French grinder Julien Martini (26) won his first World Series of Poker bracelet Sunday afternoon, earning $239,771 after finishing in first place in Event 4, the $1,500 buy-in Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better.
Although this is his maiden bracelet, Martini has five WSOP cashes on his cv and is a skilled and disciplined player whose biggest cash previously was $72,000.
The event attracted 911 entrants, among them many notable names, creating a prize pool worth $1,229,850 that enabled 137 players to cash. Although originally planned to end Saturday, an extra day was required to complete the competition due to the large field.
In the heads up Martini faced Kate Hoang, starting out with a small lead which Hoang quickly challenged; it was the start of a four-hour battle which saw the lead change several times until Martini secured several high value pots that enabled him finally to dismiss Hoang in second place for $148,150.
Other final table cashes included:
3rd: Mack Lee – $104,016
4th: William Kopp – $74,058
5th: Brandon Ageloff – $53,482
6th: Chad Eveslage – $39,182
7th: Rafael Concepcion – $29,128
8th: Denny Axel – $21,977
9th: Tammer Ilcaffas – $16,832