For the second time in three events of the 2021 Poker Masters, the winner was forced to endure an extended, hard-fought heads-up battle before taking down the title. This time it was Adam Hendrix facing off against Matthew Wantman in Event #3 ($10,000 Pot Limit Omaha) and only after 125 hands and nearly 3 hours of heads-up play did Hendrix finally took out his final opponent to lock up the $186,300 first-place prize for his first Poker Masters win.
The victory, which Hendrix said was “sort of emotional” was his first in the PokerGO Studio. He came extremely close during the 2021 U.S. Poker Open, holding a massive chip lead against Joey Weissman, however, Weissman mounted an improbable comeback to take the win away from Hendrix. The score pushes the Alaska native over $2 million in career recorded live earnings and currently sits as the second-largest cash of his tournament career.
Traditionally, the Poker Master final tables play pretty quickly. However, in Event #3, it took more than two hours for the first of the final six to make their way to the exit. But once players started to fall, they began to fall fast. First up was Chris Brewer. With the blinds at 30,000/60,000 (60,000 ante) Brewer, with seven big blinds total, completed from the small blind to 100,000 with the 
. In the big blind Hendrix, who had built his stack to second in chips, three-bet to 420,000 holding 
. Brewer took some time but eventually moved all-in and Hendrix made the call. The flop came 
giving Hendrix top two pair, as well as a flush draw and Brewer, was left looking for help in the form of a straight draw or running card. The turn came the 
, bringing Brewer a little hope. But the river was the 
, ending the six-person stalemate and sending Brewer home in sixth for $41,400.
Moments later, with the chip lead, Wantman raised from the button to 130,000 holding the 
. A short-stacked Jake Schindler defended from the big blind with his 
. The 
flop brought Schindler straight but it also gave Wantman a straight – a higher one. Schindler checked it over to Wantman who put out a tiny bet of 75,000. Schindler then check-raised all-in and Wantman made the quick call. The 
came off on the turn, leaving Schindler drawing dead to the 
river. Schindler, who finished fourth in Event #2 for $86,000, wrapped up in fifth place for $55,200.
Jake Daniels and Brent Roberts were each sitting on ten big blind when Hendrix, first to act, put in a raise to 150,000 holding 
and when it folded to Roberts in the big blind, he defended with his 
. The pair took a flop of 
and when Roberts checked it over to Hendrix checked it back. The turn came the bringing a set for Hendrix a set of nines and offering Roberts a flush draw and straight draw to go with his bottom pair. Roberts wasted no time and moved all-in for 340,000 and Hendrix put out calling chips. “Damn, that sucks,” Roberts said as the 
hit the river sending him home in fourth place for $69,000.
Three hands later, and with fewer than 10 big blinds left, it was Daniels’ turn to get it all in. Hendrix made it 210,000 with his 
and Daniels, from the big blind, called with the . The flop came 
giving Hendrix top pair and Daniels middle pair, wheel draw, and nut flush draw. Daniels snap moved all-in and Hendrix called. Daniels was better than 60% with 19 outs twice. The turn was the , leaving Daniels looking for any number of cards in half the deck to survive. However, the river was the missing Daniels and ending his run in third place for $89,700.
After the final two players took a quick break, Wantman started heads-up play with a nearly two-to-one chip advantage over Hendrix. The two battled for nearly half an hour while Hendrix chipped away at Wantman’s lead. Eventually, Hendrix wrestled the lead away from Wantman for the first time in the tournament.
From that point, a bit of back and forth took place as the heads-up match turned into a grind. After more than two-and-a-half hours of play, with the blinds up to 100,000/200,000 (200,000 bb ante), the final hand took place. With a better than two-to-one chip lead, Hendrix raised the button to 600,000 with his 
and Wantman defended his big blind holding 
. The flop came out 
bringing Hendrix bottom pair and a king-high flush draw while Wantman hit middle pair and a gutshot straight draw. Wantman led out for pot, 1.4 million, and Hendrix raised all-in. Wantman made the call and the turn came the , keeping Wantman ahead and giving Hendrix just one more card to hit his 17 outs. The spiked on the river, giving Hendrix the best hand and the Event #3 title. Wantman took home $138,000 as the runner-up and Adam Hendrix picked up $186,300 and his first career Poker Masters event victory.
Poker Masters Event #3 Final Table Results
- Adam Hendrix – $186,300
- Matthew Wantman – $138,000
- Jake Daniels – $89,700
- Brent Roberts – $69,000
- Jake Schindler – $55,200
- Chris Brewer – $41,400