John Hennigan Captures 5th WSOP Bracelet after $10k HORSE Success

John Hennigan has navigated his way past a field of 166 players at Event #27: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship to capture a fifth career gold bracelet. In so doing, the 47-year-old pro now belongs to a select group of 25 players on the same number of accolades, including the likes of David Chiu, Allen Cunningham, John Juanda, Jason Mercier, Scotty Nguyen and Stu Ungar.

Consummate Professional

Pennsylvania pro John Hennigan cashed in at his first live tournament back in 1997, and over the past couple of decades has amassed $7,271,285 in winnings, including taking down the 2007 WPT $10k Borgata Winter Open for $1,606,223, still representing his biggest score to date.

By then, Hennigan had already captured two gold bracelet after taking down the 2002 WSOP $2,000 H.O.R.S.E. event for $117,320, and the 2004 WSOP $5,000 Limit Hold’em event for $325,360. It wasn’t until 2014 that the consummate pro increased his bracelet haul to three, though, following victory at the prestigious $50,000 The Poker Players Championship for $1,517,767, with further success coming in 2016 at the $10,000 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball (Limit) Championship for $320,103.

Following his recent victory at the $10,000 HORSE Championship for $414,692, Hennigan acknowledged the pressure the UK’s Iraj Parvizi put on the pros at the final table, while recognizing the role luck played in his eventual success, stating:

“It was a high-pressure final table. Iraj (Parvizi) yesterday was really putting everybody on tilt, me especially. The only guy I thought that held it together was David Baker. He played a great tournament in my opinion. It was a good learning experience for me because I was so tilted and kind of fell apart and got saved by the deck really. I had some very lucky situations when I was short, and it’s just a really nice win.”

$10,000 HORSE Championship

The $10,000 HORSE Championship attracted 166 players, resulting in a prize pool worth $1,560,400. Amongst the recognizable pros making a profit on their buy-ins was Jean-Robert Bellande in 26th ($15,229), Mike Gorodinsky in 19th ($15,229), Anthony Zinno in 13th ($20,993), Robert Mizrachi in 12th ($24,498), Carol Fuchs in 11th ($25,498), Jake Schwartz in 10th ($25,498) and Robert Campbell in 9th ($31,656).

John Hennigan entered the final table of eight in 7th place overall, while Iraj Parvizi, an amateur player from Britain, was in pole position. The Brit subsequently did an impressive job of unbalancing his mostly professional rivals by continually reminding them of his amateur status, constantly shifting gears with aggressive all-out attacks, and even playing a number hands in the dark. Commenting upon Parvizi’s unpredictable style of play, Hennigan said:

“He (Parvizi) is getting in these big pots with not very good hands, and we’re all trying to play tight and last, and now he’s busting people out or killing their stack with kind of unorthodox, to say the least, plays. The tilt was born there and I was not immune to it. I can’t say enough about how well David Baker held up under that. He really played Iraj well and the rest of us didn’t.”

Having progressed through to four handed play, however, David “Bakes” Baker eventually brought Parvizi’s run to an end in 4th, followed by Lee Salem in 3rd to force heads-up play against Hennigan for the bracelet.

Hennigan vs Baker

Hennigan entered the final phase holding a 5-to-3 chip advantage over David Baker, a Las Vegas pro with two WSOP bracelets to is credit. After taking an overnight break, Hennigan then reduced his remaining opponent to half a big blind during an aggressive limit hold’em round in which Baker eventually folded his hand to a bet from Hennigan on an 8d-3d-2h-10h-4h board.

The next hand Baker found himself all-in preflop holding A-6 against the J-3 of Hennigan. The dealer subsequently laid out a 10-3-2-Q-Q board to consign David Baker to a runner-up finish worth $256,297, while John Hennigan was awarded the title.

Final Table Results

1: John Hennigan $414,692
2: David Baker $256,297
3: Lee Salem $179,216
4: Iraj Parvizi $127,724
5: Randy Ohel $92,808
6: Albert Daher $68,783
7: Daniel Zack $52,016
8: Michael Noori $40,155