When I spoke to Praz earlier in the week, he expressed his thoughts on the huge fields, explaining what an overwhelming feeling it was to look across the Pavillion Room to see an endless sea of tables and wonder how on earth you're going to beat them all. A few days later and that's exactly what he did, toppling a field of 2,092 to capture his second bracelet to date. Suddenly, the task didn't seem so difficult after all.
Event #5's $1,500 No Limit Hold'em freezeout was the 17th bracelet event to boast in excess of 2,000 runners, the first coming in the Main Event back in 2004. Among the smattering of pros were masses of amateurs, all looking to 'live the dream' and seize the $515,501 first prize. Many were, sadly, dead money, and as the more experienced players feasted on their easy chips, the field quickly began to thin.
As the bubble burst and the once foreboding room emptied, Praz's confidence suddenly enjoyed a welcome boost. The end was in sight, and echoing his 2006 success was now a realistic possibility. "I've played really snug," he reported on Day Two. "I normally do really badly at the start of the World Series, maybe because I'm too excited, but this year I'm being much more patient. The players were going out so quickly, but I didn't let it affect me, I just played my game, built up my stack gradually, and made the odd big bluff."
With the final nearing, Praz's rail grew in size. The Hit Squad were inevitably present, as were close friends Priyan de Mel, Andrew Seden, and fellow two-time bracelet winner JP Kelly, but there were also appearances from the likes of Michael Greco, Tim Blake, Sam Trickett, Laurence Houghton and Roberto Romanello, all of whom had banded together to show their support for their fellow countryman. Previous events had proven to be heavily railed with whooping and hollering the order of the day, and the Brits refused to let their horse feel left out. Of course, an endless flow of beer from the Bad Beat Bar may have helped.
Jack Powell took 25th, top circuit pro Dwyte Pilgrim 20th, John Myung 17th, and when Mexico's Santiago Nadal bubbled in 10th, Praz cemented his fourth WSOP final table. Although the final was mostly made up of 21-year olds participating in their first World Series, there was one true dangerman: David 'DocSands' Sands, one of online poker's most successful tournament players and a member of the Brunson 10. However, when Bansi dropped him in eighth with jacks holding up against fours, it felt like the coast was clear.
Four-handed, Praz was the short stack, but he remained focused, and after a frustrating heads-up battle with a heavily supported Vincent 'Vuff' Jacques in which Praz's 4c-4s was out-flipped by Kd-Qd on a dramatic Ah-Qs-4d-5d-2d board, Praz finally sealed victory in the early hours of the morning with As-Js surviving a Qs-Qd-Jh-8d-2c board against Ac-8s.
"We've been saying that if we get off to a good start as a group (of friends)," commented Praz in a post-match interview, "we think we can go on and win three or four bracelets between us. I hope I might make another score. I know it's a bit greedy to ask. The EPTs and the other tournaments are important, but to me, the World Series is everything."
"I worked in recruitment," he continued. "I decided after a few months that it wasn't what I wanted to do, but I stuck it out because of family and the things they expected me to do. But then I started playing (poker) and got a bug for the game and decided I just couldn't do the nine-to-five in an office."
This victory officially marked the arrival of the Brits in Vegas. Whilst previous years, and 2008 in particular, have shown us in a poor light, there's something in the air this year that suggests we're about to leave our mark on the World Series in a big way. Neil Channing came second in the shootout, James Dempsey is heads-up for a bracelet, and there are number of genuine prospects currently running rampant through Vegas. If early signs are anything to go by, then 2010 could well be the year of the Brit, and if not the Brit, then the Bansi. At the end of the WSOP's official tournament report, they amusingly stated in one line: "Bansi is 32-years-old. He is single." They forgot to mention "rich".
1st Praz Bansi -- $515,501
2nd Vincent Jacques -- $320,913
3rd Calvin Kordus -- $223,069
4th David Tuthill -- $160,650
5th Tomer BErda -- $117.416
6th Donald Offord -- $86,858
7th Hugh Bell -- $64,097
8th David Sands -- $47,331
9th Kyle Knecht -- $37,943
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Fairytale Endings
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