Insane, epic, ridiculous, wild, hilarious. Be honest, are these words you generally associate with a Seniors event final table?
These were all uttered, and deservedly so, during the closing stages of the WSOPC Playground $400 Seniors event on Monday night.
Oh, and a certain four-letter word as Kathy Sawers drilled the river to eliminate George Phipps, setting up heads-up play between herself and Sylvain Berthelette.
And then the fun really began.
An unforgettable heads-up match
For almost an hour and a half, despite less than 40 big blinds total being in play, Sawers and Berthelette battled in one of the most insane, epic, ridiculous, wild, and hilarious heads-up matches you could imagine. The lead swung back and forth an uncountable number of times — any all-in would favor the shorter stack, and neither player could seal a win.
Sawers even had Berthelette down to a single big blind after her flopped middle and bottom pair held against Berthelette’s top pair. But Berthelette doubled four times in a row to bring the stacks even yet again, leading to this next incredible moment.
Sawers thought she had won with jack-high, not realizing that Berthelette had rivered a flush. Both players celebrated simultaneously until the flush was pointed out to Sawers, and play continued yet again, but not before the brilliant photo of the ‘double winning moment’ at the top of this article was captured.
'Now can I celebrate?'
Not until just 24 big blinds were left in play could a winner finally be determined, as Sawers got her king-queen in against Berthelette’s queen-nine and held.
Sawers asked, “Now can I celebrate?” After being given the green light, she let out a huge 'yahoo' and embraced her worthy opponent.
Sawers’ giddiness and relief after claiming her third WSOP Circuit ring in such memorable fashion were wildly evident when we spoke to her afterwards.
“Oh my God, that was like a flip, a flip, a flip, a flip. I lost the first four times. It was awesome, I had so much fun, and I’m a senior champion, woohoo! How does it get any better than that?!”
Sawers adds this title to a pair of wins in Ladies and $1,000 buy-in events within three days during the WSOP Circuit series at Deerfoot Calgary 2022.
“Every one is great, I’ll take ‘em all, but this is really special. This, I worked hard for today.”
Likely with some tongue firmly in cheek, Sawers claimed that frustration never set in despite being so close to victory multiple times and being denied until the eventual end.
“No! Us poker players, we love poker, we don’t get frustrated. Hey, I’ve cracked aces, people have cracked aces, it’s just poker, it’s fun.”
Along with that third ring and the $16,640 first prize, Sawers is off to The Bahamas for WSOP Paradise, winning a $5,000 package that includes a buy-in to the $2,750 Mystery Bounty event.
“Bahamas baby, come on, yes! And I get a chance to win my favorite tournament, which is the Mystery Bounty, so bring it!”
Sawers does indeed love the Mystery bounty events, as was proven here at Playground in April when she pulled the top $10,000 bounty during the $400 event and gave us a memorable celebration.
With a $2,750 buy-in, those prizes will be much bigger, and we’d better be ready if she pulls a top bounty there.
“I’m dancing, stripping, I’m doing something, yeah, I’ll be excited!”
