Event #15: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship
Day 3 Completed
2019 World Series of Poker
Event #15: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship
Day: 3
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2019 World Series of Poker
Buy-in
$10,000
Prize Pool
$1,052,800
Entries
112
Level
83
Blinds
125,000 / 250,000
Ante
0
Level 83
: 125,000/250,000, 0 ante
Event #15: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship, began with 112 players. After dozens of thrilling heads-up matches between legends of the felt, only one player emerged with an undefeated record. That player was 30-year-old Sean Swingruber who outlasted the field, going 7-0 to capture his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet and the first-place prize of $186,356.
"It feels indescribable," Swingruber said after his whirlwind championship match. "I'm not a huge tournament player, mostly cash games primarily, but I've put a lot of work into heads-up recently. I've always eyed this tournament and thought I could have an edge versus other MTT players."
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sean Swingruber | United States | $186,356 |
| 2 | Ben Yu | United States | $115,174 |
| 3 | Cord Garcia | United States | $73,333 |
| 4 | Keith Lehr | United States | $73,333 |
| 5 | Jimmy D'Ambrosio | United States | $31,151 |
| 6 | Jake Schindler | United States | $31,151 |
| 7 | Kristen Bicknell | Canada | $31,151 |
| 8 | Matthias Eibinger | Austria | $31,151 |
Let's recap his road to victory, shall we?
With an odd bracket number of entries, the majority of the field was given half of their buy-in back and essentially played a $5,000 satellite in a "play-in" round. Swingruber was a part of that majority and faced off against Bill Klein in the "play-in" round. After finding himself on the shorter stack for a hefty portion of the match, Swingruber closed it out when his king-queen bested Klein's ace-four. A king-high runout propelled Swingruber into the official bracket.
In the Round of 64, Swingruber defeated Gregory Jensen to advance to the Round of 32. His final match of Day 1 drew Jimmy Guerrero and the two played one of the longest matches of that round. In the end, Swingruber's ace-nine suited held up against Guerrero's king-queen suited to lock up a seat in the Round of 16 the following day.
With one more match to win before reaching the money, Swingruber's opponent in the Round of 16 was Jan Lakota. Immediately finding himself on the short stack, Swingruber doubled up four times to take the chip lead. Shortly after, his ace-ten held up against Lakota's queen-seven and a spot in the money was secured.
"I was short-stacked in some of my earlier rounds and I luck-boxed a couple of rivers," said Swingruber. "But I just kept grinding and never really gave up. You have to win the all-ins when it counts."
Swingruber's matchup with Jimmy D'Ambrosio in the Round of 8 started the opposite way of his previous match. After jumping out to a sizable chip lead early on, it was his opponent's turn battle back. The chip lead changed multiple times over the course of their three-hour match before Swingruber whittled D'Ambrosio down again. However, D'Ambrosio found pocket aces and pocket kings in short succession and won both preflop confrontations to retake the chip lead. Swingruber fought back once again, though, and closed it out when his ace-nine held up against D'Ambrosio's king-three.
With that victory, a semifinals matchup with Cord Garcia was set for two days later. It took just 34 hands, much shorter than any of his previous matches, for Swingruber to earn the victory. With a hefty chip lead, Swingruber trailed when the first all-in showdown took place as his ace-seven was trailing against Garcia's ace-eight. The flop didn't change much, but a seven on the turn vaulted Swingruver into the lead. He faded what he had to on the river, and the finals were set.
Three-time bracelet winner Ben Yu was waiting for Swingruber there, and what followed was the longest match of the entire tournament. Four hours of back-and-forth and grind-it-out heads-up poker ensued over 134 hands, and Swingruber was the shorter stack for most of them. At his lowest, Swingruber was down 4:1 in chips, but his pocket threes held up against Yu's queen-jack to begin the comeback that eventually resulted in the victory.
When the match neared its end, the average stack was just 16 big blinds. On the final hand with the chip lead, Swingruber shoved with a covering stack and Yu called all in with pocket sixes for his remaining 11 blinds, leading Swingruber's eight-six suited. A safe flop fell and it looked like Yu would double up and take the lead, but running hearts landed to give Swingruber a winning flush.
Swingruber was very complimentary of his championship-round opponent. "I would definitely not want to play 50,000 hands with Ben. I think he would crush me."
