The convention center at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino was like a ghost town on Tuesday. The 2021 WSOP Main Event had come and gone. Tables and banners had been taken down. Poker players from around the world had returned home or found active games at another casino. But there was still some unfinished business to attend to on the final day of the 2021 World Series of Poker. The Event #87 $100,000 High Roller tournament was down to its last five players upon its Day 3 restart, and the Event #88 $5,000 8-Handed tournament still had 30 players remaining at the start of Day 2.
Michael Addamo converted on his massive chip lead to win his fourth WSOP bracelet in the High Roller event. That left the four players remaining in the $5,000 8-Handed event as the final four to ever play in the World Series of Poker at the Rio. And in the end, it was Boris Kolev who came out on top, etching his name into poker history books and future poker trivia nights as the winner of the last bracelet ever awarded at this establishment.
The last hand ever played at the Rio
Kolev was heads up with slightly better than a 3-to-1 chip lead over Uri Reichenstein. Reichenstein limped in and Kolev checked behind. The flop came A♣ A♠ 5♣ and Kolev check-called after Reichenstein bet 400,000. Reichenstein fired out another bet of 1.3 million when Kolev checked his action over on the K♠ turn, and once again Kolev called. The 4♣ completed the board and Kolev checked one last time, drawing an all-in bet from Reichenstein. Kolev snap-called with the J♣6♣, and his flush was good against Reichenstein’s bluff with the Q♦️7♠.
Kevin Mathers caught the aftermath of the hand on video. Kolev’s rail went wild, and the newly minted bracelet winner joined his friends (and dog) to celebrate before eventually returning to the table area to shake hands and exchange a few words with Reichenstein. The victory earned Kolev his first career WSOP bracelet and the tournament’s top prize of $511,184.
Ben Yu had a Player of the Year sweat
Josh Arieh’s 2021 WSOP Player of the Year win was not secure until Ben Yu was eliminated from the $5,000 8-Handed Event #88. Had Yu managed to win the event, he would have passed Arieh in dramatic fashion on the final day of the series. Yu made a solid run at it before settling for a 10th place finish, earning $30,286 for his efforts.
Shaun Deeb (12th place, $24,437) and Felipe Ramos (14th place, $20,087) both also made deep runs and finished just short of the unofficial final table of nine players. The final event of the 2021 World Series of poker drew 531 entries, generating a total prize pool of $2,449,238.
Final Table Payouts
1. Boris Kolev: $511,184
2. Uri Reichenstein: $315,936
3. Huy Nguyen: $222,310
4. Ramon Colillas: $158,972
5. Z Stein: $115,558
6. Niko Koop: $85,411
7. George Wolff: $64,207
8. Lee Markholt: $49,107
9. Justin Liberto: $38,222
Featured Image Credit: Hayley Hochstetler, Twitter - WSOP
