Poker players the world over have a new standard to achieve with their games. Play as well fully rested and sharp as Benny Glaser does when he’s dead tired.
After another sleep-deprived night, Glaser repeated his feat from four days ago, winning the $1,500 Mixed Omaha event for his seventh WSOP bracelet, and second in less than a week.
In the first event he played after winning number six, no less.
Glaser told PokerOrg after winning the $1,500 Dealer’s Choice early on Monday morning that he’d battled to that bracelet after an Airbnb disaster forced a middle-of-the-night hotel search. Not the usual reason for a sleepless night before the final stages of a bracelet chase.
After winning this one, Glaser said it was more the traditional ‘brain racing through possibilities’ that kept him awake.
“Honestly, I would have liked to have slept longer. I was still feeling quite a bit of adrenaline and stress, and it was kind of hard to turn my brain off, honestly. Just expectations of today and how big a day it is.”
Glaser continued, "There were various narratives or stories going on in my brain, like the potential of the story of back-to-back being an amazing thing. Those kinds of things were going on in my mind, so it wasn’t very easy to sleep.”
A chance to refocus
The now seven-time bracelet winner carried a sizeable chip lead through much of Wednesday’s Day 3, but by the time play was halted for an unscheduled Day 4 with Glaser, eventual runner-up Travis Pearson, and David Shmuel still alive, the Brit’s lead had been seriously cut into.
Glaser said that despite thoughts of the tournament racing through his brain much of the night, what rest he did get allowed him to refocus for Thursday’s endgame.
“Yesterday, in a way, I was kind of happy that we bagged at that time because I was feeling really exhausted, and the final seven, how it happened, was honestly really stressful. It was very difficult to keep even-keeled through witnessing like 12-15 all-ins with seven left, and there were no bustouts, and me doubling up four people, for example. It was a struggle mentally, so in a way, a break was nice, and I was able to re-center myself overnight and kind of come into today feeling more focused and ready.”
That focus would be critical for Glaser, as after $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better champion Shmuel was denied his second bracelet of the series, falling in third place, Glaser faced an uphill battle against new chip leader Pearson to earn his second of the week.
Glaser trailed 2-1 to Pearson before a key hand where he rivered a full house against his heads-up opponent’s straight and got paid off after moving all in.
That gave Glaser his lead back, and while the duo would trade the lead back and forth a bit afterwards, Glaser was never short again, ultimately grinding Pearson down until a pair of kings in Limit Omaha 8 or Better was enough to seal the victory.
Two down, how many to go?
With well over 100 bracelets on offer every summer, including online events, two bracelet wins in a series is a regular occurrence nowadays. Two this early and back-to-back? Not so much.
With six weeks and over 80 events still ahead, a run at WSOP Player of the Year and a third bracelet this summer isn’t an unreasonable expectation for one of the best all-around players in the world.
His seven bracelets have all come in mixed games, but a runner-up finish in the 2022 WPT Championship and numerous other accolades in no-limit hold ‘em mean that in any event he enters the rest of this summer, no matter how many cards you put in front of him, he’s a contender.
So then, three bracelets this summer? At this point, we might as well pencil it in — and ask an even bigger question. Can he become the first player to ever win four in one WSOP?
“(laughs) I mean, there’s always a chance. Three on its own is obviously an outrageously lofty goal, normally. Four? Even at this point, it’s still very unlikely, but that would be an amazing target for sure. (laughs again) I would be very excited about that prospect, but I’m going to first work on getting a third.”
