Mike Matusow Wins 4th Bracelet in WSOP 2013 Event 13
American poker pro Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow added another quarter-million payday to his superlative career earnings last week with a win at the 2013 World Series of Poker Event #13, Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Split 8 or Better. The victory also awarded Matusow with his 4th WSOP Bracelet. Mike outlasted a field of 210, all posting the high stakes buy-in of $5,000 to produce a prize pool $987,000.
The 3-day event kicked off on June 5, playing host to a multitude of big-wig poker players who got far enough to taste the bubble, but fell short of a final table appearance. These included Sam Feinberg (24th, $9,583), Tom Schneider (23rd, $9,583), Timothy Finne (18th, $9,583), Joe Tehan (17th, $9,583), Brian Hastings (16th, $11,528), Eli Elezra (15th, $11,528) and the 2011 winner of this event, Eric Rodawig (10th, $21,190).
The third and final day of action commenced with 20 players left in contention, including most of those mentioned above. Tuan Vo faced elimination from David Baker, taking the 9th place exit ($21,190) to produce the final table of eight. Some familiar names claimed those seats, most notably 3-time WSOP bracelet winner Mike Matusow and 1-time bracelet winner Gavin Smith.
As the final table got underway, with Israeli Yuval Bronshtein starting as the chip leader, two players would hit the rails within the first 15 hands; the short stacked Russian Vladimir Shchemelev (8th, $26,757), and Canadian poker pro Gavin Smith (7th, $34,268). Baker surpassed Bronshtein for the lead, and Matusow sucked another chunk of chips off the Israeli, betting all streets up to the last on a hand that saw Matusow’s stack grow to $555k, second behind Baker.
One short dinner break later, it was Mike Leah who would take control, eliminating Tony Causineau in 6th ($44,543), as well as Yuval Bronshtein in 5th ($58,835) to take a dominant lead in chip counts. Leah followed that up with the lucrative ousting of Baker (4th, $79,078), raising his stack to over 1.2 million. At that point, it seemed Mike Leah would be taking this table to the end, but Mike Matusow and Matthew Ashton were still skulking in the shadows, each awaiting an opportunity to strike.
Ashton would seize the first opportunity, claiming the chip lead from Leah. From there, Matusow went into full assault mode, ferreting Leah’s entire stack and sending him to the sidelines in 3rd for $108,412; the first 6-figure cash of the event. Although Mike ‘The Mouth’ swiped a large number of chips in Leah’s elimination, he was still far behind Ashton with a 1:3 chip deficit. It only took a few hands to bring the stacks even when Matusow scooped a hi and low hand, then another two pair hand with neither qualifying for the low pot.
The final hand saw Matusow leading into the last street with a pair of 9’s over Ashton’s pair of 2’s. Both would make two pair on the final street, but Mike’s Kings over 9’s bested Ashton’s 8’s over 2’s, landing Ashton in 2nd place for a worthy cash of $164,700. Matusow claimed his 4th WSOP bracelet, along with a $266,503 paycheck. The final table results were as follows:
2013 WSOP Event #13 Final Table Results
- Mike Matusow (USA) – $266,503
- Matthew Ashton (UK) – $164,700
- Mike Leah (USA) – $108,412
- David “Bakes” Baker (USA) – $79,078
- Yuval Bronshtein (Israel) – $58,835
- Tony Cousineau (USA) – $44,543
- Gavin Smith (Canada) – $34,268
- Vladimir Shchemelev (Russia) – $26,757