Stephen Nahm is Buzzing; Winner of Event 21: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha
It was a long three days here at Event #21: $,1000 Pot-Limit Omaha hosted by the World Series of Poker at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. 2,071 entries were tallied among the many hopefuls who entered this eight-handed tournament. This eclipsed last year's entries of 1,891, a nearly 10% increase comparatively.
All things said and done, it was Stephen Nahm who conquered the massive field. Sixty beers and $267,991 later, he could hardly believe it. He won just after the dinner break in a massive hand that scored a double knock out of runner-up Kevin Rand and Amir Mirrasouli, who busted in third.
Upon rivering the winning hand, Nahm could be heard saying: “Is that it, do I win? Did I win the tournament?!” No matter how many libations he had over the last three days, this was the first time he was slow to read the board.
It was true, this was real life, and he did win, receiving the lion’s share of the $1,795,130 prize pool. He might need to pinch himself in the morning, though, as he had at least 15 beers today and his rail insisted on going out to celebrate after. A less seasoned player may have needed a nap, but this seemed par for the course for Nahm.
PokerNews got the opportunity to grab an interview with Vancouver’s newest bracelet winner just after his winner’s photo and he had this to say: “Every poker player, obviously, comes here - you dream of this shit, right? I kinda made my dream come true a little bit; I’m not going to lie.” Everyone’s new favorite Canadian was having a bit of trouble communicating at this point, but he did say he’d be back to play the NLH/PLO mix and that he’s predominantly a cash game player. Nahm was all laughs as he joined his rail in celebration. This is his first ever bracelet win.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Nahm | Canada | $267,991 |
| 2 | Kevin Rand | United States | $165,616 |
| 3 | Amir Mirrasouli | United States | $123,060 |
| 4 | Zachary Peay | United States | $92,231 |
| 5 | Dan Matsuzuki | United States | $69,729 |
| 6 | Ronald Keijzer | Netherlands | $53,182 |
| 7 | Gheorghe Butuc | Moldova | $40,923 |
| 8 | Jonathan England | United States | $31,772 |
| 9 | Thomas Taylor | Canada | $24,891 |
Final Day Action
At the end of Day 2, only 13 players remained in contention but short stacks were quick to put their chips in the middle. Nicolas Gola and Thomas Zanot were soon left without chips, both thwarted by the aces of Dan Matsuzuki. Paul Clotar fell in 11th place for $19,678 and Mike Gorodinsky came short of the final table with a 10th place finish for the same prize as Clotar.
Final Table Action
Thomas Taylor had a valiant effort but was first to fall in ninth place. Despite all the noise and his competitors' antics, Taylor remained even keel the entire tournament. Taylor recently won the C$1,100 Pure Poker Tour Main Event for C$53,000. He also final tabled the $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo here at the WSOP in 2022. He’ll be one to watching moving forward this summer.
Jonathan England had the time of his life and was thrilled at the end of Day 1 just to have bagged. He worked a short stack almost the entirety of Day 2 and the same was true here on Day 3. Ultimately, he had just under four big blinds when he got it all in against Matsuzuki’s aces. He won an additional $500 because he had a side bet he had to complete if he made the final table. Mission accomplished.
Gheorghe Butuc never made much noise this final table, gliding under the radar as his opponents clashed. Ultimately, he lost a flip off a short stack and was eliminated in seventh place. Butuc also cashed in the $600 Pot-Limit Omaha event that happened just a few days ago, having fallen in 41st place for $4,763.
Ronald Keijzer won the $2,200 5-Card PLO event at the PGT PLO series in March for $43,700 and promptly followed that up with a runner up in the $10,000 PLO event at the U.S. Poker Open for $146,300. To say that Keijzer was playing with confidence is an understatement, but he’ll have to keep chasing the gold this summer, as he fell in sixth place when the wrong card paired for him against Kevin Rand.
Dan Matsuzuki, who won a bracelet in 2015, came into the final table with the chip lead. Everything seemed to be going according to plan for him when he won a nice pot against Mirrasouli and Peay. After losing some small and medium pots, Nahm ended up getting the better of him when he rivered two-pair, sending Matsuzuki to the payouts in fifth place.
Zachary Peay won a big hand on Day 2 that helped carry him to the final table. He had a stack like a yo-yo at this final table as he went from short stacked to tripling up, back to a short stack over his time during the course of competition. He also won a big hand against Nahm that featured quite the Rounders impersonation. The number of pay jumps he ended up making due to his patience was quite the sight to behold, but eventually his luck ran out and was left to settle for fourth place. This is Peay’s biggest recorded payday and nothing to sneer at in this massive field.
Amir Mirrasouli was in his zone, quietly pecking away at his opponents, without many hands going to showdown. It was hard for him not to catch some attention as he started to rise in the chip counts. Mirrasouli managed to battle and stay in contention, despite doubling Nahm in a crucial spot. Mirrasouli was eliminated in the final hand, being awarded third place because he was the shortest stack when the river card fell. We'll explore that final hand with the story of our runner-up.
Kevin Rand was fresh off the final table of the $600 PLO Deep Stack with a ninth place finish for $21,221; a score he was able to best today with an incredible runner-up. Coming off of two deep runs in massive fields, Rand let PokerNews know that he's hungrier than ever and looks forward to making more deep runs this WSOP. Day 2 had a huge hand catapult Rand into the counts and he didn't let it go to waste, riding his stack to the final table. He did have to get lucky against the eventual winner to make it as far as he did, but that's always the case in tournaments. In the end, his hopes were dashed when his set was cracked on the river by Nahm.
Stephen Nahm had a clear-cut strategy that he executed seamlessly this event. He entered the field each day sober as bone and steadily drank Coronas from there on out. It was reported by another player that he had over twenty beers on Day 2 and according to Nahm, he probably did close to the same on Day 1. By Day 3, he had it down to a science and he pre-tipped the service team, requesting that he be brought a new beer every 18 minutes. They did their best to oblige and by the end of it, he only had one eye open, but that was all he needed to see he had a big draw and spot a rivered straight.
Nahm had a great time, going as far as doing Joe Peschi impersonations with Dan Matsuzuki. Nahm entered the final day as the chip leader, but lost it somewhere along the way at the final table. The momentum shifted back his way in a big hand against Mirrasouli and he got back to playing big pots.
Nahm played fearlessly and ran well when it mattered most. The moment he said "Let's go" and put both players at risk three-handed, the tension was palpable, and despite all the beers, he was first to call out the winning hand.
Congratulations again to Stephen Nahm, who won the final hand with a straight on the river.
Stick with PokerNews for continuing coverage of all the other bracelet events at the 2023 WSOP.