Joey Couden Tops Mike Sexton in $1,650 H.O.R.S.E.

Adam Lamers

Level 19 : 20,000/40,000, 5,000 ante

The first mixed game event of the partypoker 2018 Caribbean Poker Party took place today and it was the $1,650 H.O.R.S.E. that attracted 22 players to the felt. After a long heads-up battle, Joey Couden came out victorious to claim the title and the $13,500 first-place prize, conquering a true legend of the game: none other than partypoker Chairman Mike Sexton.

After the two got by Joe Brindle (fourth) and another old-school legend in Bruno Fitoussi (third) in the money, Couden and Sexton butted heads for a couple of hours. Couden, who came into the final table with half of the chips in play, still held a decent lead when they started.

However, Sexton was able to battle back and took the lead himself. The match was anything but grueling though as the two bought rounds of drinks for each other and joked about how much they were each stuck on the trip and how the $13,500 wasn't going to put a dent in it. Sexton even regaled Couden and fellow partypoker brass Marcel Luske — he also made the final table — with some of his trademark stories.

Eventually, Couden retook the lead and then put quite a beat on the old-timer. In Omaha hi-lo, Sexton flopped aces up with the nut flush draw and Couden check-called a bet with nothing but backdoors and made a six-high straight, leading into Sexton on the turn and river. Sexton couldn't believe it but was forced to concede the match a short time later, giving the trophy to Couden.

Couden has done quite well for himself in the non-NLHE events at the WSOP in recent years, including nabbing a bracelet in pot-limit Omaha hi-lo this past summer. Chalk up another trophy for the Ohio native, and topping a legend heads up had to be the icing on the cake.

Final Results