Ben Yu Takes Down $10K 6-Max NLHE Championship For $721,453

Ben Yu joined the list of players who have added to their bracelet collection at the 2021 WSOP. Yu triumphed in the $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em Championship for $721,453 and his fourth WSOP bracelet.

Born in Dayton, Ohio, but living in Las Vegas, Nevada, Yu won his first bracelet in 2015. He took down the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship for $291,456. Bracelet number two came in 2017 when he won the $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship for $232,738. Yu completed his hat trick in 2018 after scooping the $50,000 Big Blind Antes No-Limit Hold’em High Roller. That result netted Yu a career-best $1,650,773. He now has four bracelets after his latest victory.

Day 1 of the $10,000 NLHE Six-Max drew in 329 players but only 113 progressed to Day 2. Only 50 of those Day 2 players received a slice of the $3,067,925. Clement Richez was the unfortunate bubble boy, crashing out in 51st place at the hands of Abhinav Iyer.

Yu Middle of the Pack Going Into Day 3

Day 2 ended with only 19 players after the floodgates to the payout desk opened after Richez’s exit. The likes of Jeff Gross, Joao Vieira, Ryan Laplante, Niklas Astedt, and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier cashed.

Yu bagged up a stack of 995,000 chips, less than half the stack of Boris Kolev who led with 2,185,000 chips.

A steady stream of eliminations left only the six-handed final table in play. Mike Sowers led the final six with Yu the shortest stack.

Four-time bracelet winner Asi Moshe was the first player to bust from the final table. He min-raised to 120,000, Sowers called, and Steve Yea came along for the ride. The flop fell Js-Ts-7c, and the aciton checked to Sowers, who bet 200,000. Only Moshe called. Moshe checked on the 2c turn, Sowers bet 550,000 and called after Moshe check-raised all-in for 1,290,000. Sowers showed As-8s, Moshe the Jd-9d, and the 4s river sent Moshe to the showers.

Yea crashed out soon after. Sowers opened to 150,000 on the button, and Ariel Mantel three-bet shoved for 1,600,000 from the small blind. Yea called off his 805,000 stack from the big blinds, and Sowers ducked out of the way. Mantel held As-Tc which came from behind to crack Yea’s Kh-Kd courtesy of the Ad-8h-Td-6s-6h board.

Field Grows Ever Shorter

Sowers’ run ended in a fourth-place finish worth $198,205. Yu min-raised to 200,000 with Kd-6d, and Sowers jammed for 530,000 with Ac-8s, and Yu called and won the hand when the five community cards ran Js-5s-4h-7h-Ks.

Yu put his foot firmly on the gas, and his vast experience started showing. He sent Mantel to the sidelines in third place during the 60,000/120,000/120,000a level. Mantel made it 250,000 to go before calling when Yu set him all-in. Mantel flipped over Jd-Js, and Yu the lowly Kh-7h. The Kd-Qd-4c flop gifted Yu the advantage, with the 7d turn adding some outs for Mantel. The 9h river ended Mantel’s run.

The champion elect held 16,865,000 chips to the 2,875,000 of Nikita Kuznetsov. Unsurprisingly, the heads-up battle did not last long at all.

Yu raised to 275,000 with Js-Jh, and Kuznetsov moved all-in for 3,010,000 with 2s-2c. Yu instantly called. The pocket jacks held as the dealer spread the 3h-As-Qh-4d-8d board, resigning Kuznetsov to the $445,892 consolation prize, and leaving Yu to win his fourth bracelet and $721,453.

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Ben Yu	United States	$721,453
2	Nikita Kuznetsov	Russia	$445,892
3	Ariel Mantel	Argentina	$293,578
4	Mike Sowers	United States	$198,205
5	Steve Yea	South Korea	$137,303
6	Asi Moshe	Israel	$97,660

Other Recent 2021 WSOP Champions

• Brian Yoon – winner of the $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship for $240,341
• Anatolii Zyrin – winner of the $400 Colossus for $314,705
• Nicholas Julia – winner of the $2,500 Nine-Game Mix 6-Handed for $168,608
• Robert McMillan – winner of the $1,000 Seniors Championship

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.

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