Congratulations to Allen Bari, Winner of Event #4: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em ($874,116)!
Originally scheduled as a three-day event, Event #4: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em at the 2011 World Series of Poker was stretched to four days. That doesn't mean a damn thing for Allen Bari though as he happily returned on the fourth day of play with a massive chip lead and rode it out to victory.
Bari walked in the final day topping the final four with over 90 of the 130 big blinds in play. Although things started off somewhat rough for him, he was able to battle through the obstacles presented and walk away with nearly $875,000 in first-place prize money. Not only that, Bari earned himself the most coveted prize in poker -- a WSOP gold bracelet!
After Nicholas Blumenthal fell in fourth place, Sean LeFort went out in second. Maria Ho started the day as the shortest stack in the room, but was able to battle her way to heads-up play versus Bari, albeit at a massive chip disadvantage. When the two got down to heads-up play, Bari held 85.5% of the chips in play. Ho had some work to do, but never seemed to get anything going. Bari kept constant pressure on her and her short stack before the final blow came.
On the final hand, Ho moved all in from the button and Bari called with pocket eights. Ho held 
and was looking for some help. The 
board failed to give her the improvement she needed to stave elimination and it was all over. Bari was instantly met with congratulations from his friends, which included Brent Hanks, Derek Raymond, Dan O'Brien, Chris Klodnicki and the late-running-in Jason Mercier. All of them embraced Bari with smiles, hugs and plenty of congratulations.
Although Bari has talked in the past a bit about not playing much poker in the future, he did comment, "I was expecting one bracelet. Seriously, I thought that if I didn't win a bracelet it would be a joke." Well Allen, you got your bracelet and $874,116 in cash.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allen Bari | $874,116 |
| 2 | Maria Ho | $540,020 |
| 3 | Sean LeFort | $348,128 |
| 4 | Nicholas Blumenthal | $255,028 |
| 5 | Thomas Ross | $189,574 |
| 6 | Ricky Fohrenbach | $142,821 |
| 7 | Jesse Chinni | $108,914 |
| 8 | Mikhail Lakhitov | $84,033 |
| 9 | Farzad Bonyadi | $65,535 |
Congratulations to Allen Bari and to all the players who cashed in this event. Don't forget to check out the rest of PokerNews live reporting from the 2011 WSOP. We'll be here live from the Rio around the clock every waking hour that a tournament is in action!