Justin Lapka made the final table of Event #2 ($600 NLHE Deepstack) of the 2021 World Series of Poker Online only to bust out in sixth place. On Saturday night, Lapka made another WSOP final table and came from behind to win his first career WSOP bracelet.
Lapka outlasted all 1,124 other entries in Event #17 ($400 No Limit Hold’em Eight Max) including a final table that included bracelet winners Chance Kornuth and Jason Gooch to win $75,371.
The final tabled a little over an hour to play but the first bustout came 10 minutes in. Action folded to Brandon Ienn on the button and he moved all in with and ‘Beratna‘ called from the big blind with . Ienn found no help through the runout and was eliminated in eighth place.
The seven players battled for 20 minutes before Kornuth put an end to that. Joseph Walters moved all in from the cutoff for 915,171 with and Kornuth defended his big blind with . The flop gave Walters some additional ways to win the hand but neither the turn or the river were any help for Walters and he was out in seventh.
Lapka found his first victim of the night approximately 30 minutes after Walters left. Troy Lee moved all in from the button for 540,321 and Lapka called from the big blind. Kornuth briefly tanked before letting his 120,000 big blind go into the pot. Lee showed while Lapka had the lead with . Both players connected with the flop. Lapka made two pair on the turn and the river sealed Lee’s fate and made his sixth place finish official.
Kornuth was back in the saddle a few minutes later and sent the only other bracelet winner at the table to the exit. Gooch, who won a bracelet in 2019, shoved from the button for 1,009,298 with and Kornuth called from the big blind with . Gooch found no help on the runout and was eliminated in fifth place.
Despite coming into the final table with the second biggest stack and taking care of two of the first four eliminations, Kornuth was the next to go. Kornuth lost most of his stack to Uke Dauti when Dauti turned Broadway with against Kornuth’s . Down to just 3.5 big blinds, Kornuth moved all in from the cutoff and ‘Beratna’ called from the button, and Lapka defended his big blind. Lapka and ‘Beratna’ then check through the runout. Kornuth showed for ace-high, but ‘Beratna’ tabled for a better ace-high, and Lapka showed to ship the pot to ‘Beratna’ and bust Kornuth in fourth place.
Lapka started three-handed play as the shortest stack and saw it drop to roughly half of his other two opponents. He then doubled through ‘Beratna’ to take the chip lead and control of the rest of the night. Just a minute after doubling Lapka up, ‘Beratna’ was eliminated. Dauti raised to 320,000 from the button before Lapka moved all in from the small blind for 8,216,888. ‘Beratna’ briefly tanked before calling all in for his last 2,982,018 and Dauti folded. Lapka showed and ‘Beratna’ was racing with . The board ran out to eliminate ‘Beratna’ in third place and send Lapka to heads up with a better-than 2-1 lead over Dauti.
Dauti battled for 10 minutes before a cooler ended the tournament. Dauti raised to 400,000 and Lapka called. The flop came and Lapka checked. Dauti bet 425,000 and then called when Lapka raised to 1,250,000. The turn was the and Lapka bet 800,000 and then called when Dauti made it 1,600,000. Lapka then checked the river and Dauti moved dall in for 1,756,094 and Lapka snap-called. Dauti tabled for the nut flush but Lapka flipped over for a rivered full house to eliminate Dauti in second and claim his first career WSOP bracelet.
Event #17 Final Table Payouts
- Justin ‘LappyPoker’ Lapka – $75,371
- Uke ‘ooopsmybad’ Dauti – $46,575
- ‘Beratna’ – $32,967
- Chance ‘BingShui” Kornuth – $23,652
- Jason ‘TheBigGift’ Gooch – $17,172
- Troy ‘troyrlee’ Lee – $12,636
- Joseph ‘ShoeGoat’ Walters – $9,437
- Brandon ‘Omni27’ Ienn – $7,128