WSOP Event #4

WSOP Event #4 has drawn to close and it has brought a win for ex-US Marine Michael Spegal who sccops $252,290 for first place.

Event #4 was the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em which pulled in a field of 781 runners who contributed to a total prizepool of $1,066,065.

Spegal overcame a decisive chip advantage, having arrived at the final table sixth in the chip count with several pros also sitting down to battle. He overcame the odds and won his first gold bracelet in what was his first-ever cash having played at the WSOP three times previously.

The star-studded final table lasted approximately five hours and generated a full house, which was packed inside the ESPN poker arena at the Rio.

Among the players who came up short were former WSOP gold bracelet winner Jon Freidberg and tournament pro Gavin Smith. Gavin Smith came second, pocketing $155,446. He battled with Spegal for the win, but ended up with a frustrating second-place showing.

Smith is widely considered to be one of the best tournament players NOT to have yet won a WSOP gold bracelet. During the heads-up battle with Spegal, Smith delivered the line of the night when he said to his opponent, "Why don’t you start playing like a businessman and not like a poker player. Stop it!"

The ninth-place finisher Marco Traniello has the somewhat shadowy status of being married to one of the best poker players in the world, wife Jennifer Harman. However, it is Traniello who has outperformed just about everyone at WSOP over the past two years.

Traniello cashed a whopping seven times at the 2005 World Series, and four times in 2006. Now with a cash in this event, Traniello has a combined total of 12 WSOP cashes dating back to the start of the 2005 WSOP. No other poker player has more in this timeframe.

Sixth-place finisher Dr. Bruce Van Horn is a physician (pathologist) from Ada, Oklahoma. He is most famous for being the runner-up in the 1996 main event to Huck Seed. Dr. Van Horn’s son also played in this event and cashed. His son Archie took 48th place.

The win brought a double whammy for Spegal who was also celebrating his ninth wedding anniversary. His wife Jeanne sat at ringside and cheered their win. "She can have the prize money. I’ll take the bracelet," Spegal joked. ESPN commentator Norman Chad ribbed Spegal during the post-tournament interview, noting "You are the only married man I know of who gets to play poker on his anniversary."

Final results:
1. Michael Spegal, St. Marys, GA, $251,957
2. Gavin Smith, Las Vegas, NV, $155,446
3. Jonathan Friedberg, Las Vegas, NV, $101,147
4. William Hill, Clarksburg, MD, $67,076
5. Thomas Savitsky, Randolph, NJ, $47,912
6. Bruce Van Horn, Ada, OK $36,732,
7. Eric Lynch, Olathe, KS, $27,682
8. Jeff Langdon, Santa Fe, NM, $20,229
9. Marco Traniello, Las Vegas, NV, $14,906