Dylan Linde Bags Third Bracelet at Third Attempt

With 194 entries to Event #57: $50,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller the prizepool was set at $9,215,000 and attracted some of the biggest names in the game.

They didn’t all perform particularly well, however, with Daniel Negreanu busting three bullets ($150,000!) on day one, his final exit looking like this…

Daniel Negreanu: Q♥ 10♠ 9♣ 6♣

Ka Kwan Lau: A♣ Q♣ 10♣ 3♦

Flop: 2♣ J♦ K♠

The last of Daniel’s chips went in on the flop but there was to be no escape…

Turn: J♠

River: 2♦

“Stupid game,” was DNeg’s good-humoured parting shot.

Others who failed to trouble the cashier were Brazilian duo Joao Simao and Yuri Dzivielevski, along with legends of the game Brian Rast, Jason Koon, Erick Lindgren, Bryn Kenney, and Phil Ivey.

Andrew Ige bust on the bubble and that left the top 30 staring a payday in the face. Those who made it but failed to reach the final table included:

• Scott Seiver (27^th for $100k)
• Shaun Deeb (26^th for $100k)
• Jason Mercier (19^th for $105k)
• Joni Jouhkimainen (15^th for $123,051)
• Erik Seidel (12^th for $123,051)

Eleven players came back for day 3 and a shot at three $million+ payouts up top. Linde was sitting 7^th out of 7 at the final table and looked unlikely to complete his bracelet hatrick.

A double whammy against Quan Zhou changed all that, though it looked unlikely until the river card…

Quan Zhou: A♠ A♣ J♠ J♥

Dylan Linde: A♦ J♣ 10♠ 9♠

Flop: 3♠ 10♥ 6♠

Turn: K♦

River: 9♦

English number one, Stephen Chidwick, was also hunting his third brace let and did his cause no harm by eliminating Hong Kong’s Ka Kwan Lau with aces against kings and then Manuel Stojanovic when he rivered a wheel. Poker seems easy when you are a top-notch pro and the cards play ball!

Biao Ding met his downfall in 4^th place and when Richard Gryko ran into a full house against Linde, it was heads-up for one of the biggest titles of the summer.

It wasn’t exactly an equal battle, however, as Linde held a 15:1 chip lead and that proved too much of a gap for the Englishman to cross, the end coming on just the second hand of play…

Chidwick’s mini-shove over Linde’s open saw him all-in and at risk…

Stephen Chidwick: 9♦ 8♠ 8♦ 5♣

Dylan Linde: A♦ K♥ 10♠ 2♠

Chidwick’s eights were outflopped…

Flop: A♠ Q♣ 2♥

…and there was to be no recovery as the board bricked…

Turn: 4♠

River: 2♦

“I’m kind of stunned…I feel very fortunate,” Linde told PokerNews after his victory, adding he was “incredibly lucky to win such a large amount [a career-best $2,146,414 cash] and my third bracelet, and to get heads-up with one of my best friends. I can’t imagine a better day”.

Final table results

Andrew Burnett

Professional Poker Journalist

An avid poker player, he dreams of one day playing the WSOP Main Event and has promised himself he will fold aces and kings if he gets them on the first hand to avoid front-page headlines. [more]