Early Tuesday morning Darren Woods became the third British player to win a bracelet this summer.

For the second time at the 2011 World Series of Poker a female poker player got heads-up for the bracelet only to see her chance at WSOP glory denied. Darren Woods rallied from a 3-2 heads-up chip deficit to eliminate Kim Nguyen in second place and win $213,431 along with his first WSOP bracelet.

Rather than head out to a Las Vegas nightclub or strip joint to celebrate, Woods is probably going to get caught up on some much needed sleep.

“I really want to go party and celebrate but I might go fall asleep instead. It’s amazing to win,” said Woods. “I got absolutely no sleep last night. Some crazy woman knocked at the door at eight in the morning because she knocked at the wrong door and woke me up and I went to bed at four last night.”

Woods, a 26-year-old former accountant, is the third British player to take home a WSOP bracelet through 18 completed events joining Jake Cody and Matt Perrins.

Nguyen’s runner-up finish pushes the streak of open events won by men to 179 dating back to Vanessa Selbst‘s win in the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event in 2009. Just eight days ago Maria Ho finished second in the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em event to Allen Bari.

“She’s a great player. She’s very aggressive. She knows what she’s doing,” Woods said of Kim. “To be honest I thought I was a favorite, I am a heads-up specialist so I was loving it as soon as got heads-up with a decent amount of chips I really wanted to play. All credit to Kim she did play very well.”

Twelve players started the day at two tables of six. Getting from 12 to the final table of six took only 3.5 hours but getting from there to a champion took a little longer.

Gabriel Nassif was the first to go, getting his last two bets in with A-9 against the A-Q of Samuel Golbuff. Nassif didn’t catch and was out in sixth for $27,720. The next victim was one of two Russians at the final table.

Andrey Zaichenko took his short stack on a bit of a ride doubling twice, first through his comrade Alexander Kuzmin and then through Golbuff, before finally hitting the rail at the hands of Darren Woods in fifth for $39,317. Kuzmin’s run lasted only two more hours though.

After shipping in the last of his chips with a single raise Kuzmin watched as Woods, Nguyen and Golbuff all saw the 7 6 2. Everybody checked to see the 8 turn. Nguyen check-called Golbuff’s bet and Woods folded. That action repeated itself after the T fell on the river. Both Nguyen and Golbuff showed T-9 for a straight and Kuzmin was out in fourth for $57,236.

Woods then went to work on getting to heads-up. Golbuff raised his button and Woods re-popped it from the big blind. Golbuff called and the flop came 9 4 3. Woods bet, Golbuff raised, Woods re-raised and Golbuff called with his last chips. Woods turned over K K and was way ahead of Golbuff’s T 5. The 2 on the turn gave Golbuff extra outs but the river was a blank and the Czech native was eliminate in third for $85,616.

Woods and Nguyen played heads-up for 90 minutes with Woods holding the momentum most of the time. Faced with a short stack Nguyen raised, Woods re-raised and Nguyen called for the remainder of her chips. Nguyen showed K 2 and Woods turned over 4 2. The flop came K 6 4 giving both players a pair. The J hit the turn before the 4 river card gave Woods trips and the title.

Final 12 Payouts

1. Darren Woods – $213,431
2. Kim Nguyen – $131,900
3. Samuel Golbuff – $85,616
4. Alexander Kuzmin – $57,236
5. Andrey Zaichenko – $39,317
6. Gabriel Nassif – $27,720
7. Richard Lyndaker – $20,053
8. Scott Stanko – $20,053
9. Jay Pinkussohn – $14,866
10. Joe Gualtieri – $14,866
11. Matthew Schreiber – $11,291
12. Matt Matros – $11,291

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Related posts:

1. WSOP Bracelet Winner Profile: Darren Woods Darren Woods has a reason to smile now that's a...
2. WSOP Mid Day: Bari Wins Bracelet, Clements Makes Limit Holdem Final Table Scott Clements is the first to cash twice at this...
3. WSOP Mid-Day: Another Record Field & Some Multi-Tabling Multi-tabling online is much easier than live While the rooms...
4. WSOP: Miguel Proulx Emerges Victorious in Omaha Miguel Proulx managed to beat a tough final table mixed...
5. WSOP: Sigurd Eskeland Victorious In $2,500 Mixed Event With so many events on the slate at the World...