Brian Hastings Wins Event #39 ($133,403)
Just a week after he captured his second bracelet by winning Event #27: $10,000 Seven-Card Stud Championship, the online cash crusher sometimes known as “Stinger 88” followed up with a third taste of World Series of Poker gold. He won Event #39: $1,500 Six-Max 10-Game for $133,403, topping a field of 380.
“Obviously, it feels great to win two bracelets in one summer,” Hastings said. “Not a lot of people do that, it feels really special.”
A profitable but frustrating summer continued for Mike “SirWatts” Watson as he busted in sixth place for the third time at this WSOP in continued pursuit of that elusive first bracelet. Tim Reusch (fifth) and Alexey Makarov (fourth) went out next, leaving bracelet winner Todd Brunson to battle with Hastings and Rostislav Tsodikov.
Tsodikov sent a short-stacked Brunson packing in a stud hand to take a 2-1 chip lead into heads-up play with Hastings. That's an arena in which Hastings specializes though, as he's long been a top short-handed cash player online and won his first bracelet in the $10,000 Heads-Up Championship. Hastings' skill – and a timely aces full in Stud Hi-Low – proved too much as he took the match over the course of about three hours.
After the tournament, WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla noted that Hastings winning two bracelets so early means joining an exclusive club of players who have claimed three in one year – Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, Ted Forrest, Jeff Lisandro and Puggy Pearson – is well within reach.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brian Hastings | Hanover Township, PA | $133,403 |
| 2 | Rostislav Tsodikov | Daly City, CA | $82,398 |
| 3 | Todd Brunson | Las Vegas, NV | $52,977 |
| 4 | Alexey Makarov | Russia | $35,130 |
| 5 | Tim Reusch | Hofheim, Germany | $23,982 |
| 6 | Mike Watson | Toronto, Canada | $16,846 |