The 2021 WSOP Event #37: $1,500 Super Bounty No-Limit Hold'em came to a close yesterday with another first-time bracelet winner, Karolis Sereika, taking home the gold.
The event was a high-speed Texas hold'em tourney with 20 minute blind levels. That means the blinds more or less doubled for every hour of play. Even so, it took almost 13 hours of action to wade through the field of 1,441 entries.
Each player had a $500 bounty on their head, with the remainder of the cash going into the prize pool. That created a prize pool of $1,203,235 once rake was rendered unto Caesars. But there was an additional $720,500 out there for the taking in the form of bounties.
Several players who lost their bounties before the money bubble broke included Greg Raymer, Qui Nguyen, Kenny Hallaert, and Chino Rheem. Players who did make it through to the money included Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier, Jason Stockfish, Ryan LaPlante, and Maria Konnikova. Though none of the big names made it to the final table.
The fast structure meant that the pros' edge wasn't much use. So the entire final table was bracelet free. Each player was looking for their first bit of bling. But only one could walk away with the jewelry.
The final hand
Heads-up play for the jewelry came down to Pedro Pahilha and Karolis Sereika.
The final hand came with the big blind at 1 million, and Pahilha's stack at 16.2 million. He shoved from the button and Sereika called with the A♣9♠. Padhila flipped the K♣8♣. He was behind, but not by much. His fate was wholly up to the dealer's legerdemain. A dealer who, unfortunately for Padhila, saw to it that the best hand won.
The board rolled out Q❤️T❤️6♠2♠A❤️, giving Padilha no help and pairing Sereika on the river. Padhila won $120,700 for his second-place finish.
"This is the first live Lithuanian WSOP bracelet," Sereika explained in his post-game interview. "So that means a lot to me and all Lithuanian players. I'm very happy and very excited. Just so many emotions."
"I really wanted it with all my heart," he added. And he got it.
2021 WSOP Event #37: $1,500 Super Bounty No-Limit Hold'em complete final table results
| Position | Player Name | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Karolis Sereika | $195,310 |
| 2nd | Pedro Padilha | $120,700 |
| 3rd | Lorenzo Adams | $88,435 |
| 4th | Pierre Calamusa | $65,494 |
| 5th | Steve Buell | $49,033 |
| 6th | Alec Gould | $37,114 |
| 7th | Romuald Pycior | $28,406 |
| 8th | Alexander Norden | $21,986 |
| 9th | Wing Yam | $17,211 |
Featured image source: WSOP via Twitter
