31-year-old Kansas poker professional Brett Shaffer is a familiar face at World Series of Poker gatherings, having been a regular player in live poker’s biggest tournament over the last decade, during which he has won a bracelet (last year) and qualified for four final tables.
This week he again shone, winning his second bracelet and $418,435 (last year he earned $665,397 for a similar victory) in event 31 NLHE by besting a formidable field of 1,631 players that included Lauren Kling, Adam Levy, Nenad Mimic, Jackie Glazier, Liv Boeree, Vanessa Selbst, Antonio Esfandiari, Domink Nitsche, Faraz Jaka, Max Pescatori, Greg Raymer, Tony Dunst, Eric Cajelais and a host of other highly respected professionals.
With a prize pool of $2,201,850 the competition was intense, but inevitably nine survivors found themselves seated around the final table, led by Matt Stout and comprising Shaffer, RJ Sullivan, Peter Gould, Alexsandr Gofman, Robert Schmidt, Rob Wazwaz, Jim Jacobson and Hason Vanstrom.
Stout was unable to build his chip lead beyond third place, and his elimination opened the way for a Shaffer vs. RJ Sullivan heads up, but there was no stopping Shaffer who wrapped the contest up in an hour to send Sullivan home with the runner up prize of $258,695.
Other final table pay-outs were:
Matt Stout $170,247
Peter Gould $122,731
Aleksandr Gofman $89,835
Robert Schmidt $66,176
Rob Wazwaz $50,246
Jim Jacobson $38,365
Jason Vanstrom $29,658.