2015 WSOP Quick Recaps: Events 41-45

It's hard to pick a top story from the latest round of events at the 2015 WSOP. The best of the best met in the $50k Players Championship, Max Pescatori continued his winning ways, and two inaugural events were held. That said, let's cover each of these stories in depth and what happened in Events 41-45 of the 2015 WSOP.

Event #41: Max Pescatori collects Second Bracelet of 2015 WSOP

This summer, Max Pescatori ended a seven-year bracelet drought by winning a $1,500 Razz tournament. And the "Italian Pirate" is really on a roll now after winning the $10,000 buy-in Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Championship along with $292,158. Pescatori navigated through a very tough 111-player field and on to the final table, where he found himself down to three big blinds at one point. However, the cards started going his way again and he eventually beat Britain's Stephen Chidwick (2nd, $180,529) heads up to claim his fourth-career gold bracelet, and second of the 2015 WSOP. An interesting side note here is that Pescatori is just the second player to go 4-0 in WSOP events when reaching three-handed play (Bill Boyd is the other).

Event #42: Adrian Apmann takes down First-Ever Extended Play Hold'em Tourney

We've already seen some turbo-style tournaments up to this point, so the WSOP went the opposite way with this $1,500 "Extended Play" event, where more hands are dealt per level, giving skilled players more time to build their stack. Adrian Apmann, a German poker pro living in Austria, definitely appreciated this extra time since he topped the 1,914-player field to win $478,102. Apmann had to work for the victory here because the Extended Play format pushed an event that would have normally lasted for three days to a fifth day.

Event #43: Jon Andlovec wins Inaugural Super Seniors Event

The regular seniors Hold'em tournament, which allows players 50 and older to participate, has been so popular that the WSOP decided to add a $1,000 "Super Seniors" version too. Open to poker players 65 and older, the inaugural Super Seniors Hold'em drew a large field of 1,533 players. 70-year-old Jon Andlovec had the best run here, winning the $262,220 top payout along with his first gold bracelet. Andlovec, who used to be a poker pro long before the game got big, wasn't even going to play in the 2015 WSOP; however, his daughter insisted and sent him $1,000, which turned out to be a tremendous investment.

Event #44: Mike Gorodinsky wins $50k Poker Players Championship and $1.27m

Five years ago, Mike Gorodinsky and Jean-Robert Bellande met heads up in a 2010 PCA 8-Game tournament, with Gorodinsky getting the better of this matchup. And their heads-up match was re-created in this event since the pair battled for a $1,270,086 fortune and a gold bracelet. Gorodinsky raced out to the chip lead, but Bellande fought back and made this duel last for hours. However, Gorodinsky was able to regain control and eventually walk off with his second-career gold bracelet. As for Bellande, the former "Survivor: China" contestant earned $784,828 and is still looking for his first bracelet.

Event #45: Upeshka De Silva crushes Final Table Opponents in $1.5k NLHE Victory

The average WSOP final table lasts for hours and features several lead changes. Lucky for Upeshka De Silva, he didn't have to deal with any of this as he absolutely dominated the final table in this $1,500 NLHE event. He cruised through the 1,655-player field and held the chip lead when final table play began. Upeshka was never in danger of losing this position either since he knocked out seven of his eight remaining opponents. At one point, he eliminated three players in the span of six hands en route to the $424,577 first-place payout.