However, a nine appeared on the turn to keep Kaupp's tournament dreams alive. Yuliyan KolevĪfter Ali Eslami's elimination in fifth place for $50,000, it looked like Kaupp would be going out in fourth when he moved in with pocket nines against the cowboys of Ryan Messick. Later, the KFC bucket-sporting Kolev went out in seventh for $27,500 when he ran pocket eights into the queens of Kaupp. Gianluca Speranza fell in ninth place for $15,000 when his ace-seven was dominated by the ace-king of Wish to end the Italian's run for a second bracelet. And things went my way, and here I am.” Final Table Actionĭay 3 began with 16 players and moved down to a single table within the first few hours of play. 'The final table, everyone was very tough, very aggressive, great with live reads, it seemed. “It was very tough,' he said about the tournament. I didn’t really play poker for a while until the last couple of years when it was legal in Pennsylvania again.”Įven without a keyboard or mouse, Kaupp had no trouble getting through a field of accomplished bracelet and ring winners to earn his first bracelet and the six-figure score. 'I play a lot of the Circuit events online. “I’ve just been grinding online for the last couple of years, taking it pretty seriously,' he said. The Pennsylvanian player said he started playing poker 15 years ago with friends and discovered online poker about 12 years ago. 'Before this tournament (started), I was going to be just happy to cash.” Benjamin Kaupp It just hasn’t sunk in quite yet,' Kaupp told PokerNews after the victory.

He now takes home more than 15 times that as he adds a second piece of WSOP hardware to his arsenal. Kaupp qualified for the Tournament of Champions after winning a $215 PA Circuit event for $14,954.

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