Ohio native Kevin Gerhart has become the latest player to join the WSOP's triple-bracelet-winner club after taking down Event #40 of the 2021 World Series of Poker, the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship. Gerhart dominated much of Day 4's action in an abbreviated five-player finale streamed by WSOP partner PokerGo.
Gerhart's win in the H.O.R.S.E. championship marks the third straight year he's mined WSOP gold. He claimed his first bracelet in 2019 in a $1,500 Razz event, then added a PLO 6-Handed bracelet during the domestic portion of the 2020 WSOP Online series.
This time around, Gerhart topped an elite 149-entry field to earn a $361,124 payday. It's the largest live cash of Gerhart's career, and it moves his lifetime WSOP earnings to more than $780,000. The win also pushes his career recorded winnings at all live tournaments to just over a million dollars.
Gerhart led most of Day 4 play
Gerhart, who now lives in Las Vegas, arrived for Day 4 with 23 big blinds' worth of chips and a narrow lead over Eddie Blumenthal, who ultimately finished in third. Bryce Yockey, Marco Johnson, and Brandon Shack-Harris also made the live-streamed Day 4 finish.
Fan favorite Shack-Harris began the day with just five blinds and busted during the day's first hour. Gerhart picked up the knockout during a razz hand as he padded his early lead, while Marco Johnson also enjoyed a strong start to the day.
Yockey busted next, during another Razz rotation, with Blumenthal logging the knockout. Blumenthal’s luck turned worse from there, however, and he busted in a limit hold’em hand. In that hand, Gerhart and Johnson checked down the board after Blumenthal went all in on the flop, already pot-committed. Johnson held K-Q and ended up with trip queens to win the pot, while Blumenthal’s A-8 caught no help at all.
Heads-up play began with Gerhart holding a 5.8 to 3.2 million edge in chips. Johnson closed to nearly even early on, but Gerhart then won several large pots to seal the win. The end came in an Omaha hi-lo hand. Johnson was all-in preflop with Ac-Kh-Jc-10h, while Gerhart held 9s-6s-4h-3d. A huge 9h-9d-4d flop then gave Gerhart a full house and a lock on the hand and win. A 4c turn and 9c river, which gave Gerhart quad nines, closed out play.
Event 40, $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship - Final-table results
- Kevin Gerhart (United States) - $361,124
- Marco Johnson (United States) - $223,194
- Eddie Blumenthal (United States) - $155,971
- Bryce Yockey (United States) - $111,701
- Brandon Shack-Harris (United States) - $82,033
- Chris Vitch (United States) - $61,819
- Jake Schwartz (United States) - $47,835
- David Benyamine (France) - $38,035
Featured image source: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego
