Matthew Mendez, Florida native living in New Jersey, made WSOP history in Event #47, the $565 Online Pot-Limit Omaha Six-Max, winning the first open WSOP bracelet outside of Las Vegas.
Mendez won $135,077 in the event that brought a total field of 1,223 for a total prize pool of $635,960. Of the 1,223 entries, 566 were re-entries with 657 players, reported the WSOP.
The final table result
Though this is Mendez’s second career WSOP final table. He came in eighth in the 2015 $1,500 Razz. After more than 12 hours of play, Marton Czuczor led the way, but Mendez simply waited for his opportunity. He came back from being down 5-to-1 heads-up to win his first bracelet
1st: Matthew ‘mendey’ Mendez ($135,077)
2nd: Marton ‘GS.GURU’ Czuczor ($82,865)
3rd: Anthony ‘heheh’ Zinno ($57,299)
4th: Alex ‘3shotwonder’ Smith ($40,256)
5th: Ankush ‘rickrosstheb’ Mandavia ($28,745)
6th: Ap ‘Maimai1990’ Chen ($20,859)
Racking up a couple WSOP firsts
With shared liquidity in Nevada and New Jersey, there were high hopes for this event, the first of its kind.
Late registration stayed open for the first three hours. Players started with 15,000 chips and blinds increased every 20 minutes. Re-entry was unlimited, but players had 30 seconds after busting to re-enter (without WSOP.com tournament tickets).
Players also could only play on the desktop client; Omaha wasn’t supported on the mobile client (no iPad or phone).
Seven hours in, the field reached the money; 99 players were paid.
The second of four online events for the WSOP proves successful as the first, winning records thanks to the heightened presence online.
The first tournament on June 3 drew 2,972 entries for a total prize pool of $974,816 with 333 cashes. This $365 WSOP.com No-Limit Hold’em event was the largest-field online tournament held in the regulated US online marketplace.
Winner by the numbers
According to WSOP, Mendez has cashed a total of four times in the World Series of Poker.
His four cashes:
- Event #47 ($565 buy-in)
- 2015 46th WSOP: Event #9 – $1,500 Razz ($1,500 buy-in) – $13,902 for 8th
- 2014 45th WSOP: Event #42 – $5,000 Pot-Limited Omaha 6-Handed ($5,000 buy-in) – $14,021 for 25th
- 2014 45th WSOP: Event #30 – $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better ($1,500 buy-in) – $2,603 for 64th
His total WSOP earnings come in at $165,604. His largest live cash to date is $213,192 at the 2016 $560 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack in the Borgata Spring Open where he took first place. Overall, his total live earnings come in at $525,058, reported Hendon Mob.
