Many of you have heard the phrase “a chip and a chair” before, but very rarely does someone on the brink of elimination in a poker tournament go on to win the whole thing. Well, that’s exactly what David “ODB” Baker did in the $1,500 Razz event.
Two Big Bets
That’s all that David had left at the lowest point in his head’s-up match with Justin Liberto. However, a string of good fortune and solid play turned the tide in Baker’s favour, just as it looked as if he would be crushed by the relentless Liberto.
Liberto started the heads-up match with a three-to-one chip advantage over Baker, and slowly grounded his opponent down over a series of hands. Baker just couldn’t get anything going in the early stages of his heads-up battle, and his dreams of a third bracelet seemed to be disappearing, along with his chip stack.
After securing a double with just two big bets, David won two hands in quick succession with a nine-low and a ten-low to get back within striking distance of his opponent. From that point on, it seemed like destiny, and David went on to win the majority of the large pots to put his opponent with just 400K. However, Liberto couldn’t mount a similar comeback and David finished him off by making a jack-low against his queen-low.
Love of the Game
When asked about how much winning his third WSOP bracelet meant to him, David said, “If you polled poker players to find out who loved poker the most, my name would be on the top ten list. I live for this.” It’s clear just how much David loves this game, and it’s great to see someone as well-loved as David be rewarded for his dedication, especially in such dramatic fashion!
This victory will be seen by many as redemption, as six years ago David lost a similar position to the one Liberto found himself in, in the same event. When speaking about this event, David said, “It’s a lot of redemption to come back in the same event that he stole from me. Not to say he didn’t play great - he made a great comeback... I’ve been around a long time, and I know in these events, sometimes you just need to win that one pot. I never lost hope.”
Event #24 - Razz $1,500 Final Table Results
Let’s take a look at the full breakdown of the $1,500 Razz final table.
Rank | Player | Country | Payout (USD) |
---|---|---|---|
1st | David "ODB" Baker | United States | $152,991 |
2nd | Justin Liberto | United States | $94,558 |
3rd | Chris Hundley | United States | $66,659 |
4th | Takashi Ogura | Japan | $47,743 |
5th | Jeff Lisandro | Australia | $34,752 |
6th | Everett Carlton | United States | $25,714 |
7th | William Burke | Canada | $19,347 |
8th | Dzmitry Urbanovich | Poland | $14,805 |
9th | Rafael Concepcion | United States | $11,527 |
Will “ODB” use this event as a springboard to take down the $10,000 Razz Championship, just as Chad Eveslage did in the Dealer’s Choice Events? Stay tuned for all the latest WSOP news and events.
Image Source: Pokernews