O’Brien entered the final day of the Mix Max as the big favorite with 1.5 million chips to Stojanovic’s 507,000.
Instead the Frenchman scored an early double up and then chipped away at O’Brien. It took just over 50 hands for Stojanovic to overcome his chip deficit and beat O’Brien.
Not Every Day You Play With Ivey, Hellmuth
It was a dramatic victory for the Frenchman who plays poker semi-professionally.
“I’m really happy because I beat some great players,” said Stojanovic though a translator. “It’s not every day you get to play against Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth.”
In the final hand of the tournament O’Brien flopped the nut-flush draw with A♥ 5♥ on a Q♥ 6♥ 4♣ board. Stojanovic shoved with pocket sevens and O’Brien called for his tournament life.
The board finished with the J♠ and then the 8♦ to put O’Brien’s bracelet dreams on hold although he did pick up €116,280 for his efforts.
It was still a heart-breaking defeat for O’Brien who also finished runner-up in the €3k NLHE Shootout at the WSOPE last year.
The New Yorker appeared destined to win the tournament when he entered the semi-finals with Jason Mann, Noah Schwartz and Stojanovic holding nearly 2/3 of the chips in play.
O’Brien now has over $2.3 million in lifetime tournament earnings but a major poker title still eludes him.
Here are the top four results for Event 3 €5.3k NLHE Mix Max:
1st: Darko Stojanovic - €188,160 2nd: Dan O'Brien - €116,280 3rd: Jason Mann - €62,770 4th: Noah Schwartz - €62,770Live coverage is ongoing from the WSOPE as we speak with full cards-up streaming coverage of Event #4, €1,650 PLO plus two more events. Follow it all right here!
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