WSOP Event 52: Graves Wins His First Bracelet
Play started as follows:
Seat 1 - Kris Tate 299,000
Seat 2 - Michael Graves 1,233,000
Seat 3 - Shawn Hatten 446,000
Seat 4 - Shawn Luman 668,000
Seat 5 - Arnold Spee 760,000
Seat 6 - Theo Tran 1,132,000
Seat 7 - Thierry Cazals 651,000
Seat 8 - Issac Haxton 1,226,000
Seat 9 - Chad Batista 373,000
Cazal's was the first man out at 9th place with $72,599 after calling Tran's all-in with pocket 10's - Tran held pocket J's. Arnold Spee was the second man out, also holding pocket 10's, which couldn't beat Haxton's AK with another K on the flop. Spee left in 8th with $80,665. Haxton's victory over Spee was short lived as he was ousted by Batista, taking 7th place and $96,798. Kris Tate, short stacked at 165,000, went all in against Graves and Tran, but fell short, leaving the table at 6th place with $112,931.
A few hands later, Batista found pocket Q's and pushed the chips. Graves, however, held pocket Aces, sending Batista home at 5th place with $129,064. Hatten with A9 then went up against Luman with pocket Q's. The board was no help, leaving Hatten with a 4th place win of $161,330.
Luman's lead fell quickly over several major hands where Graves finally knocked him out at 3rd place winning $224,249.
Heads up play began with Graves leading 4,200,000 to Tran's 2,500,000.
Tran started strong, but Graves came back with a vengeance, taking the final hand with only a pair of 5's. Tran walked away with a 2nd place winning of $387,193 while Graves took 1st place, his first WSOP Bracelet and $742,121 in cash winnings.