Ball Wins Second Bracelet at 2021 WSOP in Las Vegas

Written by Jennifer Newell

Last updated on November 14th, 2021

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The Rio Convention Center in Las Vegas was buzzing on Saturday, which was Day 45 of the 2021 World Series of Poker.

The WSOP Main Event was playing down to fewer than 100 players. The Little One for One Drop and PLO Bounty tournaments were finding their winners. The entries and reentries were flying in the Crazy Eights tournament with its $888 price tag. Mixed PLO/Omaha players were searching for seats at the final table. And a championship-level Stud-8 event began and played late into the night.

That didn’t include cash games and daily tournaments, all of the other poker action happening in the expansive ballrooms reserved for the WSOP.

And in the end, a Frenchman won his first WSOP gold, an Aussie took the chip lead in the Stud-8, and Scott Ball claimed his second bracelet of this series. All the while, the Main Event moved forward and deeper into the money.

Event 67: $10K WSOP Main Event

Day 5 of the Main started with 292 players, but it was a brutal day for the majority of them. Old-school players like Steve Zolotow and Dan Heimiller busted early, as did Chris Moneymaker. Matt Berkey was an early casualty, followed by Daniel Lowery, Melissa Bryne, David Lappin, and Qui Nguyen. Later in the day and into the evening, players like Jason Koon and Jonathan Aguiar exited the field. Toward the end of the night, Toby Lewis, Tristan Wade, and Cole Ferraro busted as well.

Going into Day 6, Nick Petrangelo is one of the shorter stacks, while Yuri Dzivielevski and Stephen Song fare a bit better. Dragana Lim and Stephen Chidwick are still in the mix, as is Chance Kornuth. The top 10 chip stacks clearly have an advantage, but as with any tournament, anything can happen.

 

Event 68: $1,111 NLHE Little One for One Drop

A little more than two dozen players returned for the final day of the Little One for One Drop event. And they were playing to a winner. Scott Ball had a significant stack of chips going into that action, and he handled his competition well to make it to the winner’s circle again – twice in one series. He told PokerNews that it has felt like a sort of dream. At the same time, he’s proud of his accomplishments:

“I’m just really proud to be able to come out here and show people in a live environment that I am who I am, and I’m capable of playing this game at the level I’m playing now. And I’m not going to stop. I’m going to keep doing this. I’ve been through a lot the past couple of years and had a lot of frustrations, and something one of my mentors taught me was success is the best revenge, and use this to motivate the heck out of you. And it really has. So, anyone who wants to stay stuff and be like that, keep it coming because it’s just going to inspire me to win even more.”

 

Scott Ball grabs his second bracelet of the series coupled with a top prize of $396,445 after taking down the $1,111 Little One For One Drop.
📸: @timeweavers https://t.co/T9vRuco1Pf pic.twitter.com/QX0bzocq2R

— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) November 14, 2021

Event 70: $888 Crazy Eights NLHE

The craziness of this Crazy Eights tournament continued on Saturday with Day 1C, which was actually the second starting day and not the third. Since WSOP staff cancelled Day 1A due to space limitations, Day 1B was the first and 1C the second. Just roll with it.

This flight attracted nearly 2000 entries, almost 900 more than the first flight. And again, the WSOP determined that the top finishers would make the money before the day was done, as promised on the structure sheet. Quite a few players were paid and only a few dozen survived. There will be another chance for players to get in on the action today.

 

Event 71: $1,500 PLO Bounty

While 15 players started this day, Mourad Amokrane of France led the pack and never really let up. He overcame a brief setback at the start of the official final table, but he recovered fairly quickly and took over. He dominated during three-handed play and had such a dominating chip lead going into heads-up that his opponent had little choice but to move all-in on the first hand. The recreational French player spoke to PokerNews after the win:

“I have no words. I look at all the poker shows on TV. I know all the famous players, and getting a WSOP bracelet is something unbelievable for me. … It’s just a beautiful feeling. My wife is calling from France right now. She was not sleeping all night to follow the updates.”

 

France's Mourad Amokrane reels in his first gold bracelet by winning Event #71: $1,500 PLO Bounty 8-Handed. Amokrane also scores a first-place prize of $132,844.

📸 @timeweavershttps://t.co/WD3frZ5lsh pic.twitter.com/ZWeXTPNLVV

— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) November 14, 2021

Event 72: $1,500 Mixed NLHE/PLO

The second day of this mix started with 126 players but wrapped with a final table of eight. Halfway through the day full of eliminations, players like Joao Vieira and Manig Loeser departed the field, Josh Arieh busted in 40^th place, and Leif Force left in 38^th. Ryan Laplante accepted 35^th place, and Kosei Ichinose took 21^st. Jerry Wong said goodbye in tenth place, and Nohad Teliani followed in ninth. The final table will play out today.

 

Event 73: $10K Seven-Card Stud-8 Championship

This championship-level event brought 136 players in for $10K per person. It was a rather slow-paced tournament, as there were still 80 players in action when it stopped for the night. One of the international players who had been in Vegas for almost the entire WSOP this year, Gary Benson, represented Australia well and claimed the chip lead at the end of the night. It will be a tough Day 2, though, as players like Eli Elezra, Shaun Deeb, Scott Seiver, Alex Livingston, and Mike Watson are close behind.