Bracelet winners crowd 2021 WSOP $1,500 razz final table

Bradley Ruben has won his third WSOP bracelet in 2021 WSOP Event #42: $1,500 Razz.

Despite being the king of all games, razz doesn't get nearly the love it deserves. Only 311 players ponied up the $1,500 buy-in to play the king of all poker variants. Not bad for a $1,500 stud game, but dwarfed by similarly priced flop events.

As a result of this turnout, the prize pool hit $415,185.

That said, the field might have been low on quantity, but the quality was through the roof. There were four bracelet winners at the final table. And even the list of players who hit the rail with nothing was stuffed to the gills with sharks.

Among those who entered but failed to make the money were: Eli Elezra, Robert Mizrachi, Barry Greenstein, Daniel Negreanu, Ari Engel, Gabe Ramos and his two shibas, and Poker.org's own Chris Wallace.

Even Phil Hellmuth turned up to play. He had initially decided not to play, but eventually changed his mind and late registered. At the time he Tweeted:

"I guess @AllenKessler is right, I need to play @WSOP $1,500 Razz. Razz is my BEST tourney. I’m on less than 4 hours sleep, completely exhausted, can’t even see straight, blood shot eyes, and prob should NOT play, but I can’t fall asleep. Just sat down, hello Razz!"

He was immediately seated with Anthony Zinno, who quickly busted him. This felt like a karmic act -- justice doled out for Hellmuth's tantrum at Zinno's expense earlier in the series.

Big names fall and rise

By Day 3, the field was down to just eight players including bracelet winners Ruben,
Yuri Dzivielevski, Matt Grapenthien, and David "ODB" Baker (not to be confused with David "Bakes" Baker who won a bracelet earlier this week).

It was quite a field to beat, especially as Ruben considers himself a neophyte at razz. Though he feels inexperience comes with its own advantages.

"My theory is," he explained after winning the event. "If you play a game that you haven't played much before, it's more enjoyable. You're kind of like a kid. So, you're in awe of it."

Being a beginner is also supposed to come with luck, to which Ruben attributes much of his win.

"[Luck] is a lot of it. Getting big hands," Ruben explained. "A lot of times equities run close, so it’s who catches better. But it’s also a lot about picking your spots and waiting and being patient when you’re short-stacked and getting it in okay. So there’s a skill in that, but a lot of it is catching."

Ruben beat Day 2 chip leader Charles Sinn heads up for the prize. Sinn won $61,303 for second place.

2021 WSOP Event #42: $1,500 Razz complete final table results

Featured image source: PokerGO