2018 WSOP Event 41: Robert Nehorayan Wins $1,500 Limit Hold'em for $173,568
One bet at a time, Robert Nehorayan battled through a 596-player field that generated an $804,600 prize pool to win Event #41: $1,500 Limit Hold'em for $173,568 and secure his first bracelet. It is Nehorayan's best live cash, with his previous greatest also coming at the WSOP when he was awarded $58,570 for his 146th place in the 2007 Main Event.
Over the last three days, plenty of action has taken place at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino which concluded in a heads-up battle between Nehorayan and winner of the 1997 Event #1: $2,000 Limit Hold'em, Kevin Song. Song nearly missed out on winning his second bracelet 21 years after claiming his first.
Official Final Table Results
Place | Name | Country | Prize |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Robert Nehorayan | United States | $173,568 |
2 | Kevin Song | United States | $107,242 |
3 | David Gee | United States | $73,860 |
4 | Terricita Gutierrez | United States | $51,733 |
5 | Michael Jex | United States | $36,860 |
6 | Brad Albrinck | United States | $26,725 |
7 | Oleg Chebotarev | Russia | $19,723 |
8 | Matt Russell | United States | $14,820 |
9 | Matt Woodward | United States | $11,343 |
The final table saw players swing up and down in the chip counts, but Nehorayan was one of the constants throughout.
Speaking after his win, he said "It feels pretty good. I got a little frustrated throughout the match but fortunately was I able to overcome my emotions. The cards helped too obviously."
"I got a little frustrated throughout the match but fortunately was I able to overcome my emotions. The cards helped too obviously."
Nehorayan commended Terricita Gutierrez and spoke of his relief of getting past a player he saw as his toughest opponent.
"Terri was my toughest opponent because she's a limit pro. She plays 80/160, 40/80 every single day. That's her game."
Nehorayan admitted he doesn't see himself as a poker pro and even has a nickname due to his recreational nature.
"People call me 'Rec Rob.' Funny thing, I was playing No-Limit Hold'em one night, I think $20/$40/$80 at Commerce and I called a huge bet on the river with just an ace. This kid just flipped out, and he said: How do you call with just an ace!? Another kid was like: that's Rec Rob! He's a recreational player; he can't fold an ace!" Nehorayan laughed.
Despite his recreational nature, Nehorayan was able to defeat a wealth of experienced players who took their shot in Event #41 such as Dutch Boyd, Chris Ferguson, Daniel Negreanu, David Bach, Ari Engel, Marcel Luske, and Jesse Sylvia.
Final Day Action
A total of 19 players returned for the third and final day who all had the goal of winning a bracelet, but for many of them, the dream didn't last long at all as seven players fell in the first 90 minutes of play.
Bracelet winner Matt Grapenthien was eliminated in twelfth place for $8,846, securing his second cash of the series after a fifth-place finish in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship for $50,669. Michael Lipner and Jeffrey Scheibner also fell before the official final table of nine.
Start-of-day chip leader Matt Woodward was the first player to go once the final table was set after Terricita Gutierrez rivered two pair with king-queen to beat Woodward's ace-king. Matt Russell finished in eighth place, with Oleg Chebotarev, the only non-American player at the final table, taking seventh.
The action was then moved to the Brasilia Room Main Stage and at this point, Terricita Gutierrez, the final remaining lady, had built up quite a lead on her opponents.
Two-time WSOP ring winner Brad Albrinck found out he would have to wait another day for a third bracelet after he was eliminated in sixth-place when Robert Nehorayan found the queen he needed with king-queen after Albrinck was all in on the turn and ahead with pocket fours.
Michael Jex, who made an amazing comeback from 30,000 chips to 400,000 before the final table was set, could not write the fairytale after he was left short once more and ultimately took fifth place for $36,860. His final chips went in again Gee with four-trey against queen-ten, but there was no help in the cards.
"Terri was my toughest opponent because she's a limit pro. She plays $80/$160, $40/$80 every single day. That's her game."
When the four remaining players returned from their dinner break, Terricita Gutierrez had nearly half of the chips in play but lost a series of big hands, which ultimately, saw her all in on the flop with ace-six-suited against Nehorayan. Nehorayan took the lead when his king-queen hit on the flop and held to win the pot and send Gutierrez to the rail in fourth-place for $51,733.
David Gee, who now has $201,272 in WSOP earnings, was the last player to fall before heads-up play got underway after he lost a big hand against Nehorayan when his top pair ace lost to Nehorayan's queen-six two pair. Just several hands later Gee was all in with jack-seven and went up against Song's pocket aces and Nehorayan's king-seven with the latter taking the pot with two pair to eliminate Gee in third for $73,860.
Nehorayan took more than a 3/1 chip-lead into heads-up against Kevin Song but didn't have it all his way. Song made a comeback and at one stage took the lead, but Nehorayan was able to pull it back and ultimately sent Song to the rail after his ten-seven off suit beat Song's eight-six suited when the board came two-queen-ten-four-jack. Nehorayan joined Song as a bracelet winner and takes away the $173,568 first-place prize.
