A Las Vegas poker shift manager has outplayed a field of 10,015 to claim the 2017 WSOP Event 19, The Giant – $365 No-Limit Hold’em for a $291,240 payday and his first WSOP bracelet.
56-year-old Dieter Dechant ticked winning a WSOP bracelet off his bucket list after defeating Hrair Yapoudjian in heads-up play where he was supported by a large, boisterous rail.
Dechant describes the win as a “25 year dream” saying: “It’s surreal. I almost expected it. I had a summer this year that has been absolutely amazing. I had a deep run in the seniors. The stars just aligned. I played well, I didn’t have too many bad hands, I didn’t make too many mistakes, my good hands held up.”
Final table results were:
1 Dieter Dechant – $291,240
2 Hrair Yapoudjian – $179,735
3 Vera Kuhl – $133,493
4 John Hutchinson – $100,001
5 Martins Kleins – $75,086
6 John Myung – $56,856
7 Marcus Laffen – $43,321
8 Andrew Crookston – $33,210
9 Michael Guzzardi – $25,610