Event 12 Recap

$3000 + $200 Heads Up NLH (Best 2 of 3)

Christian Harder (Annapolis, MD) blitzed his way through the heads-up bracket winning 6 times, including in a victory over Travis Greenawalt (Landisville, PA) in the finals to take the title and the $61,690 first place prize.

"I wouldn't say I'm a specialist," said Harder, who finished third in this event last year and pushed his career earnings to more than $2 million, "but I've played so many hands that I have a good feel for how to play."

For Greenawalt it was a disappointing end to a long 12 hour day that had the final 8 players returning for quarterfinal action at noon. Greenawalt knocked out Austen Johnson in his first match of the day, followed by his semifinal win over Matt Maccaroni before losing 2-0 in the best of three series to finish runner-up for $30,846.

The NCAA basketball style bracket featured many recognizable names including WSOP bracelet holder Gavin Smith, 2010 WSOP Main Event runner-up John Racener, 2010 Borgata Winter Poker Open Champion Jeff Madsen and two-time WPT title holder Jonathan Little.

All the big names missed the money, as did defending champion Jeremy McLaughlin, who was knocked out in the first round by John Lytle. This year's best 2 of 3, single elimination, was different than last year's double elimination bracket.

"I think this is better when you have such a big field," said Harder, who will be playing more events before the start of Sunday's WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship Event. "If you lose early in double elimination it's too hard to come back and win."

The $159,000 in total buy-ins was divided between the top 8 finishers.

Quarterfinal losers Keith Block, Trevor Savage, Randy Feder, and Johnson took home $7,712, while the semifinal losers, Ryan Hall and Matt Maccaroni, each finished with $15,423.

Harder went through the tournament by sweeping 4 of the 6 matches. He knocked out Block in the quarters and Hall in the semis before finishing off Greenawalt for the title.


Tournament Results

Finals

Christian Harder def Travis Greenawalt

Semifinals

Christian Harder def Ryan Hall
Travis Greenawalt def Matt Maccaroni

Elite 8

Christian Harder def Keith Block
Ryan Hall def Trevor Savage Matthew
Matthew Maccaroni def Randy Feder
Travis Greenawalt def Austen Johnson

Sweet 16

Keith Block def William Serfass
Christian Harder def Ryan DeAngelo

Ryan Hall def Darren Elias
Trevor Savage def Gavin Smith

Randy Feder def Greg Merritt
Matthew Maccaroni def Aaron Overton

Travis Greenawalt def Michael Gagliano
Austen Johnson def Alexander Venovski

Second Round

Keith Block def Matt Glantz
William Serfass def Nicholoas Erwin
Ryan DeAngelo def Michael Stone Hill
Christian Harder def Ryan Moriarity

Darren Elias def David Laufer
Ryan Hall def John Racener
Gavin Smith def Manzano Clemens
Trevor Savage def Jack Schanbacher

Randy Feder def Jason Sackler
Greg Merritt def Brian Paneth
Matthew Maccaroni def Ian Palomo
Aaron Overton def John Lytle

Travis Greenawalt def Jonathan Little
Michael Gagliano def Mark Borges
Alexander Venovski def Freddy Rouhani
Austen Johnson def Michael Delvecchio

First Round

Manzano Clemens def Yaron Reuven
Gregg Merritt def Paul Mirabello
Alexander Venovski def Brandon Hall
Michael Gagliano def Joshua Hillock
Michael Stone Hill def Matthew Lombardi
Ryan DeAngelo def Matthew Berky
Ryan Moriarity def Jesse Cohen
Randy Feder def Valentin Serben
Ian Palomo def Bahbak Oboodi
Aaron Overton def Chris Klodnicki
Jonathan Little def Scott Lezewski
Mark Borges def Kunimaro Kojo
Freddy Rouhani def Alexander Freund
William Serfrass def Eui Woon
David Laufer def Orson Young
Christian Harder def Jeff Madsen
Jack Schanbacher def Scott Baumstein
Trevor Savage def Jason Summerville
John Lytle def Jeremy McLaughlin
Gavin Smith def James St. Hilaire

Byes:

Keith Block
Matt Glantz
Nicholoas Erwin
Darren Elias
John Racener
Ryan Hall
Travis Greenawalt
Jason Sackler
Brian Paneth
Austen Johnson
Michael Delvecchio