Brandon Adams Takes Down Doug Polk for $819,000 Poker Masters Win

(Photo: WSOP.com)

It was a hard-fought event number four at the Aria Casino in Vegas as the Poker Masters series completed its preliminary quartet of $50K buy-in events, Brandon Adams edging out Doug Polk for the top spot and an $819,000 payday.

Only 38 players sat down to play, down on the 51, 50 and 48 entrants of the previous three events, the players perhaps aware that the $100k buy-in finale which kicks off tomorrow might be worth a re-buy given the expected massive (more massive!) prizefund on offer.

Brandon Adams has a poker resume going way back to the ‘boom’ years of poker in the mid-noughties, including authoring ‘Broke: A Poker Novel’ back in 2008, but unlike many of his illustrious fellow pros of the modern era he has an impressive CV outside the game, lecturing on business at Harvard – his alma mater – among them.

Yesterday saw him battling a final table which included not only Doug Polk but also a quartet of the most-feared high-roller tournament pros: David Peters, Justin Bonomo, Jake Schindler and the man of the Masters so far, Steffen Sontheimer – the German already scooping a first and a fourth to put him out front in the race for the Poker Masters Purple Jacket.

Another German, the incredible Fedor Holz, may not have been in the mix yesterday, but part 3 of his ‘Primed’ vlog gave fans and followers alike an insight into his week-long Poker Masters run – a cheerful Holz finding the energy to party after his 2nd place in event 2.

Back in the Aria for event 4, day two would see one unlucky pro hit the rails on the money bubble, and that would turn out to be Zach Clark, whose uncle was the late Chip Reese. Clark was soon followed by Jake Schindler, his flopped 2 pair coolered by David Peters set of aces.

Sontheimer, whose incredible heater this week was interrupted by a money-bubble exit in event 3, was next to fall, although the $117,000 he received for 5th place would keep him out front in the race for the Purple Jacket. After Bonomo departed, it was an amazing three-way all in which would decide who would contest the heads-up finale.

As Highstakesdb.com reported it, ‘Adams, the big chip leader by this point, raised on the button with A♥ K♦ with Polk re-raising from the small blind, and Peters jamming for 545k from the big blind with 8♦ 8♣. Adams went all-in over the top and was snap called by Polk who had been sitting on A♦ A♣. The board kept Polk in front and Peters was out in 3rd for $273,000 and the 2.955m pot meant that Polk went into heads-up play with a 3:2 chip lead.’

Polk, once considered the undisputed master of heads-up play online, found Adams too tough to handle and when matters finally came to a head it was a flush over flush in diamonds which settled things in Adams’ favour, Polk needing a 3♦ on the river for the straight flush, which didn’t materialize.

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Event #4: $50,000 NLHE Final Results