It’s usually the American poker pros or the German poker pros that dominate most of the events at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). An Aussie poker pro stole the limelight for a short while at Event #33: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw which saw a total of 467 entries.
Australian poker pro Robert Campbell has played at the WSOP for a number of years and has seven final table finishes and 16 cashes to his name but the elusive WSOP gold bracelet has evaded him. He finally won his first WSOP bracelet and took home a top prize of $144,027.
The mixed-games specialist finished off three-time WSOP bracelet winner David “Gunslinger” Bach in an intense heads-up battle to finish in first place. A combination of focus, passion and determination proved to be essential weapons for Campbell in his eighth attempt to win WSOP gold.
The 35-year-old had to endure a tough final day, competing against some of the best players in the game including defending champion Hahn Tran who was eventually busted in seventh place, and 2015 winner Benny Glaser who had to settle for 10th place this year.
Final Action
When the final table was down to only six players, the chips were being passed back and forth until Aron Dermer, Jesse Hampton and Kyle Miaso turbo busted right after dinner, ending their bids in sixth, fifth and fourth place respectively.
Despite taking a commanding lead with three players remaining, Jared Bleznick hit the rail in third place after a series of “bad cards”. He took home $58,343. A heads-up duel then ensued between Campbell and Bach, competing for the lion’s share of the $630,450 total prize pool for more than two hours.
Both Campbell and Bach held the chip lead alternately during the entire duration of the match, and Campbell had to make some changes to his strategy as Bach had a different playing style. When Bach was down to just two big bets, his eighty-seven didn’t work out against Campbell’s ninety-eight. The American poker pro failed to get his hands on a fourth bracelet and finished runner up for $88,995.
Dream Come True
Campbell came close to winning a WSOP bracelet a number of times over the years but always fell short. A resident of Melbourne and CEO of Neon eSports, Campbell said he was thrilled to win his first bracelet as he entered the event just wanting to give it his best. With this win, his all-time earnings has gone up to $870,437.
