Event #60: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em

It was the last $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em tournament of the year at the 2014 World Series of Poker and that fact alone was enough to create an impressive turnout of 2,563 players. This was by far the biggest $1,500 NLHE tournament of the WSOP and it created a prize pool of $3,460,050. It concluded with an epic heads-up match that went nearly five hours in length, with Salman Jaddi emerging with the $614,248 first-place money and his first WSOP bracelet.

The final hand would see Jaddi hit a runner-runner miracle when his    bested Brandon Hall's   . Hall had a huge lead after a flop of     but Jaddi would hit a   on the turn to give him a flush draw that would be completed on the   river.

"I didn't want to say 'one time' out loud, but that's what I was thinking," Jaddi said, sitting at the table, unable to believe what had just happened. "I feel like I played awesome heads-up. Get lucky along the way sometimes. That's how it goes."

Jaddi explained some of his thought processes at the final table afterwards: "Four handed, I sensed that it would be Brandon and I going heads-up. I tried to play off of my image and steal some chips. Once we were heads-up, Brandon kept value betting thin and I was able to pick up some pots. Once I got the lead, I came back and played small ball with him." Jaddi went on to add "that if Brandon would have taken the chip lead today, I thought I'd be in trouble so I kept trying to apply pressure to make sure I kept the lead."

On his way to victory, Jaddi would knock out the first five players at the final table eliminating Kurt Jewell (9th - $45,603), Steve Sung (8th - $59,547), Thomas Dietl (7th - $78,681), David Bravin (6th - $105,185), and Cherish Andrews (5th - $142,346).

His heads-up counterpart, Hall, would take out the remaining two players, Guillauma Marechal (4th - $194,939) and Zach Gruneberg (3rd - $270,299) to get us to the beginning of what would be a marathon battle between the pair. Jaddi would start to pull away early in the match, getting to a more than 5-to-1 chip advantage at one point, but Hall would chip away and get things nearly back to even when the two decided to call it a night.

The new day then saw Jaddi pull ahead, but Hall would double-up once to regain some momentum. Jaddi again took control, however, leading up to the final hand that would see him declared the winner.

FINAL TABLE RESULTS

Among the 270 players that made the money were notables like Jared Hamby, Keven Stammen, Will Failla, Matt Stout, Byron Kaverman, John Racener, Ravi Raghavan, Lauren Kling, Shannon Shorr, Tony Dunst, Kyle Cartwright, Alex Bolotin, David Peters, Layne Flack, Joe Tehan, Scott Baumstein, and Dutch Boyd. Meanwhile notables who fell short of the cash included Phil Hellmuth, Ole Schemion, Ryan Hall, Mark Hoke, Amanda Baker, Nick Abou Risk, Sofia Lovgren, Victor Ramdin, Max Steinberg, Dominik Nitsche, Samuel Chartier, Yann Dion, and Marc-Andre Ladouceur.

Jaddi's last words were ones that all amateurs could relate to: "I'm a business owner, not a pro. I play for fun. Anyone has a shot to win this thing. I didn't play many hands, but somehow I ended up here. If I can do it, anyone can."

That concludes PokerNews coverage of Event #60: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em. Thank you for following along and make sure to stay tuned as coverage of the Main Event will get underway on Saturday!

Hand #364: Brandon Hall got a walk.

Hand #365: Salman Jaddi got a walk.

Hand #366: Jaddi opened to 320,000, Hall three-bet all in, Jaddi asked for a count, and folded when he was told 2,165,000.

Hand #367: Hall limped, Jaddi moved all in, and Hall gave it up quickly.

Hand #368: Jaddi opened to 320,000 and tool down the pot.

Hand #369: Jaddi was given a walk.

Hand #370: Hall got a walk.

Salman Jaddi	9,375,000	70,000
Brandon Hall	2,165,000	-75,000

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Hand #349: Brandon Hall opened to 320,000 and Salman Jaddi made it 640,000 to go. Hall folded.

Hand #350: Hall received a walk.

Hand #351: Jaddi received a walk.

Hand #352: Jaddi opened to 320,000 and Hall folded.

Hand #353: Hall opened to 320,000 and Jaddi folded.

Salman Jaddi	7,855,000	340,000
Brandon Hall	3,690,000	-340,000

Hand #341: Brandon Hall called from the small blind and Salman Jaddi checked his option. The flop came     and Jaddi checked. Hall bet 160,000 then Jaddi check-raised to 325,000 and Hall folded.

Hand #342: Jaddi raised to 320,000, Hall moved all in and Jaddi folded.

Hand #343: The dealer exposed the   and it became the burn card. Hall called from the small blind and Jaddi moved all in. Hall quickly called and told his rail "the other one was an ace, too" as he turned over   . He was dominating Jaddi's    and would continue to lead all the way on a run out of       making a Broadway straight on the end to double up to 4.75 million in chips.

Salman Jaddi	6,795,000	-2,535,000
Brandon Hall	4,750,000	2,535,000

Hand #331: Brandon Hall called from the small blind and Salman Jaddi checked his option. The two would check it down until the river on the       board and a 275,000 bet from Hall would win the pot on the river.

Hand #332: Jaddi opened to 320,000 and Hall called. The flop came     and both players checked. The turn was the   and Hall checked. Jaddi made it 320,000 and Hall check-raised to 700,000. Jaddi made the call.

The river was the   and Hall led out for 775,000. Jaddi announced that he was all in and Hall snap-folded.

Hand #333: Hall moved all in and Jaddi folded.

Hand #334: Hall received a walk.

Hand #335: Jaddi received a walk.

Salman Jaddi	9,250,000	1,650,000
Brandon Hall	2,295,000	-1,605,000

Hand #321: Salman Jaddi received a walk in his big blind.

Hand #322: Jaddi completed the small blind and Brandon Hall checked his option. The flop came    , Hall checked, Jaddi bet 275,000, Hall check-raised to 600,000, and Jaddi folded.

Hand #323: Hall raised to 320,000 and Jaddi folded his big blind.

Hand #324: Jaddi opened to 320,000 and Hall called. The flop came     and both players checked. The turn was the   and Hall led out for 350,000. Jaddi made it 700,000 to go and after a few seconds of thought Hall let his hand go.

Hand #325: Hall opened to 320,000 and Jaddi folded from the big blind.

Salman Jaddi	6,795,000	-25,000
Brandon Hall	4,750,000	25,000

A fourth day of play is required to determine the winner of Event #60: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em. On Day 3 it took only six levels to go from the final 24 players to heads up between Brandon Hall and Salman Jaddi.

The two would then battle for over three levels with no resolution. With the World Series of Poker gold bracelet sitting between them, and a top prize of $614,248 on their minds, the two finalists exchanged jab after jab and pot after pot.

With hopes, the additional day of play should declare the latest WSOP Champion. Jaddi will begin the day with a slight chip lead.

Jaddi has just under $100,000 in career live tournament earnings so no matter which place he finishes his total winnings will be at worst, more than doubled. Jaddi has two previous WSOP cashes.

Brandon Hall has almost $1,000,000 in career earnings. Hall has 7 previous WSOP cashes totalling $30,570.

Play will begin at 1 p.m. in the Amazon room. Keep it locked on PokerNews for hand-for-hand coverage until a champion is crowned.