Dames raised to 110,000 from early position and Humphrey called in the big blind to see the     flop. Humphrey bet 175,000 and then called all in for another 135,000 when Dames moved all in.

Humphrey:     
Dames:     

Both the   turn and the   river blanked and Humphrey doubled up, Dames is now really short.

Hand #135: Gabriel Nassif raised to 80,000 from the button and got the blinds.

Matthew Humphrey	775,000	225,000
Matthew Dames	175,000	-125,000

Hand #121: Matthew Humphrey and Matthew Dames got it in preflop with Dames at risk for his last 300,000.

Humphrey:     
Dames:     

Dames doubled up on the       board and the two swapped stacks.

Hand #122: Brandon Paster received a walk in the big blind.

Hand #123: Marcel Vonk raised to 80,000 from the button and Paster in the small blind as well as Gabriel Nassif in the big blind proceeded to the     flop. All three players checked and Paster then won the pot with a bet of 200,000 on the   turn.

Hand #124: Nassif limped from the small blind, Humphrey raised to 120,000 and Nassif called. Both checked the     flop, Humphrey then moved all in for 165,000 after the   turn. The Frenchman mucked his cards.

Hand #125: Paster raised to 90,000 and Nassif reraised the pot, being at risk for his last 330,000. Paster folded a nice hi-low hand.

Hand #116: Matt Dames raised it to 120,000 and picked up the blinds when everyone folded.

Hand #117: Marcel Vonk opened to 80,000 from the button and Millard Hale called from the big blind. Hale would check-fold to Vonk's 180,000 chip bet on the     flop.

Hand #118: Brandon Paster opened to 85,000 from the button and would win the blinds when everyone folded.

Hand #119: Gabriel Nassif opened to 120,000 from the small blind, Matthew Humphrey made it 360,000 to go from the big blind and Nassif folded his hand.

Hand #113: Brandon Paster raised to 90,000 and got a call from Matthew Dames in the big blind. On the     flop, Paster announced a pot-sized bet and Dames folded.

Hand #114: Gabriel Nassif raised to 80,000 from the cutoff and claimed the blinds.