Scott Ball Wins 2021 WSOP Event #25 $5,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold��em ($562,667)
The 2021 World Series of Poker crowned a new gold bracelet winner at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino on Friday in Event #25: $5,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em, a tournament that attracted 604 players and offered up a $2,666,025 prize pool.
The PokerGO live-streamed final table contained two former bracelet winners John Racener and Galen Hall. In the end, it was Scott Ball collecting the WSOP bracelet, claiming victory for $562,667.
This was the first bracelet for Ball and it was a very emotional moment for him.
��I can��t explain it man, I had a tough year last year, a lot of stuff and like a lot of desire to prove myself that I can play this game and play it well,�� said Ball, teary-eyed in the post-win interview. ��And these big six-max tournaments are the hardest tournaments in the series, minus like the 50K and the 100K and stuff. I play a lot of six-max online and I study a lot really hard, like really hard. So to come in here and show, and not suck and do well, kinda means the world to me.��
Ball, 35, had a rowdy rail on his side and said he was thankful for all the support his friends had given.
��I mean the people who support me are incredible,�� said Ball. ��You know I found out who my real friends are this past year and it feels good to know that, see a good group of them here, have support. When I came I didn��t think I��d have any rail or expect to have any rail, so the fact I have you know 15, 20 people behind me when I do this is pretty special.��
2021 WSOP $5,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold��em Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Scott Ball | United States | $562,667 |
| 2nd | Galen Hall | United States | $347,757 |
| 3rd | Jonathan Jaffe | United States | $234,781 |
| 4th | Eric Tsai | Taiwan | $161,756 |
| 5th | Bin Weng | United States | $113,775 |
| 6th | John Racener | United States | $81,736 |
Others to cash on the final table were Eric Tsai (4th for $161,756), Bin Weng (5th for $113,775), and Jonathan Jaffe (3rd for $234,781).
At the start of the day, many eyes were on Hall and Racener, looking for their second bracelets. But it was Ball, who emerged victorious after eight hours of play.
��Jon and Galen are incredible players, they are really freaking good,�� he said. ��It was really hard, the whole tournament was hard. Every single day I was playing with absolute beasts.��
Final Table Action
John Racener was the first one to go when he four-bet jammed ace-queen into the pocket kings of Galen Hall. Next to go was Bin Weng. Weng was looking good five-handed with the chip lead, but he found himself at the bottom of the leaderboard after Scott Ball nailed a pair of aces on the river in a four-bet pot. Weng got it all in with king-queen against the ace-ten suited of Hall, but Hall binked a flush for the knockout.
Eric Tsai came in as the chip leader, but he was the next to go when he ran into a cooler. Tsai shoved with pocket queens and Scott Ball called with pocket kings. Tsai could not improve and he exited in fourth.
Three-handed was a drawn-out affair, Ball won a flip with pocket tens against the ace-queen of Hall. But Hall battled back to draw close. Hall put Ball on the short stack when he called a huge river bet with just a pair of fives and Ball was forced to muck his ace-high. Ball wasn��t done either however when his all-in jam with ace-eight spiked against Jaffe��s ace-queen. Finally, after three hours, Jonathan Jaffe busted when his ace-ten ran into the pocket eights of Hall. That allowed Hall to enter heads-up play with a 2-1 lead.
Play would drag on, however, as both players exchanged the chip lead several times. Ball finally took control when he bluff jammed the river with king-high to force a key fold from Hall and take a 5-1 chip lead. Ball finally finished the job when he got it all in holding the nut-flush draw, against Hall��s second nut flush draw. The flush did come home on the turn, sealing the deal. Ball said he is not satisfied yet though.
��I kinda want to just go home and go to bed and be here at 10 a.m. for the Monster Stack,�� said the newly-crowned champion. ��I want to do it again, like I want to show everyone it��s not a fluke and I really can play this game. So I might have a little fun, but not too much. I��m going to take the rest of the series very seriously there��s still a lot more work to do.��
Congratulations to Scott, winner of the 2021 WSOP Event #25: $5,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em! He joins a prestigious club of WSOP bracelet winners.
