James Obst emerged victorious in the $10,000 Razz Championship last night. Obst's victory earned him $265,138 in prize money and his first gold coveted bracelet!
Obst had to fight very hard for the title, as eventual runner-up Eric Kurtzman had a 4-1 chip lead at two stages during the heads-up. The tables eventually turned as Obst went on a winning streak in the final hour of play. It was a combination of good cards and aggressive play that made Obst a winner.
Kurtzman, a Londoner living in Las Vegas, earned $163,867 for his second-place finish.
James Obst has had a lot of success online before making his debut at the World Series of Poker in 2014. Many online pros haven't been as successful live, but the 24-year-old Australian's results at the WSOP have been fantastic, having made the final two tables of 11 events, with final table appearances in six of those.
"I guess it's a new experience to win a bracelet," he said after the win. "When you win one and it's online I'm probably... I'm obviously not celebrating wildly like some people might, because that's just my nature. Online when no one's around you can probably be a bit more excited and get pumped up a bit more. But at the moment I'm just a bit... I don't know how to process it just yet. It's awesome and I'll try to win another one before the series is out."
Final Table Payouts (earned POY points in parentheses):
1st: James Obst, $265,138 (138.3)
2nd: Eric Kurtzman, $163,867 (117.8)
3rd: David "ODB" Baker, $112,645 (104.0)
4th: Andrey Zhigalov, $79,616 (92.6)
5th: Anthony Zinno, $57,903 (83.3)
6th: Brandon Shack-Harris, $43,370 (75.6)
7th: Jyri Merivirta, $33,485 (69.4)
8th: Jack Duong, $26,674 (64.3)