The 2021 World Series of Poker has churned out another repeat bracelet winner in a year where established pros continue to dominate. On Tuesday, David "Bakes" Baker earned his third career WSOP bracelet by capturing Event 34, $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw. Baker's win in this three-day, fixed-limit was worth $87,837 and came over a 285-entry field of lowball fans and specialists.
Two of Baker's three WSOP titles have come in lowball deuce-to-seven tourneys. In 2010, he won the $10,000 no-limit deuce-to-seven championship. Baker's other WSOP bracelet win came in 2012, when he took down the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. championship. Baker has earned nearly $2.7 million in WSOP tournaments since 2008.
The win also gave "Bakes," a North Carolina native, a three-to-two edge in career WSOP bracelets over poker's other famed David Baker, "ODB." That Baker hails from Connecticut, is slightly older, and his nickname stands for "Original David Baker." Both David Bakers are exceptional mixed-games players, which creates additional confusion among casual poker followers. (The two are unrelated and look nothing alike.)
Comeback win for Baker at final table
Baker began the day fifth in chips among the six finalists, with just 10 big bets in his stack. The entire group was somewhat short-stacked, however, which is typical of the end stages in fixed-limit events. Peter Lynn held a narrow edge over Kristijonas Andrulis as Day 3 action began. The leaders had about 21 and 20 big bets, respectively, to start the day.
Baker caught several big hands during the day's first levels to climb into contention, and he took his first lead during four-handed action. Americans Mark Fraser and Marc Booth, meanwhile, busted early. Baker and eventual runner-up Lynn dueled for the lead as their remaining foes, Andrulis and Stephen Deutsch, fell back. Andrulis exited in fourth, and while Deutsch made one brief surge, he followed Andrulis to the cashier in third.
That left Baker and Lynn to duel for the bracelet, and the hands kept rolling Baker's way. In the final hand, Baker made a solid 8-6-4-3-2 after the first draw, re-raised over a pot-committed and almost-all-in Lynn, and got Lynn to call for his tournament life. Lynn drew twice more, pulling a single card each time while attempting to improve an 8-7 that wasn't good anyway. The blank draws gave Baker the pot, the bracelet, and the event's $87,837 winner's payday.
Event 34, $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Final-table Results:
- David "Bakes" Baker (United States) - $87,837
- Peter Lynn (United States) - $54,286
- Stephen Deutsch (United States) - $37,194
- Kristijonas Andrulis (Lithuania) - $25,971
- Marc Booth (United States) - $18,488
- Mark Fraser (United States) - $13,423
Featured image source: PokerGO
