WSOP Event #29: Leo Wolpert Claims The Title

The $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Heads-up event came down to a battle between Leo Wolpert and John Duthie. It took them three days to reach the finals and an epic best-of-three match on Day 4 to determine the winner.

The first round saw Wolpert holding the chip lead for quite a while, but it was Duthie who eventually managed to win a big pot and then quickly take the rest of the chips from his opponent. It was their 91st hand, Wolpert raised to 150,000 and Duthie called. The flop came , Duthie checked, Wolpert bet 180,000 and Duthie called.

The turn brought , Duthie checked again, Wolpert fired 420,000 this time and Duthie was already prepared with his chips to push for a total of 2,420,000. Wolpert moved all-in and Duthie made the call with his remaining 400,000. Wolpert turned over and Duthie showed . The river came to give Duthie the flush and a monster pot which got him up to 6,730 while Wolpert was crippled to just 950,000.

Five hands later and it was all over. Duthie raised, Wolpert moved all-in for 920,000 and Duthie insta-called. Duthie revealed and Wolpert showed . The board came and Duthie won the first round. The second round featured Wolpert taking down the first hand. He raised to 90,000, Duthie re-raised to 340,000 and Wolpert called. The flop came and both players checked. The turn brought , Duthie checked and Wolpert bet 365,000. Duthie stared at his opponent for a moment and decided to lay it down. Wolpert's supporters shouted, "Chip leader!", drawing a little smirk from him.

Even though he lost the first hand, Duthie didn't have a reason to complain about the beginning of the second match because the following hand went pretty well for him. Duthie limped into the pot, Wolpert raised to 125,000 and Duthie called. The flop came , Wolpert bet 160,00 and Duthie called. The turn brought and both players checked. The river came , Wolpert bet 420,000 and Duthie quickly called, turning over for a set of tens and Wolpert showed .

Cracked aces were not enough to stop Wolpert. He soon finished the second match in the 9th hand. He raised to 90,000 and Duthie called. The flop came , Duthie checked, Wolpert bet 130,000, Duthie check-raised to 300,000 and Wolpert had to take another look at his hole cards before making the call. The turn brought , Duthie checked, Wolpert bet 420,000, Duthie quickly moved all-in and Wolpert insta-called.

Wolpert showed and Duthie showed . The river came and the chips were counted down. Wolpert held a 3,460,000 to 3,440,000 favour, thus winning the second round.
It took nearly 200 hands to determine the winner, as Wolpert finally managed to win the title in 191st hand. Wolpert limped and Duthie checked. The flop came , Duthie checked, Wolpert bet 120,000 and Duthie announced he was all-in. Wolpert immediately called and turned over while Duthie held . The turn came and with the river card , Duthie was eliminated in 2nd place which earned him $386,636.

Leo Wolpert is a former professional player who decided to go back to school and study law, but the WSOP lit up his desire for poker and he figured it wouldn't hurt to give it a try in the $10,000 WSOP Heads-up Championship event. This proved to be a great decision, as he now walks away with the bracelet and $625,682 in prize money.