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On the afternoon of June 6, Thursday, an American poker pro managed to capture his very first gold bracelet after winning Event #11 of the 2019 WSOP.

2019 WSOP Event #11: $5,000 NLHE
Buy-in: $5,000
Date: June 3 to June 6, 2019
Entries: 400
Prize pool: $1,860,000

Daniel Strelitz outlasted a player field of 400 to take home the prize money worth $442,385, the biggest WSOP score in his career to date.

Born in Torrance and now living in Santa Ana, CA, the 29-year-old Strelitz was one of the most popular choices for "best player yet to win a bracelet". He almost won one in the previous WSOPs, finishing 3rd place in an event in 2014, 2nd place in 2016, and having a deep run in the 2012 Main Event.

He said he wasn't feeling any pressure to win his very first bracelet. "I came close a few times, and it's kind of disappointing. But it wasn't like I was desperate. But it's still just a massive relief. I'm super happy."

Final Table Action
To win this event, Strelitz beat Shannon Shorr, another great player who hasn't won a bracelet as well.

The final table began in the afternoon with the top six players. Shannon Shorr was the chip leader while Strelitz was in fifth. However, on the late evening before the final day, Strelitz was one of the leaders, "Yesterday I had about 1/3 of the chips in play with seven [players] left. And then I lost just an insanely large pot to Shannon. So I'm kind of glad we ended the night after that, because I got to rest and recover."

Arsenii Karmatckii was the first one to get eliminated, 30 minutes after Day 4 started, finishing 6th place for $65,764, his best career WSOP performance so far (his previous best was a 10th-place finish in 2018).

One of the most notable faces in this final table was Maria Ho, who made numerous deep runs in the WSOP Main Event, finishing as the last woman standing twice in 2007 and 2014. She almost won her first bracelet in 2011, but only finished runner-up. In this event, she settled in 5th place, taking home $91,211.

Ali Imsirovic, who was last year's Global Poker Award winner for "Breakout Player of the Year", finished 4th and earned $129,108. This was his second final table and second six-figure cash at the 2019 WSOP. A week ago he finished runner-up in Event #2: $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty.

Next to hit the rail was Serbian Ognjen Sekularac who took home $186,050 as his reward for finishing in 3rd.

The final hand of the event was between Shannon Shorr and Daniel Strelitz, which lasted only about an hour.

Strelitz said the cards dictated most of his play, "It was insane how good I ran. I barely had to bluff at all. I just kept getting good hand after good hand."

Shorr got $273,416 for his runner-up finish in this event. This is the second WSOP runner-up finish in his entire WSOP career (his first one was in 2008), and this is his 73rd career WSOP cash.

Strelitz said after he won, "I'm feeling pretty good. I finally got it off my back."

He had a huge group of supporters on the rail cheering for him during the final table action, including his parents and other fellow players, some of them stopping by whenever their own events were on break. Strelitz said, "It's awesome. My parents are my biggest fans. All my friends have bracelets, so they've been needling me about the Bracelet Winners Event this year. And now they're saying that they have a ride to the event cause I'm the car. So, they don't get to needle me anymore."

This is Strelitz's very first golden bracelet win in WSOP history. Thanks to this win, he now has $4.4 million in total live earnings, according to The Hendon Mob.

2019 WSOP Event #11: $5,000 NLHE Final Table Results

Source: http://www.wsop.com/tournaments/updates/?aid=2&grid=1622&tid=17429&rr=5