Ohio poker pro Adam Friedman (36) earned his second World Series of Poker bracelet and $292,375 at the Rio in Las Vegas Sunday after besting Stuart Rutter in the heads up stage of the $10,000 buy-in Dealers Choice Championship. The event attracted a field of 111.
So intense was the action in the scheduled three-day competition that an additional day was set aside to enable the completion of the heads up.
Overall, the event showcased a remarkable performance by Friedman. Over the twenty variants of the game included in the event; he was either holding the lead or near the top of the chip counts from the start of final table action right through to his successful finale against Rutter…yet his discipline and calm demeanour never appeared to slip.
By the end of the third day there were still three players left, and in the early hours of the morning the organisers decided to bag up and return for an additional day to complete the event. Friedman held the chip lead but on the following day he lost it to Rutter, who doubled up to eliminate third placed Alexey Makarov for $127,487, giving him the chip lead on entering the heads up against Friedman.
Rutter’s advantage was not to last long, however, as Friedman immediately closed the gap through a significant pot and regained the lead, which he then skilfully leveraged over the next few hands into a win that left Rutter with a second placing prize of $181,258.
Other final table cashes looked like this:
4th: Chris Klodnicki – $90,713
5th: David ‘ODB’ Baker – $65,308
6th: Marco Johnson – $47,579