WSOP 2010 Event 44 - Gavin Smith Wins $2,500 Mixed Holdem

Event #44 of the 2010 WSOP, $2,500 Mixed Holdem, started with 507 players looking to battle for the gold bracelet, but by the time we played down to a winner, it was a big name that finally broke through to claim his first WSOP title.

Okay guys, here are the latest World Series of Poker results.

Mixed Holdem combines both Limit Holdem and NL Holdem in an alternating round format that forces players to be adept in both disciplines of the game.  Day 1 started with a strong field that included many of the big names you would expect in a tournament such as this.  Eli Elezra emerged as the Day 1 chip leader as the field shrunk to just 69 players.  Those 69 returned on Day 2 to play to the money and the final table.  Among those that made the money in this event were Eric Froelich, Svetlana Gromenkova, Jeff Shulman, Erica Schoenberg, Matt Matros, Matt Stout, Eli Elezra, and Valdemar Kwaysser.

The final table was highlighted by both Dwyte Pilgrim and Gavin Smith.  Pilgrim gained famed on the WSOP Circuit by winning three rings. Smith is considered to be one of the best players to have never won a WSOP bracelet.  Daniel Idema also made his 2nd final table of this WSOP.  Jared Soloman took a slight chip lead into final table play over Smith.  The final nine were as follows:

Seat 1:  Michael Michnik - 527,000

Seat 2:  Jamie Rosen - 300,000

Seat 3:  Dwyte Pilgrim - 196,000

Seat 4:  Gavin Smith - 745,000

Seat 5:  Jared Soloman - 748,000

Seat 6:  Daniel Idema - 237,000

Seat 7:  Mike Santoro - 179,000

Seat 8:  Danny Hannawa - 542,000

Seat 9:  Timothy Finne - 331,000

Gavin Smith made heads-up play in this event against Danny Hannawa.  At the start of heads-up play, Smith led 2.1 Million to 1.7 Million for Hannawa.  The two battled for quite a while and while Hannawa got close, he never could overtake Smith's chip lead.  Smith eventually ground down Hannawa during a limit Holdem round to the point where Hannawa was forced to move all-in pre-flop with 10c-8d and Smith woke up with A-Q of hearts.  The flop fell A-K-2 to give Smith a commanding lead.  A turn jack gave Hannawa outs for a double up, but another jack on the river sealed the deal for Smith.

Gavin Smith has finally taken down his first WSOP gold bracelet.  In addition to the bracelet, he took home $268,238.  Congratulations.

Below are the final table payouts: