Australian Poker Pro Wins WSOP Event 31 denying Greenstein Third Bracelet

2013 World Series of Poker marked its halfway on Wednesday staging quite some show when the Australian cash games poker pro Jarred Graham (24) won event 31, a $1,500 buy-in Omaha Hi-Lo competition, and sent home veteran US ace Barry Greenstein denying him the third WSOP bracelet. This was the first WSOP bracelet for the young Melbourne-based player in only the second WSOP event he has ever entered. Graham earned himself a prize of $255,942 after he emerged victorious from a field of 935 contenders. The impressive prize pool of $1,263,600 enabled 117 players to leave the event with money prizes. Apart from Graham, the final table saw two multi-bracelet holders Perry Green and Barry Greenstein, as well as Marco Johnson, Noomis Jones, Gabriel Blumenthal, Loni Harwood, Eric Rodawig and Joao Pires. The start was difficult for Graham who was the low stack man despite being among the fourteen survivors on the final day. In parallel, Greenstein was at the forefront of the action going into the final nine on the last table. It really seemed as if Greenstein was going to take his third WSOP bracelet until around the four-handed mark, when Graham made a sudden comeback. Taking the chip lead, Graham defeated first Greenstein and then Johnson who took home the runner up prize of $158,379 after an exciting heads up. Graham was cheered on by his compatriots among whom was also the former world champ Joe Hachem. According to the WSOP officials, this year's series halfway mark is showing great promise, as entries in the events have so far grown by 27 percent on last year at an average of around 1292 per event, while the already awarded prize money has exceeded 54.1 million dollars.