Home / Poker News June 2011 / 2011 WSOP – Tyler Bonkowski Strikes Gold, Hellmuth Looking for Another Bracelet
2011 WSOP – Tyler Bonkowski Strikes Gold, Hellmuth Looking for Another Bracelet
Posted by: James Carter. - Mon, 2011-06-13 06:34
Event #14, the $3k Limit Holdem one was responsible for the second bracelet awarded on Day 11 of the 2011 WSOP. Tyler Bonkowski was the beneficiary of this piece of bling, and deservedly so after pulling out a borderline impossible comeback.
18 players returned to the tables on the 3rd day of the event, looking to make the final table first and then to shoot straight to the top. The short-stacks fell by the side quickly in the beginning of the day and the final table was reached, with Brandon Demes holding the largest stack.
The final stretch saw Demes wield his large stack skillfully. He made the heads-up stage against Tyler Bonkowski, with the two of them nearly even in chips at the start of the final sprint. What started out as a sprint turned into a marathon though: Demes and Bonkowski hacked away at each other for almost 3 hours. At one point, it looked like Demes was going to score a final blow: he had Bonkowski down to 250k chips, but the latter rebounded and soon took control of the confrontation. The lead changed hands a few more times after Bonkowski rebounded to even the situation, but then it was Demes’ turn to see his stack whittle down to 400k chips. In the final hand of the tournament, Demes picked up a K,Qo and three-bet a flop of 6,5,5 rainbow, only to see Bonkowski tag along. The 10 on the turn prompted Demes to check-raise all-in, and Bonkowski once again made the call, turning over a K,10. The river bricked out and a new
WSOP champion was crowned. Bonkowski picked up a $220k reward for his efforts, which he probably deserved solely on account of the epic rebound he produced during the heads-up stage.
In other WSOP news: Phil Hellmuth will start the final day of the $10k NL 2-7 Lowball World Championship in 7th place. Although the other remaining players are at least as dangerous as he is, the holder of 11 WSOP bracelets may yet add another one to his tally here.
