Yorky Pud

This time last year Andy Frankenberger had just won the $2,000 buy-in Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza III for a cool $162,110 to kickstart what turned out to be an amazing year at the felt. Fast-forward to the present and Frankenberger has now added a World Series of Poker bracelet to his already impressive résumé after winning Event #28 over the weekend.

Frankenberger was a complete unknown until last year due to the fact he was not a professional poker player, instead he was a well-paid Equities Derivatives Trader on Wall Street, a job that he enjoyed thoroughly but he felt he needed a fresh challenge and decided to try and make it in the poker world. His decision was a brave one, especially as he is not a one of the game's young guns, instead he is 38-years old which would make him over the hill in many younger players' eyes.

Up until June 2010 Frankenberger's gamble looked like it was not fully paying off as he had only cashed for just under $41,000, which when you take into account the entry fees and the cost of living at these events probably means he was making a loss. But he did not panic as he believed in himself and his ability and stuck to the task in hand. His persistence was rewarded with the aforementioned win  for $162,110 and he then followed that up with a remarkable win in the $5,000 Main Event at the World Poker Tour Legends of Poker for a massive payout of $750,000. A couple of months later and he came sixth in another major WPT event, the Festa Al Lago, that added a further $161,200 to his bankroll. By the end of 2010 Frankenberger had cashed nine times, made four final tables, won two titles and earned more than $1,210,000 in the process.

This year has been a little slower for Frankenberger, who up to this weekend had only managed to make it to the money in two tournaments for a combined score of just over $10,000. However, like in 2010 he has stuck to his guns and has been rewarded handsomely by winning his first WSOP bracelet and the $599,163 that came with it. His win is made all the more impressive when you consider the fact the $1,500 No Limit Hold'em event attracted a bumper field of 2,500 entrants, one of the largest fields of this year's series.

The 2,500 entrants were reduced to 349 on the first day of play and these survivors were further whittled down to just 28 during Day 2. These 28 returned to their seats at The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino knowing they all had almost $14,000 locked up but they also had a realistic chance of writing themselves into the WSOP history books. One by one they fell by the wayside, the prize money and prestige increasing with every player's demise until the final table of nine was set.

Bret Hruby was the first to be eliminated after around an hour's worth of play and he was joined on the rail by Sidney Hasson and Thao Nguyen during the next level. Steven Merrifield will go into the record books as being the sixth place finisher, whilst Tyler Kenney, the brother of Bryn Kenney, was sent packing in fifth place just ten minutes after Merrifield had left the table.

The biggest threat to Frankenberger at this point was Owen Crowe, one of the highly rated online poker tournament players of his generation and a player who has made four WSOP final tables in as many years and all in events with huge fields. Crowe is still looking for his first win in a WSOP event and he will have to wait a little longer as he was eliminated in fourth place when his Ad4c came a cropper against the As9c of Frankenberger when the board ran out 9d-Qc-Ac-Jh-Kc.

Once amateur Robert Shortway busted out in third place Frankenberger and Josh Evans locked horns heads up and played out for one of the most prestigious titles in the game. Frankenberger trailed by 4,700,000 to 6,500,000 chips but won a huge hand about an hour into the one-on-one encounter that turned the tie on its head. In the hand Evans raised to 125,000, Frankenberger made it 375,000 to play and then instantly called when Evand opted to push all in. Evans turned over AcTh but was way behind the AdKc of the current World Poker Tour Player of the Year. He fell further behind as the flop came down Qd-Ts-Jh giving Frankenberger the nut straight and when the turn and river were the 8h and Jd respectively Frankenber was catapulted into a 7,700,000 to 3,600,000 lead.

It took him just 20 minutes to press this advantage home with the help of a cooler hand. On a 5d-7h-Jh flop Frankenberger check-raised Evans' 180,000 bet to 600,000 and then snap-called when Evans moved all in for around 2,500,000. Evans flipped over JdTd for top pair, a strong hand heads up but nowhere near as powerful as the two pair that Frankenberger had made with his Js7d. No help from the turn or river for Evans and he was eliminated in second place.

Straight after being crowned a WSOP champion, Frankenberger was asked what this particular victory meant to him and he replied, “For me, it’s so important for me to get this win. When I won the Legends and I won the Venetian, poker was very new to me. I had not invested that much into it in terms of time or energy. At this point, I have been playing all year. I have been traveling all over the world. This is my first big win of 2011, so I can’t even begin to tell you how much this win means to me right now.” I am sure this will not be the last we see of Mr Frankenberger in 2011 and in future years also.

Final table results

1st: Andy Frankenberger: $599,153
2nd: Joshua Evans: $372,498
3rd: Robert Shortway: $263,655
4th: Owen Crowe: $190,147
5th: Tyler Kenney: $138,847
6th: Steven Merrifield: $102,600
7th: Thaeo Nguyen: $76,747
8th: Sidney Hasson: $58,083
9th: Bret Hruby: $44,482