PokerNews will be covering every event at the 2018 World Series of Poker so be sure to check with all the updates as the most prestigious poker series in the world continues over the next three weeks.
In this Series
- 1 2018 WSOP Event 1: Jordan Hufty Wins First WSOP Gold in $565 Casino Employees
- 2 2018 WSOP Event 2: Elio Fox Wins First Ever WSOP $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty for $393,693
- 3 2018 WSOP Event 3: Joe Cada Wins 2018 WSOP $3,000 No-Limit Hold��em SHOOTOUT for $226,218
- 4 2018 WSOP Event 4: Julien Martini Wins $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better ($239,771)
- 5 2018 WSOP Event 5: Nick Petrangelo Wins WSOP $100,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller ($2,910,227)
- 6 2018 WSOP Event 6: Jeremy Perrin Wins The GIANT Turning $365 Into $250,966
- 7 2018 WSOP Event 7: Roberly Felicio Wins the 2018 WSOP COLOSSUS for $1,000,000
- 8 2018 WSOP Event 8: Johannes Becker Wins $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball ($180,455)
- 9 2018 WSOP Event 9: Paul Volpe Wins Third WSOP Bracelet in Omaha Hi-Lo Championship
- 10 2018 WSOP Event 10: William ��Twooopair�� Reymond Wins $365 WSOP.com ONLINE Event ($154,996)
- 11 2018 WSOP Event 11: Tim Andrew Triumphs in the $365 PLO GIANT for $116,015, Mizrachi Fifth
- 12 2018 WSOP Event 12: Jeremy Harkin Wins $1,500 Dealer's Choice for $129,882
- 13 2018 WSOP Event 13: Benjamin Moon Wins $1,500 Big Blind Antes for $315,346
- 14 2018 WSOP Event 14: Daniel Ospina Wins First Bracelet for Colombia in 2-7 Lowball Draw
- 15 2018 WSOP Event 15: Andrey Zhigalov Wins $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. for $202,787
- 16 2018 WSOP Event 16: Justin Bonomo Wins Second WSOP Bracelet in $10K Heads-Up Championship
- 17 2018 WSOP Event 17: Ognyan Dimov Wins Third Bracelet for Bulgaria in Event #17 ($378,743)
- 18 2018 WSOP Event 18: Adam Friedman Wins Second Bracelet in $10K Dealer's Choice
- 19 2018 WSOP Event 19: Craig Varnell Wins $565 Pot-Limit Omaha ($181,790)
- 20 2018 WSOP Event 20: Jeremy Wien Conquers $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em for $537,710
- 21 2018 WSOP Event 21: Arne Kern Wins $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em MILLIONAIRE MAKER ($1,173,223)
- 22 2018 WSOP Event 22: Philip Long Wins $1,500 Eight Game Mix ($147,348)
- 23 2018 WSOP Event 23: Brian Rast Wins Fourth Bracelet in 2-7 Lowball Championship, Brunson 6th
- 24 2018 WSOP Event 24: Michael Addamo Wins Event #24: $2,620 MARATHON No-Limit Hold'em
- 25 2018 WSOP Event 25: Benjamin Dobson Wins First WSOP Gold in $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo
- 26 2018 WSOP Event 26: Filippos Stavrakis Dedicates WSOP PLO Bracelet ($169,842) to His Brother
- 27 2018 WSOP Event 27: John Hennigan Wins 2018 WSOP $10K HORSE for Fifth Bracelet and $415K
- 28 2018 WSOP Event 28: Fortunate River Gives Gal Yifrach First WSOP Bracelet & $461K Prize
- 29 2018 WSOP Event 29: Hanh Tran Wins First WSOP Bracelet in $1,500 2-7 Triple Draw ($117,282)
- 30 2018 WSOP Event 30: Ryan Bambrick Wins First Gold Bracelet in Dominating Fashion
- 31 2018 WSOP Event 31: Steven Albini Wins $1,500 Stud to Deny Jeff Lisandro 7th Bracelet
- 32 2018 WSOP Event 32: Matthew Davis Tops Biggest Seniors Event Ever to Win $662,983
- 33 2018 WSOP Event 33: Michael Mizrachi Wins His Third Poker Players Championship Title
- 34 2018 WSOP Event 34: Robert Peacock Wins First WSOP Gold in $1,000 DOUBLE STACK
- 35 2018 WSOP Event 35: Yueqi Zhu Claims First WSOP Gold in $1,500 Mixed Omaha
- 36 2018 WSOP Event 36: Farhintaj Bonyadi Wins Event $1,000 Super Seniors ($311,451)
- 37 2018 WSOP Event 37: Eric Baldwin Wins Second Bracelet, Dedicates it to His Father
- 38 2018 WSOP Event 38: Yaniv Birman Wins First WSOP Gold Bracelet in $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship ($236,238)
