The second event on this year's World Series schedule turned out to be a good one for PokerStars. First Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso cashed in 27th place for $71,050. Then, as players were whittled away PokerStars player Isaac Haxton, Team PokerStars Holland Pro Lex Veldhuis and former World Champion Greg Raymer made the final table. All would come close.
Veldhuis started the day big in chips, but was unable to get going, ending his day in seventh place for $277,940 when he walked his A-7 into Team PokerStars Pro Raymer's pocket kings.
Raymer himself was in pursuit of his second world series bracelet but would ultimately fall three places short, busting in third place for $774,927 when Haxton out did his pocket fives with pocket nines.
After busting Greg Raymer PokerStars player Isaac Haxton went head-to-head with Russia's Vitaly Lunkin, who just a few weeks ago had won the Russian Poker Tour event in Moscow, with a 2:1 chip advantage. It sounds a lot, but these things change quickly. And that's exactly what happened - quite a number of times as the lead switched again and again.
The two were locked for hours pursuing the $1,891,012 first prize, but in the end Lunkin, dealt the final blow when his aces held up against Haxton's flopped bottom pair and flush draw. Lunkin had bested 200 others, the world's top no-limit players among them, to grab the bracelet.
A little earlier his aces had been cracked when Haxton hit a five-outer on the river to regain the chip lead. But a double up soon after, then the winning aces hand, meant he took the crown - and his second bracelet to the delight of his supporters on the rail.
Congratulations to Vitaly Lunkin on a superb performance.
