Event #3 of the Playground Power Weekend – a $200 + $30 + $100 PL Omaha Bounty Re-Entry event – has just come to an end and we have crowned our winner: Manfred Gunther.
No less than 40 entries were logged for this tournament, including 10 re-entries. The action was fast and intense for the most part of the evening. Midway through the tournament, quite a few of the shorter stacks ended up on the table hosting most of the chip leaders. That put a heightened amount of pressure on them, and the eliminations were at a steady pace.
After 11 levels, we were down to the last 9 players and a full seating redraw took place for the final table action. It was no surprise that Manfred Gunther, who had a pristine run all evening, was the chip leader on the final table. His stack alone was bigger than the combined stacks of the four shortest ones. The two lowest stacks, belonging to Paul Brun and Isabelle Morin, busted quickly in 9th and 8th positions respectively. Then, in a surprise turn of events, early chip leader Azizul Haque was sent to the rail in 7th position, followed closely by bubble player Shijaudin Daud Sha in 6th.
The 5 remaining players were in the money and Ron G. became the first player to cash out. With the elimination of Chris Arvanitis in 4th position, the remaining 3 players agreed on an ICM chop with $150 left aside for the 1st place winner. Dylan Timothy was eliminated in 3rd place, leaving Manfred Gunther and Ivan Driard to duke it out.
Heads up action began in the late stages of level 18. With the consent of both players, the tournament director reduced the usual 20-minute blinds to 10-minutes each.
From then on the chips went back and forth between both players with clockwork precision. The only sound we could hear was “Pot”. Both players battled on until the final hand when both of them landed a straight.
Mandred Gunther: 
Ivan Driard: 
Board: 
Ivan Driard couldn’t resist a smile when he saw that Manfred’s straight was higher than his, thus putting an end to the short-lived heads up match. Ivan goes home in 2nd place with $1,850.
Asked if his road to success had been easy or not, Manfred Gunther replied: “Hey, I doubled up in the first hand and never looked back. I did not struggle at all and I had a blast.” We all know life on the felt is seldom that easy!
Event #3 Champion: Manfred Gunther, $2,350
2nd place: Ivan Driard (left), $1850
The winning hand
