Joshua Pollock broke through for his first gold bracelet victory late Friday night in Event 22. The young pro earned $279,431 for his efforts in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event, more than tripling his career earnings at the WSOP.
The road to victory wasn’t easy and it went right through Noah Schwartz. Schwartz, a pro with 13 WSOP cashes and more than $700,000 in earnings, took control of the tournament with three tables left. He came to the finale with a sizable chip lead and it looked as if his first WSOP victory was all but in the bag. As the final table progressed his lead only got larger and, at one point, might have been best described as insurmountable.
The only real road block for Schwartz came when he faced Pollock heads-up. It took the better part of two hours, but Pollock beat the odds and gained the chip lead before finally closing the door on Event 22 and crushing Schwartz’s hopes of a gold bracelet.
Pollock is no stranger to the WSOP himself. His Event 22 victory marks his ninth WSOP-related cash.
The $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event was the first Pot Limit Omaha event of the summer and drew 1,022 players. The prize pool came in at $1,378,350 with the top 117 finishers all earning at least $2,621. Some of the notables who finished in the money include Max Pescatori (104th), Joseph Cheong (93rd), Richard Ashby (52nd), and Hoyt Corkins (27th).
The final table featured only two players with previous WSOP final table experience, Schwartz and Eddie Blumenthal. This was Blumenthal’s fifth career WSOP final table appearance, all of which have come in the past three years. Blumenthal final tabled the $1,500 HORSE event earlier this summer, making this his second final table of the summer. He is now the seventh player of 2013 to make multiple final table appearances at the WSOP.
Here are the final table results for the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event:
1st: Joshua Pollock – $279,431
2nd: Noah Schwartz – $172,931
3rd: James Park – $108,196
4th: Michael Park – $78,532
5th: Shawn Silber – $57,974
6th: Eric Shanks – $43,460
7th: Eddie Blumenthal – $33,057
8th: David Greene – $25,483
9th: Brandon Crawford – $19,909
