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The third time was the charm for James Obst. The Australian poker pro had already made it down to heads-up play in World Series of Poker event’s twice, and in both the 2016 $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. and this year’s $2,500 mixed triple-draw lowball he ultimately finished in second place. The 26-year-old entered his third heads-up battle in the 2017 WSOP $10,000 Razz Championship, and this time around he overcame a sizable chip disadvantage to emerge victorious with his first gold bracelet and the $265,138 first-place prize.

“I guess it’s a new experience to win a bracelet,” said Obst after finally coming out on top. Known by many in the poker community by his online handle ‘Andy McLEOD’, Obst has been a top tournament player for quite a while, but this is his first major live tournament win.

“When you win one and it’s online I’m probably… I’m obviously not celebrating wildly like some people might, because that’s just my nature,” said Obst. “Online when no one’s around you can probably be a bit more excited and get pumped up a bit more. But at the moment I’m just a bit… I don’t know how to process it just yet. It’s awesome and I’ll try to win another one before the series is out.”

This year’s WSOP Razz Championship drew a field of 97 players. Obst was the chip leader heading into the final day with nine players remaining. He survived to short-handed play, where it started to appear like Eric Kurtzman was going to run away with the title. Kurtzman held 75 percent of the chips in play going into three-handed action, and then eliminated David Baker in third place ($112,645) to take an even larger lead into heads-up play.

The betting limits were high and every hand that went to seventh street was impactful. Obst won a few key pots to even the counts, and then went on a tear. By the time the final hand arose Kurtzman was down to around only 2.5 big bets. Obst made an 8-5-3-2-A low by fifth street and while Kurtzman’s up cards showed the 4-A-3-2 he could only produce the 4-4-J for his down cards for a jack-low. With that Obst locked up the title and his first WSOP gold bracelet while Kurtzman was eliminated in second place, earning $163,867 as the runner-up.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded in this event:

Place
Player
Earnings (USD)
POY Points

1
James Obst
$265,138
540

2
Eric Kurtzman
$163,867
450

3
David Baker
$112,645
360

4
Andrey Zhigalov
$79,616
270

5
Anthony Zinno
$57,903
225

6
Brandon Shack-Harris
$43,370
180

7
Jyri Merivirta
$33,485
135

8
Jack Duong
$26,674
90

For more coverage from the summer series, visit the 2017 WSOP landing page complete with a full schedule, news, player interviews and event recaps.

If you can’t make it down to the WSOP at the Rio, you can still play with BetOnline Poker. Click the banner below for more information. Card Player readers are eligible for an initial deposit bonus offer of 100 percent up to $2,500. Enter code ‘NEWBOL’

 

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