Pedro Neves won the World Series of Poker Event #38: $1,500 MONSTER STACK No-Limit Hold’em for $1,098,220 and his first WSOP bracelet. This win is his second most significant win, falling slightly behind his second-place finish in the $10,300 No Limit Hold’em – PCA Main Event, which earned him $1,183,037. Neves beat Aaron Johnson in a heads-up battle, who earned $732,329 for his second-place finish.
“This is completely different compared to PCA,” told Neves to WSOP after the win. “I dreamed about the bracelet since I started watching poker when I was 14 or 15. It feels great.” Neves is currently ranked sixth in Portugal’s All-Time Money List with $3,522,917 in total live earnings.
The event attracted 8,703 entries, which generated a prize pool of $11,619,840, with $1,098,220 for first place. 1,307 players were in the money, pocketing at least $3,001, which was the minimum cash. The event stretched over five days.
Event #38: $1,500 MONSTER STACK No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Pedro Neves | Portugal | $1,098,220 |
| 2 |  Aaron Johnson (MN) | United States | $732,329 |
| 3 | Jerry Maher | United States | $550,920 |
| 4 | Jose Carlos Brito | Portugal | $417,213 |
| 5 | Guangming Li | United States | $318,077 |
| 6 | Brian Roff | United States | $244,137 |
| 7 | Tim Reilly | United States | $188,660 |
| 8 | Bret Martin | United States | $146,789 |
| 9 |  Robin Guillaumot | France | $114,998 |
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Final Table Action
The final table started with only seven players remaining to battle it out for the title. Pedro Neves was the chip leader, sitting on 86 big blinds, and Aaron Johnson was in second place with 51 big blinds. Brian Roff had 25 big blinds, and the other players had 15 or fewer.
The first elimination came when Tim Reilly shoved from UTG and got called by Li in CO, Johnson in SB, and Roff in BB. All the players checked on all the streets; the board was A♦J♣K♥6♣Q♥, and Reilly’s A♣J♥ two pairs were not enough since Li had A♠K♣. “No way he has Ace-King. Are you serious,” Reilly said before he left the table, finishing in seventh place for $188,660.
The next elimination was reserved for Brian Roff, who went all-in for BTN and got called by Neves in BB. Roff had A♥9♦ against Neves’s A♣J♥, and the board ran A♦8♣7♣4♣10♣, giving Neves Ace-high flush. Roff was out in sixth place, earning $244,137.
Eliminated in fifth place was Guangming Li, who was shoved from SB and got called by Brito in BB. Li had 10♦10♠ against Brito’s A♦7♠, and the board ran K♠3♣Q♠8♣A♠, giving Brtio a pair of aces. Li earned $318,077 for his fifth-place finish.
After eliminating Li, Brito was next in the line. Brito shoved from SB against Neves’s BTN open, and got called by Neves. Brito had K♠10♠ and was dominated against Neves’s A♦K♣. The board came 3♥8♥6♣7♦2♥, and the ace-high was good for Neves. Brito was eliminated in fourth place for $417,213.
Neves continued to add names to his knockout list, and Jerry Maher was next on the list. Neves opened from BTN, putting Maher all-in, and after some tanking, Maher called. Maher had J♦10♥ against Neves’s 7♠7♣. The board came A♠9♣4♣6♣3♠ and did not show any jacks or tens for Maher, who was out in third place for $550,920.
The Heads-Up
Going into the heads-up, Neves had a significant lead over Johnson of 5:1 and was the favorite to win the title.
Neves limped from BTN with A♦K♦, trapping Johnson, who took the bait and went all-in with A♣2♠. Neves snap-called and was a big favorite to take the win. Board ran 3♦4♦7♣5♠6♦, giving Neves even more chance to win on the flop since he had a nut flush draw, which completed on the river, and Neves was the champion of the $1,500 MONSTER STACK No-Limit Hold’em event. Johnson finished in second place for $732,329.
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* Images and hands courtesy of WSOP and PokerNews