- 39 2018 WSOP Event 39: Preston Lee Captures $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout Bracelet ($236,498)
- 40 2018 WSOP Event 40: Scott Bohlman Wins WSOP $2,500 Mixed Big Bet ($122,138)
- 41 2018 WSOP Event 41: Robert Nehorayan Wins $1,500 Limit Hold'em for $173,568
- 42 2018 WSOP Event 42: Shaun Deeb Gets Revenge on Ben Yu to Win $25K PLO for $1,402,683
- 43 2018 WSOP Event 43: Timur Margolin Takes Down $2,500 NLHE for $507,274
- 44 2018 WSOP Event 44: Nicholas Seiken Wins $10k 2-7 Triple Draw Championship for $287,987
- 45 2018 WSOP Event 45: Mario Prats Garcia Wins $1,000 Big Blind NLH For $258,255
- 46 2018 WSOP Event 46: David Brookshire Wins WSOP $2,500 Mixed Omaha/Stud Hi-Lo 8 ($214,291)
- 47 2018 WSOP Event 47: Matthew 'mendey' Mendez Wins First WSOP Online PLO Bracelet ($135,077)
- 48 2018 WSOP Event 48: Tommy Nguyen Wins Monster Stack for $1,037,451
- 49 2018 WSOP Event 49: Loren Klein Wins $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship for $1,018,336
- 50 2018 WSOP Event 50: Jay Kwon Wins $1,500 Razz ($125,431)
- 51 2018 WSOP Event 51: Ryan Leng Ships First WSOP Gold in $1,500 BOUNTY ($272,504)
- 52 2018 WSOP Event 52: Scott Seiver Wins $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship ($296,222)
- 53 2018 WSOP Event 53: Couden Tops Elezra, Matusow, Negreanu, and Fitoussi to win $1,500 PLO8
- 54 2018 WSOP Event 54: Portugal's Diogo Veiga Wins $3K Big Blind Antes ($522,715)
- 55 2018 WSOP Event 55: Giuseppe Pantaleo and Nikita Luther Win the $1K Tag Team for $175,805!
- 56 2018 WSOP Event 56: Calvin Anderson Wins His Second Bracelet in the $10K Razz ($309,220)!
- 57 2018 WSOP Event 57: Jessica Dawley Wins the WSOP Ladies Championship for $130,230!
- 58 2018 WSOP Event 58: Tribe Has Spoken: Jean-Robert Bellande Wins First Bracelet for $616K
- 59 2018 WSOP Event 59: Mike Takayama Makes History as the First Filipino to Win a WSOP Bracelet
- 60 2018 WSOP Event 60: Galfond Wins 3rd Bracelet in $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Championship
- 61 2018 WSOP Event 61: Ryan 'Toosick' Tosoc Wins WSOP.com $1,000 Championship ($238,778)
- 62 2018 WSOP Event 62: Galen Hall Wins $888 Crazy Eights No-Limit Hold'em for $888,888
- 63 2018 WSOP Event 63: Chance 'BingShui' Kornuth Wins Second Bracelet in WSOP.com Online High Roller for $341,598
- 64 2018 WSOP Event 64: Matsuzuki Wins First WSOP Gold Bracelet in $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo
- 65 John Cynn Wins the 2018 WSOP Main Event for $8,800,000!
- 66 2018 WSOP Event 66: Longsheng Tan Wins $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em for $323,472
- 67 2018 WSOP Event 67: Anderson Ireland Wins $1,500 PLO Bounty for First Bracelet and $141K
- 68 2018 WSOP Event 68: Guoliang Wei Wins Fourth Chinese Bracelet in The Little One for One Drop ($559,332)
- 69 2018 WSOP Event 69: Ronald Keijzer Wins $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed for $475,033
- 70 2018 WSOP Event 70: Yaser Al-Keliddar Wins Event #70: $3K Limit Hold'em 6-Handed for $154K
- 71 2018 WSOP Event 71: Phil Hellmuth Wins 15th Career Bracelet in $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em!
- 72 2018 WSOP Event 72: Jordan Polk Wins $1,500 Mixed NLH/PLO for $197,461
- 73 2018 WSOP Event 73: Denis Timofeev Bests Leo Margets to Win the $1,000 Double Stack Turbo
- 74 2018 WSOP Event 74: Shaun Deeb Wins Second Bracelet of the Summer in $10,000 6-Max ($814,179)
- 75 2018 WSOP Event 75: Joe Cada Wins His Fourth Career Bracelet in The Closer ($612,886)
- 76 2018 WSOP Event 76: Brian Hastings Wins the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E and 4th Bracelet
- 77 2018 WSOP Event 77: Ben Yu Wins Third Bracelet in $50,000 High Roller $1,650,773