Connor Drinan took down his second career WSOP gold bracelet and the $163,252 first-place prize Sunday night after defeating Travis Pearson heads-up in a back-and-forth battle in Event #5: $1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or Better.
The 32-year-old poker professional remained humble in victory.
“I just played my normal game and ran good,” Connor said when asked about his victory.
Drinan, who claims to have played poker since he was a freshman in high school, has already amassed over $11 million in career earnings according The Hendon Mob. Drinan’s largest career score came just last year after taking down the 2020 WSOP Online $10K Super Millions event on GGPoker for just over $1.4 million along with his first gold bracelet.
Day 3 began with 15 players in contention but quickly dwindled down to a final table of 10 after just over two hours of play as the short-stacked players were quickly eliminated.
Drinan went into both Day 3 and the final table as the chip leader, which also featured four-time WSOP bracelet winner Robert Mizrachi. Drinan set the tone early by eliminating Yehuda Buchalter shortly after final-table play began. However, Drinan would lose his top chip position at multiple points during the final table as play carried on.
Eventual runner-up Pearson was able to accumulate chips throughout the final table as he had a hand in eliminating both Kris Kwiatkowski (7th place) and Micah Brooks (5th place).
Things actually looked promising for Mizrachi after he scooped a massive pot against Drinan and Curtis Phelps, but he was unable to hold onto that momentum and fell in third place — thanks largely to a key pot where Drinan called correctly against Mirazachi on the river in a large pot.
Heads-up play began with Drinan enjoying a nearly three-to-one chip lead over Pearson, but Pearson would not go down without a fight. Pearson evened up the counts after drilling a straight flush and even took over the chip lead after calling Drinan down in a large pot where Drinan mucked at showdown. However, Drinan would eventually re-take the chip lead after winning a series of pots with escalating blinds and finished the job after getting Pearson all in on the flop with a set of sixes against Pearson’s top pair.
“This win is dedicated to Mike Fasco for the expensive O/8 lessons,” Drinan added.
Final Table Results
1 Connor Drinan United States $163,252
2 Travis Pearson United States $100,901
3 Robert Mizrachi United States $71,602
4 Sandy Sanchez United States $51,590
5 Micah Brooks United States $37,750
6 Carl Lijewski United States $28,059
7 Kris Kwiatokowski United States $21,192
8 Curtis Phelps United States $16,266
9 Michael Moed United States $12,693
