Update: Surprise in the World Series of Poker Event 43
Veteran Brit defeated by 22-year-old Brooklyn player
The victory of 22-year-old Brooklyn poker player Henry Lu in World Series of Poker event 43 – $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em surprised industry specialists as he managed to send home Brit poker pro and respected expert player Neil Channing in an exciting heads up.
This is the first WSOP winner’s bracelet and the winners prize of $654,380 for a young player who already participated in two WSOP competitions.
The consolation runner-up prize worth $406,409 diminished Channings initial disappointment at the defeat and yet another failure to obtain his first bracelet after the last years elimination in the heads up of the $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Holdem Shootout.
Three days ago, the competition entry field welcomed 2768 players. After the tough final table, the two main rivals started a three-hour heads up, seeing Channing in an apparently unassailable initial 9 to 1 lead.
The exciting battle saw several lead shifts before Lu finally managed to beat his opponent with two pairs, beating Channings A-J with pocket fours on Q-3-2-K-3 board at level 31 with the blinds at 60,000-120,000 and a 15,000 ante, thus achieving a remarkable result for the inexperienced player against a highly respected professional.
The final table prizes included also the following:
James Mackey $286,633
Tom Alner $207,019
John Nelson $151,338
Hovan Nguyen $111,961
Balazs Botond $83,802
Francois Dur $63,459
Jared Rosenbaum $48,614