The inaugural $1,500 buy-in DraftKings 50/50 NLHE competition (event 55 on the World Series of Poker schedule) has ended appropriately with a win for Las Vegas-based professional sports gambler Brandon Wittmeyer (31).
Sponsored by the market leading DraftKings daily fantasy sports provider, the event was unusual in that it enabled fifty percent of entrants to cash, with a minimum pay-out of $1,000. That pulled in an entry field of 1,123, creating a prize pool of almost $1.6 million that enabled 562 finalists to cash.
Wittmeyer clearly has a talent for poker; although this was his first WSOP bracelet, it was his second cash in the current series, and his second final table. In total he has played in eight tournaments this year, with a third placing win in event 47 – a $2,500 NLHE contest – his most profitable at $215,964 (see previous report).
On this occasion his reward after besting Las Vegas poker dealer Derek Gomez in a short heads up was that coveted first bracelet and $200,618.
The event attracted a large live feed internet audience that will have pleased the DraftKings marketers.
Other final table cashes were:
Ping Lui USA $77,516
Mukul Pahuja USA $56,245
Tom Braband USA $41,540
Matt Affleck USA $31,079
Perati Muhamet Italy $23,650
Stefani Terziani France $18,268
Michael Whiteman USA $14,256.