2017 World Series of Poker Update: Le Claims His 1st WSOP Bracelet

After knocking on the door so many times, Tommy Le finally kicked it in this week to win his first World Series of Poker bracelet.

Heading into this year’s World Series of Poker, Le had made the final table in five different WSOP Omaha tournaments. Each time, he came up short in his attempt to win a bracelet. That changed last week after Le outlasted the rest of the 428-player field in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Eight-Handed Championship.

Not only did Le get the coveted WSOP bracelet for the win, but he also netted $938,732. He now has 19 career WSOP cashes totaling just over $2.5 million.

The most interesting tournament on last week’s World Series of Poker schedule was a new event, the $2,500 Big Bet Mix. The new addition to the WSOP is a mixed event player’s dream, with seven poker variations included. The usual games are there, with No-Limit Hold’em, two kinds of Pot Limit Omaha and two kinds of 2-7 Lowball.

The outlier is the inclusion of Five-Card Draw and Big O, which you’ll be hard-pressed to find in any other event at the Rio this month.

The Big Bet Mix drew only 197 players, and at the end, Austrian Jens Lakemeier was the last man standing. The top hand of the final table was a Five-Card Draw hand during which Lakemeier had only four outs and drew a Queen to spike a Full House and send two of his opponents to the rail. For the win, he collected his first WSOP bracelet and $112,232.

A quick check on the Player of the Year (POY) standings finds a new name on top: Ryan Hughes with 758.74 points. The two-time WSOP bracelet winner is still looking for his first tournament win this year after making the final table in four events. Including the four final tables, Hughes has cashed 14 times so far at the WSOP, totaling 190,992.

Trailing Hughes in the POY standings are John Racener with 729.92 points and John Monnette with 697.75. Racener won his first WSOP bracelet in the $10,000 Dealers Choice Six-Handed Championship and has cashed 14 times as well so far.

Monnette has made three final tables and won the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship. He’s posted 11 cashes so far, which has bumped his WSOP career earnings to $2,268,774.