WSOP 2013: Trevor Pope Wins $5k Eight-Handed NL For $553,906

Trevor Pope has won WSOP event 2, the $5,000 eight-handed no-limit hold’em tournament, after defeating a field of 481 players over four days to capture a prestigious gold bracelet, and collect the $553,906 first place prize. The 26-year-old poker pro cashed in at his first live tournament back in 2010, and after his latest victory in Vegas now takes his live career earnings to $928,459.
A whole host of top pros were attracted to the $5k event, and amongst the notable names managing a cash but falling short of a final table apperance was Andreas Hoivold in 54th ($8,432), Antonio Esfandiari in 43rd ($9,743), Brandon Cantu in 38th ($11,235), Jesse Sylvia in 34th ($11,235), Jeremy Ausmus in 29th ($13,247), David Sands in 25th ($13,247), Brian Rast in 14th ($23,624) and Thomas Marchese in 10th ($37,391).
By the time the final table of eight got underway, there was still a plethora of notable pros left in contention, but with Trevor Pope the chip leader holding almost half the chips in play. Pope then proceeded to eliminate six of the seven players at the final table, starting with David Peters in 8th ($48,130), whose K-2 shove foundered against his pocket queens, followed by Brandon Meyers in 7th ($62,915).
Next, Pope (Q-7) called Dan Kelly’s (A-A) shove on a 10-6-7-10 board only for another 7 to land on the river, thus sending Kelly to the rail in 6th for $83,552. Pope’s good fortune continued after winning a preflop race all-in holding Ad-Jd to Jared Hamby’s A-K. The board subsequently made Pope a flush to send Hamby to the rail in 4th ($154,518), and after dispatching Darryll Fish in 3rd for $215,286, the heads-up phase of the competition got underway.
Seven hands later, and Trevor Pope took care of his last opponent, too, Scotland’s David Vamplew, to capture the WSOP bracelet. Commenting on his victory, Pope said: “I knew every person at the final table, except for the player who was heads up with me (David Vamplew). D-Fish (Daryll Fish) is one of my best friends. A couple of weeks ago, we were living together. It was such a cool moment to be able to share this final table experience. He’s a good friend and a good person. DJK (Dan Kelly) was also one the players I feared the most, so I was glad to see him bust out early. DJK is definitely one of the top five tournament players in the world in my opinion. He is wiling to do things other people don’t do and put you in spots you don’t see very often.”
The final table payouts were as follows:
1  Trevor Pope        $553,906
2  David Vamplew   $342,450
3  Darryll Fish    $215,286
4  Jared Hamby        $154,518
5  Jamie Armstrong $112,695
6  Daniel Kelly    $83,552
7  Brandon Meyers  $62,915
8  David Peters    $48,130