It's hard to find an end result on the effect of a spur of the moment decision - or even put it into the light of rational and logical reasoning as to “what if?” The Official Report of Event #57, WSOP Pot-Limit Omaha High-Low Split with a $5,000 buy-in had 352 entries. The total prize pool topped out at $1,654,400 and paid 36 places with a first place prize of $397,073.
The Official Report goes on to tell the tale of a tournament bust-out that turned into a Cinderella story. Nick Binger was eliminated from the $1,500 buy-in No-limit Hold'em tournament - Event #56 - and had very little time to decide if he should go to his Las Vegas home and do the pity-wallow of a disappointing WSOP this year or play the last event before the Main Event. He had played dozens of tournaments and managed just two mini-cashes. And he had invested a whopping six-figures into the events so far.
There was only one event left before the main event and the clock was ticking - registration was a heartbeat away from closing. “It was a bad summer going into the end here,” Binger said just moments after his first gold bracelet victory. “I had just busted out of the other tournament. I ran down the hall to register for this tournament and got in with just seconds to spare.”
As amazing as it sounds, Nick Binger turned 'busto' into 'bingo' when he made it through the field and the final table which included three former gold bracelet winners: David Bach (1 win), Nick Schulman (1 win) and Phil Laak (1 win).
| 1 | Nick Binger | $397,073 |
| 2 | David Bach | $245,314 |
| 3 | Bryce Yockey | $180,180 |
| 4 | Phil Laak | $133,377 |
| 5 | Trevor Reader | $99,512 |
| 6 | Peter Charalambous | $74,845 |
| 7 | Nick Schulman | $56,729 |
| 8 | Bjorn Verbakel | $43,328 |
| 9 | Allen Kessler | $33,352 |
David Bach is a Mixed Games specialist and took down the 2009 Poker Players Championship; he finished fourth in another tournament this year and he ended up heads-up with Nick Binger for the bracelet and the championship title.
The final hand came down with David Bach raising to 300,000 on the button and Nick Binger answering with a reraise to 900,000. Bach put in a pot sized raise that put him all in. Binger called and the cards were tabled.
Binger held 
to Bach's 
.
The flop hit Binger when it came off 
, giving him the nut low and a draw to the nut flush as well. The turn produced the 
and all Binger had to do was dodge a 3 to scoop the pot. The rivered 
ended it for David Bach who took home 2nd place and $245,314.
Nick Binger had this to say on his heads-up battle against David Bach:
“David Bach is a really good PLO-Eight heads up player. It was a tough battle. It was back and forth seesaw all night last night and then today as well. He did not make it easy to win, that’s for sure. I had to run well heads up to beat him. He’s a great player. He deserved to win this just as much as I did, for sure.”
Event #57 must have erased all the bad memories of all the tournaments that Nick Binger played in and busted out of in this year's WSOP. Nick and his brother Michael Binger are famous on the tournament circuit - Michael has cashed 27 times at the WSOP but Nick is the one that sports a new gold bracelet on his arm and the title of Pot-Limit Omaha High-Low Split Champion - along with $397,073 - for this victory! Congratulations Nick!
The Final Nine Payouts:
For more detailed hands and information about the event, visit PokerNews Live Reporting.