The first of the $1,000 buy-in NLHE events at the World Series of Poker proved to be good news for Kyle Cartwright over the weekend which saw the Tennessee pro demolishing the opposition to start final table action with a million chip advantage, subsequently using the edge to skilfully dominate play and emerge the winner with his first bracelet and $360,435 in prize money.
Event 4 on the WSOP schedule attracted a big entry field of 2,223, generating a prize pool slightly north of $2 million – a good incentive for players in the three day event.
The final table led by Cartwright comprised Robert Kuhn, Daniel Dizenzo, Ylon Schwartz, Jeremy Dresch, Michael Sortino, Matthew O’Donnell, Ken Weinstein and Jason Paster.
The action slowed once the survivors were down to four, and play dragged on for some time before three-handed play was reached, when the tempo increased as Paster, Schwartz and Cartwright slugged it out.
In the end it was Schwartz who busted out in third for $157,926, creating a Cartwright vs. Paster heads up with Cartwright holding a better than 2 to 1 chip lead.
The duo went on a dinner break before play resumed, but it was all over soon after they returned to the table as Cartwright completed his impressive performance throughout the event by sending Paster to the cashier to collect the runner-up prize of $223,518.