Norbert Szecsi Wins Event #42: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em ($345,037)
Norbert Szecsi has conquered a starting field of 2,100 entrants to win Event #42 $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em, taking home $345,037 and the coveted World Series of Poker gold bracelet. Szecsi more than doubled his career live tournament cash tally of $137,207 with his win at one of the quickest final tables of the summer, which ended in just 132 hands and less than five hours.
The Hungarian brought the third-biggest stack into Day 3, but he was the shortest stack with six players remaining. A run of good fortune vaulted him to the top of the counts, starting with this flip. Shortly thereafter, he got it all in with nines against aces and hit quads. His rush peaked when he called off on the turn against aces up and rivered a flush to eliminate Kirby Martin.
Szecsi had half of the chips in play at that point, and he cruised into heads-up play with about a three-to-two lead. Heads-up play lasted a mere seven hands, and Szecsi's aggressive play and a lucky flop bounced Denis Gnidash in second.
Two of the most accomplished players of the 11 who survived to Day 3 were ousted early: Dan Murariu in 11th and Daniel Neilson in 10th. After that, the final table proceeded quickly, with Rory Mathews, who started the day with the chip lead, busting in fifth and Chris DeMaci, who had the most accomplished WSOP resume of today's contenders, busting in third.