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On June 5, Wednesday, an American poker player was able to take home his very first gold bracelet after winning Event #9 of the 2019 WSOP, emerging victorious amongst a player field of 6,150 entrants and after enduring 6 hours of tough play on the final day.

2019 WSOP Event #9: $600 NLHE Deepstack

Buy-in: $600
Date: June 3 to June 4, 2019 (extended one more day, June 5)
Entries: 6,150
Prize pool: $3,228,750

Jeremy Pekarek outlasted a vast player field of 6,150 to take home the prize money worth $398,281!

Out of the 6,150 aspirants, there were 923 players who eventually made the money on Day 1, all taking a piece of the prize pool pie worth $3,228,750. However, 582 players made it to Day 2, which prompted the tournament staff to extend this event by one extra day.

A native of Sycamore, Illinois, the 30-year-old Pekarek rose up the ranks late at a final table composed mostly of shallow-stacked players vying for spots on the payout ladder, which means the gameplay was very tight from the get go, followed by a quick series of all-in collisions.

A former Air Force jet mechanic who moved from Chicago seven years ago, Pekarek endured some tough poker times before he was able to thrive, "It's been an up-and-down journey, but this was always the goal. Two years ago I was broke and taking the bus to work, and I was trying to fight just to stay and play poker. This is what I really wanted to do, but I wasn't able to admit that I wasn't really good enough to do it. Being able to accept that and take on the challenge, take responsibility for my own skill and move forward was key, I feel like, to getting here."

Pekarek dodged his way out of the bustout frenzy to reach the title, surviving a few all-in moments himself.

Regarding his strategy coming in to the final table, he replied about being able to handle beats well and persist, "Just being relentless and hanging in there and fighting is key to these things. I mean Day 2 I was probably on ten big blinds for six hours or so. I really fought to make it here. I really am just kind of speechless."

Final Table Action
Nine players returned on Wednesday at 3pm for the Day 3 finale of Event #9, with Paul Jain being the leader with his 41.7 million chip stack.

Juan Magana of Tabasco, Mexico settled in 3rd place, earning $182,173, his first recorded live poker tournament cash.

Canadian Benjamin Underwood finished 4th to take home $135,959, whereas Noomis Jones of Colorado finished 5th for a nice payout of $55,869.

Every one of the nine that made it to the final table in this event had won their best-ever WSOP cash.

The final hand of the event was between Pekarek and Kuntzman.

In the end, Pekarek claimed the title by defeating a fellow Illinois native, Dan Kuntzman. Kuntzman still performed extremely well even if he finished 2nd in this event, as this was his very first WSOP cash which was worth an impressive $245,881.

Pekarek said after he won, "I feel like this is the culmination of the past five years of me learning more about myself," he said, shortly after the win. "Self-awareness is everything in this game. Knowing when to be aggressive, when to hold back... there were a lot of lessons I had to learn when I came out here."

He now plans to play a fuller schedule for the rest of the 50th WSOP series, something he thought he wasn't ready for in earlier years. However, with this win, he may change some of his plans, "I feel like this was the first year I was actually prepared to play multiple events. I'm just gonna enjoy this, go home, celebrate, regroup."

The $398,281 cash prize from this event is currently Pekarek's best live cash under his name. He now has $539,530 in total live earnings, according to The Hendon Mob.

2019 WSOP Event #9: $600 NLHE Deepstack Final Table Results

Source:
https://www.wsop.com/tournaments/updates/?aid=2&grid=1622&tid=17462&rr=5