Gorodinsky Beats Bellande To Win WSOP $50k Championship Event

The $50,000 Players Championship was one of the most eagerly awaited of all the tournaments at this year’s WSOP, and after five days of intense action Mike Gorodinsky has now finally taken down the prestigious event following an exciting heads-up battle against poker’s favorite social celebrity Jean-Robert Bellande. Commenting on an incredible victory which netted him $1,270,086 whilst doubling his career earnings to $2,516,198, Gorodinsky said:
“I feel amazing. This is literally Something That I’ve gone to bed dreaming about, and it’s just cool to legitimately realize a dream. So it’s just an amazing day. An amazing five days. ”
This year, the $50,000 event was a 10-game mix and naturally attracted only the most successful and talented pros in the game. A total of 84 players subsequently ponied up the high buy-in to create a prize pool worth $3,696,000, and amongst the players seeing a return on their investment was Matthew Ashton in 12th ($87,010), John Racener in 11th ($87,010), Justin Smith in 10th ($110,073), Abe Mosseri in 9th ($110,073), Shawn Buchanan in 8th ($139,265), and Jason Mercier in 7th ($139,265).
The last day of play then saw six players return to the Rio All-Suite Hotel, which was whittled down further after Jean-Robert Bellande eliminated Dan Kelly in 5th ($184,222), followed by Chris Klodnicki in 4th ($251,314).
David Baker subsequently took care of Ben Sulsky in 4th ($353,928), before likewise being sent to the rail by Gorodinsky in 3rd ($514,926), leaving himself and Jean-Robert Bellande to battle it out for the gold bracelet. As the final phase commenced, Gorodinsky held a slight 7.5m to 5m chip advantage over his remaining opponent, and eventually the deciding hand came during a Pot-Limit Omaha round, resulting in a runner-up finish worth $784,828 for Bellande, representing the 44 year-old’s best live cash to date.
Meanwhile, Gorodinsky earned a second career WSOP bracelet and following an amusing photo in which Bellande showed his sporting nature, the winner of this year’s Chip Reese Memorial Trophy, tweeted:
“@BrokeLivingJRB lol that pic is amazing. you’re a good sport and it was a great match HU, you played really well. nice run buddy.”