Congratulations to Michael Linn, Winner of Event #49: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em ($609,493)!
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After three intense days of poker, countless bad beats and lucky rivers, a champion in Michael Linn has been crowned in Event #49: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em!
Another Monday in Las Vegas saw 2,543 players take to the felt for the last $1,500 donkament of the series with a number of veterans, tournament junkies and amateurs alike making up the all-star field.
Unfortunately, for over two thousand of them, they would find themselves on the rail over the course of the day as only 290 players returned for day two action; or the money day!
The bubble burst early as play was fast and action-packed as players such as JP Kelly (208th), Matthew Matros (194th), Allen Kessler (191st), Ari Engel (184th), George Lind (166th) , Shane Schleger (146th), Marc Naalden (134th) and David Pham (80th) were just a few of those that exited shy of a day three berth.
For the twenty-three still in contention for the Event #49 bracelet, Michael Linn held the overnight chip lead with only Mihai Minole snapping at his heels as we arrived at the final table just a few minutes shy of the fifth hour of play.
Throughout the early parts of day three it would be the quiet assassin Taylor Larkin who would steam-roll himself into the chip lead as the final nine was reached.
It would take no longer than twenty minutes until we lost Tyler Cornell before Erle Mankin, Justin Zaki, Alexander Kuzmin and Chadwick Grimes all fell during the course of two levels.
With play now at four-handed, Larkin still retained the lead, but the gap had been bridged by both Mihai Manole and Michael Linn, as Benjamin Smith tried to peddle the short-stack, but would be unsuccessful as he fell next.
Linn then put his foot down and stepped up both his aggression and chip accumulation skills as he surged out to a two-to-one chip lead over his two opponents before dispatching of Manole in third place when he outdrew his deuces.
Heading into heads up play, Linn held over a two-to-one lead against Larkin as an intense near two-hour heads up match would begin. Linn kept his aggression up as he extended his lead to over a four-to-one one before doubling up Larkin twice to keep him in the match.
With a rail that featured friends, family and random onlookers, Linn would eventually dispatch of Larkin as we approached hour twelve when his Ace-Deuce remained in the lead to send Larkin to the rail. As the dubbed silent assassin now culled, Linn's third victim of the final table would be an extremely memorable one.
PokerNews would like to congratulate Michael Linn on an excellently played tournament full of timely aggression, patience and composure along with great awareness to see him crowned the Event #49: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Champion, owner of a coveted gold bracelet and $609,493 in prizemoney!