Congratulations to Michael Chow, Winner of Event 4! ($237,140)
Everyone laughed this morning when I told them that the final table of Event 4 would end some time between 3am and 5am local time. I have to admit, I had a sliver of hope it would be earlier when the tournament got to three-handed in record time. But nobody could have anticipated the epic heads-up battle between Dan Heimiller and eventual champion Michael Chow.
Chow and Heimiller battled, and battled, and battled. Then they battled some more. Heimiller had Chow all in at one point. Chow had Heimiller all in. Each time the short stack survived and then went on a tear to re-balance the stacks and start the grind all over again.
Each player demonstrated tremendous skill not just in the heads-up portion of the match, but in the 10 hours of play that led up to it. This tournament started with 26 players left today. There were five bracelet winners in the field (Heimiller was one of them). It wasn't an easy slog to the final table.
Chow also had to contend with a case of what looked to be severe exhaustion. Without his gaggle of supporters on the rail, cheering on every big pot at the final table, there's no telling whether Chow would have been around at the end trying to knock Dan Heimiller out in 2nd place. They gave Chow an energy boost for sure.
For his win, Chow will bank $237,140, his largest tournament score to date. He'll also get a WSOP gold bracelet, which will be presented to him at a ceremony tomorrow afternoon. Congratulations Michael!