This Monday, June 3, a British poker pro managed to come out top after winning Event #5 of the 2019 WSOP, securing his very first gold bracelet after defeating some notable faces at the final table.
2019 WSOP Event #5: High Roller - $50,000 NLHE for the 50th Annual
Buy-in: $50,000
Date: May 31 to June 3, 2019
Entries: 110
Prize pool: $5,280,000
Ben Heath outlasted a player field of 110 to take home the prize money worth a whopping $1,484,085!
Before this win, he was best known for his runner-up finish in the AU$10,600 NLHE Main Event at the 2017 Aussie Millions Poker Championship where he took home the cash prize worth AU$1 million.
Heath emphasized that even if this was the biggest win amount in his live poker career to date, he is not really results-oriented in monetary terms. He wasn't even certain he wanted to win the WSOP bracelet, but after he won the event he admitted, "It feels better than I thought it would. I was real sure when I was younger that I didn't really want one. I'd take second. But I really wanted one this year."
Interestingly, Heath had a short sleep situation. When he won his previous best score in the 2017 Aussie Millions, he did it with only three hours of sleep prior to the final table action. It's somewhat déjà vu for him this time as well - as soon as he got off his flight from Montreal, he went through three grueling days of poker play, and he only managed to squeeze in 2.5 hours of rest before going back for the live-streamed finale of Event #5.
Final Table Action
Ben Heath returned to the final table on Day 4 with only six contenders remaining, with the odds seemingly stacked against him since all five of his opponents already have had won some WSOP gold jewelry. But it turns out Lady Luck really was intent on giving him his very first bracelet as Heath was on the chip lead position in the early stages. Even if Andrew Lichtenberger was leading halfway through the final, Heath gained the lead once more when he sent Sam Soverel to the rail in 3rd place.
The final heads up match was between Andrew Lichtenberger and Ben Heath.
As a reward for his efforts, 31-year-old Lichtenberger got the 2nd spot for $917,232, bringing his current career WSOP score to over the $4 million milestone.
The $1.48 million is Heath's largest score in the WSOP to date. He now has $4,531,448 in total live earnings, according to The Hendon Mob.
2019 WSOP Event #5: High Roller - $50,000 NLHE for the 50th Annual Final Table Results
|
|
Player
|
Country
|
Prize (USD)
|
|
1
|
Benjamin Heath
|
UK
|
$1,484,085
|
|
2
|
Andrew Lichtenberger
|
USA
|
$917,232
|
|
3
|
Sam Soverel
|
USA
|
$640,924
|
|
4
|
Dmitry Yurasov
|
Russia
|
$458,138
|
|
5
|
Nick Petrangelo
|
USA
|
$335,181
|
|
6
|
Chance Kornuth
|
USA
|
$251,128
|
|
7
|
Elio Fox
|
USA
|
$192,794
|
|
8
|
Cary Katz
|
USA
|
$151,755
|
|
9
|
David Einhorn
|
USA
|
$122,551
|
|
10
|
Manig Loeser
|
Germany
|
$122,551
|
Source:
https://www.pokernews.com/news/2019/06/ben-heath-wsop-50000-high-roller-34350.htm?itm_content=pn-hp-hero-1
