Justin Bonomo Wins Event #11: $1,500 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em ($449,980)!
Justin Bonomo took down the $1,500 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em event in rather quick fashion inside the Amazon Room today.
He got heads-up with Mike Sowers within the first two hours of play and came back from a more than 4:1 chip deficit to capture the event’s $449,980 first-place prize and coveted gold bracelet.
What started Monday with 1,587 entries was quickly boiled down to just ten players as play began at 1 p.m. But the real speed came in the move from ten players to the final table of six.
Frank Debus dropped out of contention finishing tenth in just the first hand of play when he ran 
into Sowers’ 
and couldn’t improve. Todd Anderson, Viet Vo and Sebastian Pauli were sent packing as well and we were down to six.
Sowers brought the chip lead into the final table, but after Daniel Strelitz got it in with 
against Taylor Paur’s 
and spiked a king on the river of a 
board, he took the lead.
Sowers grabbed it back, however, spiking a miracle one-outer to bust Niel Mittelman. These two got it all in on a 
flop with Sowers on 
and Mittelman holding 
. The turn card came the , leaving Sowers with just one out. Sure enough, he hit the 
on the river and play went four-handed.
Sowers soon rid the table of Lance Harris when Harris put it all in with 
and couldn’t improve against Sowers’ 
.
It wasn’t long before Sowers and Strelitz then ended up in a preflop raising war that ended with Strelitz calling a Sowers shove with only to find Sowers on
. The flop came and Strelitz had runner-runner outs to a royal flush or quads, but Sowers held on the 
turn and river.
The heads-up battle started slow and Bonomo began battling back from a deep deficit. Within a level, he was even in chips and the hand of the tournament played out.
Bonomo made it 75,000 and Sowers raised it up to 230,000. Bonomo made the call and they were treated to a 
flop. Sowers bet 260,000, Bonomo called and off to the turn they went. Sowers fired again at the 
, making it 510,000, but Bonomo would not go away.
The river brought the and Sowers moved in, only to see Bonomo had hit the river hard, turning 
into a wheel. Sowers had flopped two pair with 
, but it was not nearly enough and he was left with just 25,000 in chips.
He made it interesting, doubling up countless times over the next 19 hands. On the 20th, Sowers pushed in against Bonomo’s flopped flush and got no help on the turn and river.
Less than one week removed from a heartbreaking second-place finish in the $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw, Justin Bonomo had earned his first World Series of Poker Bracelet and close to a half million dollars.