Frenchman Elie Payan Wins WSOP $1.5K PLO Event

Frenchman Elie Payan has just triumphed at WSOP Event #22, the $1,500 PLO event, after overcoming a field of 1,071 players to capture a gold bracelet, and the $292,825 first place prize.
With Payan’s victory at the biggest WSOP  Pot Limit Omaha field in history, France has now won 2 bracelets at WSOP 2011, just one short of the tally by the Brits.
Starting the final table on an average stack, Payan managed to play a canny game to eventually go heads-up against US player Rafe Kibrit. At various stages both players found themselves on the brink of elimination before managing to stage a comeback.
Eventually, luck resided with the Frenchman after the two heads-up opponents found themselves all-in on a 4h-3h-2c flop. Kibrit was holding Ad-As-Qd-6c for an overpair, while Payan held Qh-9h-8h-7s for a flush draw and a backdoor straight draw.
Unfortunately for Rafe Kibrit the Ah on the turn made him top set but also turned his opponet’s flush and with no relief on the river he finished the runner-up for a $181,222 payday.
On the other side of the coin, Elie Payan collected $292,825 for his impressive run in the tournament and became one of only two Frenchmen to win a gold bracelet so far at WSOP 2011.
The other, of course, is one of this years highest profile winners and world class online gamer turned poker professional  Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier.
At a WSOP where only a handful of renowned pros have won bracelets, Grospellier managed to triumph at the $10k 7-Card Stud Event, to bring his career earnings to $7,721,073.
The other notable names cleaning up at WSOP 2011 include John Juanda who won the $10k 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship and now has amassed 5 WSOP bracelets and $11,774,485 in cashes over his illustrious poker career.
The other is the 29-year-old US pro Eugene Katchalov, who won the $1,500 Seven Card Stud Event and has now earned $6,344,328 from live tournaments.