German pro wins lowball event at WSOP

Name: Johannes Becker
Nationality: German
Birthplace: Cologne, Germany
Current Residence: Cologne, Germany
Age: 27
Profession: Poker pro
Number of WSOP Cashes: 5
Number of WSOP Final Table Appearances: 2
Number of WSOP Gold Bracelet Victories (with this tournament): 1
Best Previous WSOP Finish: 2nd, 2017 WSOP Poker Players Championship ($862,649)
Total WSOP Earnings: $1,158,963
Personal Facts: Recently graduated from university, Johannes specializes in lowball games.

Germany's Johannes Becker has claimed the title in Event #8 of the 2018 World Series of Poker, $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball. Becker's victory was worth $180,455.

Becker, 27, from Cologne, Germany, made a late run to the title in this mixed-format event, which featured rotating rounds of three lowball triple-draw variants – ace-to-five, deuce-to-seven, and Badugi. It's Becker's first bracelet win, and it swells his career WSOP earnings, in just five cashes, to more than $1.15 million.

Second place went to Scott Seiver, of Cold Spring Harbor, NY. The 33-year-old Seiver's near miss at a second career bracelet was worth $111,516. Seiver has accumulated nearly $4.3 million in lifetime WSOP cashes.

Third-place winnings of $71,547 went to Seattle, Washington's Jesse Hampton, while fourth place and $47,166 went to two-time bracelet winner Chris Vitch, with one of those wins coming in this event two years ago.

Becker's drive to his first bracelet didn't happen, as he pondered not entering the event at all after busting the $100,000 high-roller event. Yet this online lowball specialist gave it a second think, and finally decided to enter not long before Event #8's late registration closed.

Becker faced some adversity early on in Day 3 action. “I started the day with the second-least amount of chips,” he noted. “I didn't expect to win . . . but I'm pretty happy anyways.” Becker also had to weather Seiver's own near-rush to the win during three-handed action, when the cards suddenly shifted Becker's way.

It was a reversal from Becker's 2017 WSOP experience, when he finished second in the Poker Players Championship, earning a still-career-WSOP high of $862,649 in the process. “Even though I didn't win the bracelet last year, [the experience] was a lot more meaningful than this bracelet, given that the event was bigger and the field was tougher. But I'm still very happy to have won my first bracelet.”

Becker appears to have emerged as one of the world's leading lowball practitioners, saying he plays his favorites – deuce-to-seven and Badugi – whenever he can find a game. (Becker didn't divulge any of his online identities.)

The 27-year-old German's run began slowly. Monday's Day 3 found 12 players returning to action from the field's 321 total entrants, with the final table of six a few hours off. That final 12 featured five players tightly bunched with 400,000, led by the 493,000 of Vitch, who won this event two years ago. The early knockouts came slow but steady, with Michael Wagner (12th), Frank Kassela (11th), Bryce Yockey (10th), Mike Leah (9th), Damjan Radanov (8th), and lastly, Alex Simma (7th) exiting over Day 3's first four hours.

It was closeout time, with the cards continuing to run the German pro's way. Seiver's run ended in a Badugi hand where Becker made a jack-high badugi on the second draw, staying pat while Seiver failed to connect on his final draw. That gave Becker the title and a brief celebration with a handful of his fellow German pros.

Event #8's 321 total entries created a total prizepool of $722,250. The top 49 players made the money, with a min-cash worth $3,721.

Other Notables:
Among those cashing in Event #8 were Mike Leah (9th, $11,870), Bryce Yockey (10th, $11,870), Frank Kassela (10th, $9,072), Brian Hastings (14th, $7,163), Nam Le (17th, $7,163), Billy Baxter (18th, $7,163), John Monnette (21st, $5,487), Steve Sung (26th, $4,942), John Hennigan (28th, $4,942), Dan Shak (29th, $4,942), Mike Wattel (31st, $4,329), Jon Turner (32nd, $4,329), Shaun Deeb (37th, $3,937), Randy Ohel (38th, $3,937), Chip Jett (39th, $3,937), and Yueqi Zhu (40th, $3,937).

Final Table Payouts (POY points in parentheses):

1st: Johannes Becker, $180,455 (960.14)
2nd: Scott Seiver, $111,516 (480.07)
3rd: Jesse Hampton, $71,547 (432.06)
4th: Chris Vitch, $47,166 (384.06)
5th: George Trigeorgis, $31,973 (360.05)
6th: Luis Velador, $22,334 (336.06)

(Article courtesy of World Series of Poker)