2013 WSOP Event 31


Thursday June 20,2013 : 2013 WORLD SERIES OF POKER AT THE HALFWAY MARK
 
Aussie denies veteran Greenstein another bracelet
 
With this year's World Series of Poker virtually at the halfway mark Wednesday, Australian cash games poker pro Jarred Graham (24) took down event 31, a $1,500 buy-in Omaha Hi-Lo competition, in the process denying veteran US ace Barry Greenstein his third WSOP bracelet.
 
The Melbourne-based player claimed his first WSOP bracelet and the main prize of $255,942 after besting a field of 935 that generated a $1,263,600 prize pool, enabling 117 players to cash.
 
In a final table that also included two multi-bracelet holders in Perry Green and Barry Greenstein, Graham faced Marco Johnson, Noomis Jones, Gabriel Blumenthal, Loni Harwood, Eric Rodawig and Joao Pires, powering through to the heads up with Marco Johnson in only the second WSOP event he has ever entered.
 
The day had not started well; although Graham was among the fourteen survivors on the final day, he was the low stack man, with Greenstein leading the pack through most of the action going into the final nine on the last table.
 
It really did look as if Greenstein was going to win his third WSOP bracelet until around the four-handed mark, when Graham made a serious comeback to take the chip lead and bust first Greenstein and then Johnson, cheered on by a squad of Aussies at the rail that included former world champ Joe Hachem.
 
Johnson took home the runner up prize of $158,379, and Greenstein had to be content with a third placing worth just under a hundred thousand dollars.
 
WSOP officials say that at the halfway mark the series this year is showing great promise, with entries in the events so far up some 27 percent on last year at an average of around 1292 per event, and prize money already awarded of over 54.1 million dollars.