Dan Sindelar Wins Final WSOP.com Bracelet of the Summer

Persistence finally paid off for Dan Sindelar in relation to his quest to win a World Series of Poker bracelet. Sindelar started playing at the WSOP in 2008 and racked up 117 cashes without a victory. That changed on August 2 when he triumphed in Event #33: $500 NLH Grand Finale.

Event #33: $500 NLH Grand Finale Final Table Results

Place	Player	Prize
1	Dan “Feeltheflow” Sindelar	$159,100
2	Stanley “stanman420” Lee	$98,400
3	Fred “staeks” Li	$71,500
4	Guy “PhilLaak” Dunlap	$52,400
5	Drew “casualcarl” Gonzalez	$38,800
6	“chuckybrown9”	$29,000
7	Conrad “KerriP” Simpson	$21,900
8	Anna “Dusty4” Antimony	$16,700
9	Dan “omg_its_dan” Gallegos	$12,900

The last event of the summer drew in a crowd of 1,355 unique players who rebought 669 times, for a total attendance of 2,024. Only 289 of those players received a slice of the $1 million prize pool.

“NoLimitFit” burst the money bubble when they crashed out in a hand against Michael “BrockLesnar” Holtz. NoLimitFit open-shoved for a meager two big blinds with Qs-Qd, and Holtz called with Ks-Qc. The board read 3c-4h-Kh-8c-8d by the river, sending NoLimitFit home in 290th place.

Mike “Mouth123” Matusow was one of the first players to collect some prize money. Matusow’s 271st place finish came with a $900 payout. Other who cashed including Jeff “NedrudRelyt” Madsen, and Darren “darrenelias” Elias. The previously mentioned Holtz ran out of steam in tenth place.

Sindelar Second In Chips as the Final Table Begins

Sindelar went into the final table with 5,590,430 chips, enough for second place. Only “chuckybrown9,” with 7,118,094 chips, was ahead of the eventual champion.

Dan “omg_its_dan” Gallegos was the first of the nine finalists to crash out. He min-raised to 200,000, and chuckybrown9 called on the button. Stanley “stanman420” Lee called from the big blind, too. The action checked to chuckybrown9 on the 6s-3d-5h flop, and he bet 381,250. Lee folded, but Gallegos check-raised all-in for 1,549,508, and chuckybrown9 called. Gallegos showed Qh-Qs, which was crushing the Js-7s. That was until the 8h turn, and 9d river completed the board.

The tournament became an all-male affair when Anna “Dusty4” Antimony busted in eighth. She open-shoved for ten big blinds from under the gun with Ks-Qs, and Guy “PhilLaak” Dunlap called with Ac-Qc. A 7d-3d-3h-9h-8h board sent Antimony home early.

Sindelar was not eliminating opponents but kept his stack on the right side of healthy. He jumped up another payout spot when Conrad “KerriP” Simpson bowed out in seventh. Simpson three-bet all-in for 11 big blinds with 6s-6d after Dunlap min-raised. Dunlap called with 2h-2d and looked set to double up his opponent. That was until a deuce on the river put paid to those plans.

Sixth-place and $29,000 went to chuckybrown9. His 11 big blind shove with As-5s ran into the Jd-Jh of Lee. The 9d-2s-9h-7d-3d board failed to come to chuckybrown9’s rescue, and the player count was reduced by one.

Lee’s pocket eights then held against the Ad-4d of Drew “casualcarl” Gonzalez. This put Lee to the top of the chip counts and left Sindelar lagging behind fourth from four.

Bracelet Is Within Reach

Lee extended his lead by sending Dunlap to the rail in fourth. He won all but four big blinds of Dunlap’s stack before getting his hands on the rest of it a few hands later. Dunlap’s Ad-Qs lost to Lee’s Ah-4h thanks to the community cards running 2d-7h-Kh-Js-9h.

Heads-up was set when the seemingly unstoppable lee busted Fred “staeks” Li. Lee raised all-in from the small blind with Jh-9s, and Li called off his 2.5 big blind short stack with 7c-2c. A seven on the flop of the Qc-7h-6d-6h-8h board gave Li hope, but Lee improved to a straight on the river.

Sindelar trailed Lee by 6,274,592 chips to 24,085,408 but refused to throw in the towel. Sindelar flipped the contest on its head when his As-Js held against Lee’s Kc-Qc, and it was all over soon after.

Lee called off his last five big blinds with Qs-2s and found Sindelar held As-Kc. The 5h-Td-7s-9s-Jd board provided a little drama, but the best preflop hand won. Lee banked $98,400 for his runner-up finish, while Nebraska‘s Sindelar, who finished seventh at the 2014 WSOP Main Event, finally secured a coveted WSOP bracelet.

Brad Johnson

You name the game, and you can bet your bottom dollar that Brad has either played it or placed a wager on it! Brad calls himself a natural gambler, and someone who gains as much enjoyment from writing about the crazy game of poker as he does playing it.

View Articles