It was all smiles for newly-minted World Sequence of Poker bracelet winners Brek Schutten and Stephen Winters. Whereas WSOP regulars like Robert Mizrachi and Scott Seiver are stacking bracelets, these two grabbed their {hardware} in two vastly totally different occasions.
Nurse baller
In between placing a shift or two in as an ICU nurse at Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, Mich., Brek Schutten battles the very best high-stakes event gamers on the earth on the nose-bleed path. This week, Schutten scored his career-best by taking down the $25,000 Six-handed No-limit Excessive Curler occasion on the WSOP for $1,405,641.
Schutten outlasted a discipline of 272 who constructed a prize pool of $6,392,000. Runner-up Tyler Stafman beat his tourney-best by practically $871,000 ($938,775). Schutten completed fifth on this occasion final 12 months.
Schutten, 36, is a gifted event participant who now has greater than $5 million in cashes. His largest win earlier than this got here by taking down the World Poker Tour’s $3,500 occasion on the 2021 Seminole Laborious Rock Poker Open for $1,261,095.
He additionally got here as shut as attainable to successful his first WSOP bracelet final 12 months within the $50,000 excessive curler occasion. He misplaced to Jake Schindler heads-up.
“I really like these fields. I really like enjoying towards the very best on the earth. It’s only a nice expertise and it’s good to know that I can win a event with this discipline,” he instructed. WSOP reporter after locking up his bracelet, which he desperately needed. “I used to be extra involved about successful the bracelet than the ICM for pay jumps and stuff, so I feel that helped to have the ability to put my chips in once I felt like I had the very best hand and hope for the very best.”
Schutten says he nonetheless places in a number of shift a month as a nurse, however is taking break day to deal with poker, which is dangerous information for the remainder of the excessive stakes event execs.
‘Gladiator’ attracts large crowd
The hordes of poker gamers are exhibiting up in Las Vegas, and lots of of them took their shot within the $300 “Gladiators of Poker” for an opportunity at a bit of its $3 million assured prize pool. Fed by 5 flights the place gamers may re-enter twice, the WSOP collected a whopping 20,647 entries — good for fifth largest in WSOP historical past.
Stephen Winters hit gold and was the final participant standing to win his first WSOP bracelet and $410,210, the lion’s share of the $5,079,162 prize pool.
Winters, of Lyon, Colo., is a leisure participant who fires at a number of tournaments a 12 months. He’s cashed in WSOP Circuit occasions earlier than, however by no means made a ultimate desk. That is his first money in a bracelet occasion.
“I assume that is for the little guys,” Winters instructed a WSOP reporter afterwards. “I simply play a number of small tournaments annually, so it was thrilling simply to be related for as soon as.”
The highest 2,763 finishers min-cashed for $600.