In their match, Yu landed a couple of river check-raises that left Swingruber a bit perplexed and even affected one of their hands later on. "I flopped trips one hand against his top pair and just checked back the turn and river because I was worried about another check-raise after the board got a bit scarier."
In the end, though, Swingruber emerged victoriously.
"I'll definitely be back to defend my title next year. This tournament was a lot of fun. As long as I am able to play, I'll be playing this one for sure."
Level 83
: 125,000/250,000, 0 ante
Hand #134: Sean Swingruber moved all in on the button and Ben Yu quickly called off his stack of 2,790,000 with his tournament life on the line. Yu was happy about his position once the cards were on their backs.
Sean Swingruber: 
Ben Yu: 
The flop came 
and Yu was still way out front with his pair of sixes. However, the 
on the turn gave Swingruber a straight and flush draw to go with his one overcard. The river brought the 
and Swingruber made a flush to win the match and claim his first ever WSOP bracelet. Yu will have to settle for second place and $115,174.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
7,680,000
2,790,000
|
2,790,000 |
|
||
|
Busted | |
|
||
Level 83
: 125,000/250,000, 0 ante
Hand #129: Ben Yu limped his button, Sean Swingruber shoved with a covering stack and Yu folded.
Hand #130: Ben Yu received a walk.
Hand #131: Ben Yu limped his button and Sean Swingruber checked his option.
They checked to turn of a 
board where Swingruber bet 350,000. Yu called.
The river was the , Swingruber bet 600,000 and Yu called after some time in the tank.
Swingruber showed 
for trip sevens, Yu mucked and Swingruber collected the pot.
Hand #132: Ben Yu received a walk.
Hand #133: Ben Yu shoved from the button for 2,540,000 and Sean Swingruber folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,890,000
950,000
|
950,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
2,790,000
-950,000
|
-950,000 |
|
|
||
Level: 83
Blinds: 125,000/250,000
Ante: 0
Level 82
: 100,000/200,000, 0 ante
Hand #126: Sean Swingruber folded his button and Ben Yu received a walk in the big blind.
Hand #127: Yu limped in on the button and Swingruber opted to see a flop. The flop came 
and Swingruber check-folded to a bet of 200,000 from Yu.
Hand #128: Swingruber just called on the button and Yu checked his option. The flop fell 
and Yu checked to Swingruber who bet 200,000. Yu called and the 
landed on the turn.
Yu checked again and Swingruber fired out another 400,000. Yu stuck around for the 
on the river and then checked one more time. Swingruber shipped all in for 2,340,000 and Yu asked for a count. Yu thought for a couple of minutes before sliding his cards to the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,940,000
680,000
|
680,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
3,740,000
-680,000
|
-680,000 |
|
|
||
Level 82
: 100,000/200,000, 0 ante
Hand #121: Ben Yu limped his button and Sean Swingruber checked his option.
The flop came down , Swingruber checked, Yu bet 200,000, Swingruber check-raised all in for about 3,140,000 and Yu folded.
Hand #122: Ben Yu received a walk.
Hand #123: Sean Swingruber received a walk.
Hand #124: Ben Yu received a walk.
Hand #125: Ben Yu raised all in for effectively 3,460,000 and Sean Swingruber folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,420,000
80,000
|
80,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
3,260,000
-80,000
|
-80,000 |
|
|
||
Level 82
: 100,000/200,000, 0 ante
Hand #115: Ben Yu limped in on the button and Sean Swingruber announced all in from the big blind. Yu instantly folded and Swingruber collected the pot.
Hand #116: Swingruber folded the button and Yu received a walk.
Hand #117: Yu just called on the button and Swingruber checked his option. The flop came 
and both players checked to the on the turn and the 
on the river. Two more checks and the two players chopped the pot with a full house on the board.
Hand #118: Swingruber folded his button again to give Yu another walk.
Hand #119: Yu announced all in on the button for 3,240,000 and Swingruber quickly folded.
Hand #120: Swingruber limped in on the button and Yu checked. The flop fell 
and the players checked to the 
on the turn. Yu led out for 200,000 and Swingruber called to see the 
on the river. Yu counted out a bet of 500,000 and Swingruber called. Yu tabled 
and that was enough to give him the chip lead again.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,340,000
1,020,000
|
1,020,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
3,340,000
-1,020,000
|
-1,020,000 |
|
|
||
Level: 82
Blinds: 100,000/200,000
Ante: 0