Jason Young wins Event 17

The US American Jason Young won the $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Shootout tournament and thus his first major event. In a breath-taking heads-up, he prevailed over Mike Schwartz.

Exciting Heads-Up
In a heads-up characterised by ups and downs, Young was able to defeat his fellow countryman Schwartz. Both had started into the finale of the last two with even chip stacks of about 5 mio. chips.

First Monster Pot for Young
After only a few minutes into the heads-up, many railbirds already thought it's over. Schwartz raised pre-flop to 300,000. Young countered with a 1 million bet, and Schwartz called. The flop came with .
Young again reached for his chips, pushed 1 million across the line and announced his bet. Schwartz called, and the turn card was the .
Without a sign of tension, Young went all-in. Schwartz on the other hand was noticeably struggling with his decision, commenting: "If I fold, you'll be a
2-to-1 favourite. On the other hand, if I call..."

Nonetheless, he mucked his cards. Young flipped over for the flopped set. Schwartz didn't reveal his hand.

Schwartz' First Comeback
In the following hands, Schwartz was able to win several smaller pots. Slowly but surely he inched closer again. After some time he already had almost 5 mio. chips at his disposal and even had a minimal chip lead.

Second Monster Pot for Young
Schwartz' lead was only brief though. He limped into the hand and Young
raised to 400,000. Schwartz called. The flop came with . Young bet 750,000, and Schwartz called again. The turn card was the , Young went all-in. Schwartz stood up from his chair and was literally irritated by the all-in, showed and mused: "I think you have A-10. I call."

Young flipped over though. Wrong guess! The river changed nothing anymore. Schwartz was crippled, but not out yet.

Schwartz' Second Comeback
After this monster pot, Schwartz only had 150,000 chips left, and already in the big blind he was all-in. He won three all-ins in a row though and increased his stack in only three hands to over 1 mio. Jason Young
couldn't believe it. The ever increasing crowd almost went wild.

Twice more in a row Schwartz went all-in, and Young folded his hands.
While Schwartz was riding a wave of euphoria, his opponent Young kept a very frustrated eye on his dwindling stack. He was so close already - the next hand wouldn't improve his mood either.
Young pushed all-in from the button, and Schwartz called without a second thought. Young's were facing Schwartz' .
"Oh sh*t!" was Young's fitting outcry.
The board brought no change. Schwartz was back to 3.5 mio. chips.

The last Hand
The last hand was a stormy affair. Schwartz raised pre-flop to 700,000, and suddenly both were all-in. Schwartz had - (54%), Young held - (46%). Was a coin flip going to decide the finale?

The flop came with , making Schwartz a 70% favourite. It looked like he was going to double up again. The turn card was the and delivered Young. The on the river changed nothing anymore. Young had secured the bracelet.

WSOP 2008 Event 17 $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Shootout
Rank	Name	Prize money
1	Jason Young	$335,565
2	Mike Schwartz	$209,527
3	John Strzemp III	$129,675
4	Rory Monahan	$82,582
5	Matt Giannetti	$40,267
6	Kyle Bowker	$23,887
7	Sergey Rybachenko	$15,697
8	Tom West	$12,421
9	Alex Triner	$9,828