Trevor Pope Wins First Bracelet in WSOP 2013 Event 2

It was like a dreamscape for young poker pro Trevor Pope. Every card seemed to fall in his direction, every chip flowing atop his stack. Anyone who witnessed the final table of the 2013 World Series of Poker Event #2, $5k 8-handed NL Holdem, had no doubt as to the eventual winner of the bracelet. Call it divine intervention; call it a legendary run of good luck; call it Pope’s very first WSOP bracelet and the largest cash prize of his short but illustrious career, worth more than half a million dollars.

It had been a great run throughout the entire 2-day event for Pope. By the time he reached the final table, he had half of the entire in-play chips upon his stack. He was facing a full table of successful poker pros, all of which had seen cashes at major tournaments around the world, including former WSOP bracelet winner Dan ‘DJK’ Kelly. But that fact was of little consequence to Trevor. He was running hot, and nothing could stop him.

Pope’s first target was David Peters, who pushed his stack with K-2, falling early to Pope’s Q-Q. Peter finished in 8th with $48,103 to show for it. Next up was local poker pro Brandon Meyers of Henderson, Nevada. Meyers went all-in with a strong A-Q, but again, Pope had the better hand, pocket rockets, ousting Meyers in 7th for $62,915. Turning his attention to Dan Kelly, Pope went head to head in an uphill battle that saw DJK holding the rockets this time. Pope held Q-7, and just when it looked like Kelly would double up, Pope hit trips on the river to send Kelly to the rails in 6th, earning $83,532.

With just 5 players remaining, Pope now held 8x more chips than his nearest opponent. Finally, the job of eliminating a player fell to someone other than Trevor. Jamie Armstrong’s A-3 fell to the superior A-Q of David Vamplew, sending Armstrong home with the first 6-figure salary of the night; $112,695 for the 5th place finish. From there, Pope was back on the attack, wiping out another Henderson, NV local, Jared Hamby, in 4th for $154,518, followed by a quick elimination of Darryll Fish in 3rd with $215,286 in his pocket.

That left Trevor Pope and the Scotsman, David Vamplew, to duke it out for the second WSOP bracelet of the 2013 World Series of Poker. Pope controlled a lofty 13-to1 chip lead going into heads-up action, and it wasn’t long before he claimed the remainder of them. The HU duel lasted only seven hands, but Vamplew did put up a fight. He doubled up through Pope early on for a brief glimmer of hope, but the American native came right back with a pair of 5’s in the hole to overtake Vamplew’s A-6. The Scottish pro finished his second career WSOP final table in 2nd, claiming a well-deserved paycheck of $342,450.

And with that, we offer congratulations to Trevor Pope of Gainsville, Florida for winning his first WSOP bracelet and the largest cash of his career, $553,906. This is Pope’s second outright win in a major live poker tournament; the first being a preliminary NLH event in the 2010 WPT Festa Al Lago worth $49,351. His live poker tournament earnings now total $891,073, spanning 14 bubble finishes since January of 2010.