John Beauprez Beats Tough Final 6 to Win WSOP 2013 Event 4

A field of 1,069 posted the $1,500 buy-in to enter 2013 WSOP Event #4, a 6-handed NL Hold’em tournament, setting the stage for a massive $1.4 million prize pool wherein John Beauprez competed in one of the most fearsome final tables the World Series of Poker has seen this year. Beauprez beat out German poker pro Manig Loeser and American pros Eric Blair, Keven Stammen, Musa ‘Mike’ Mustafa and the 2009 WSOP Main Event Champion, Joe Cada, earning his first WSOP bracelet, along with $324,674.

As the 6-handed table got underway, half of the field partook in a ferocious battle for each other’s stacks. Beauprez was not among them, however, sitting back and letting them take out their aggression on one another. John, a professional poker player and business owner hailing from Boulder, Colorado, was perfectly happy to bide his time, waiting for the right moment to strike as his opponents tossed chips left and right.

Beauprez was responsible for the first elimination of the event’s final table action when Keven Stammen’s pocket deuces ran aground upon Beauprez’s A-A. Stammen, who has cashed in 50 live poker tournaments at the mere age of 23, including three 1st place finishes, one worth a WSOP bracelet in 2009, walked away in 6th with $39,325 for his skilled efforts.

Eric Blair, who entered the final table as the short stack, quickly rose to the leader position after making minced meat of Mustafa. Blair won two hands against the Illinois native, busting Mustafa’s 8-8 with K-Q, then his 10-10 with A-K. Now crippled, Mustafa pushed all-in and lost a four-way pot, taking to the rails in 5th for a $56,499 payday.

Feeling very confident, Blair continued to blast away at his opponents with aggressive play, building a massive stack along the way. Any prop betting enthusiast would have bet their bank on Blair to win the bracelet at that point, but the rain of cheers from his section soon came to an abrupt silence. Loeser 6-bet and was forced all in by Blair, who flipped A-Q to Loeser’s pocket 7’s. The flop brought Q-10-6, giving Blair the lead. Just when the crowd thought Loeser would be exiting the table, the turn brought a 7, giving Manig the pot.

The German pro now held the lead and took over as the aggressor, but Blair was not to be sedated. He continued to push all-in on a number of hands, slowly rebuilding his stack. In the meantime, Joe Cada had yet to make a move. He finally decided to push with Ac-7h, only to be insta-called by Loeser with Ad-9d. Manig’s lead was minimal at the moment, but when the flop brought a triad of diamonds, Cada’s run was over. The former WSOP champ was eliminated in 4th, earning $83,558.

Blair continued struggling to restore his stack, doubling through Loeser to regain his confidence, but his run came to an abrupt end when he pushed on a flop of J-9-3. Beauprez immediately called. Blair showed J-8, Beauprez A-J. No help came after, unraveling the remainder of Eric Blair’s rope. The Californian hit the rails in 3rd, pocketing the first 6-figure cash of the event, $127,300.

Heads-up play ensued, but it would be a very long battle between the German and American finalists before a winner was established. They were near evenly stacked to start, and spent hand after hand exchanging the lead. Eventually, Beauprez landed a flush draw to take a 5-to-2 lead over Manig Loeser; a lead he would maintain until the very end. Loeser was dealt A-K and took the opportunity to push all-in. Beauprez called with A-8, hitting top pair on an 8-high flop that held out through the river. Loeser was awarded $200,698 for the 2nd place finish, while John Beauprez received the coveted WSOP bracelet and $324,764 for the victory.

“[The bracelet is] everything,” Beauprez exclaimed when it was all over. “It’s what every poker player grinds for. I’ve had this dream of playing heads-up for a gold bracelet a thousand times, but nothing matches the actual experience. It happens really fast and the whole time you are there, it really feels like a dream. You just don’t wake up. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

The Colorado native is not new to the World Series of Poker. Although he has only seen 9 live tournament cashes throughout his short career, 3 of them came in WSOP events, including a deep run at the 2012 WSOP Main Event that saw him pocketing $128,384 for a 58th place finish. In 2011, Beauprez was eliminated in 563rd place in the WSOP Main Event for $21,295.