Event #36: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack (8-Handed)

A lightning fast final table of Event #36: $800 8-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack came to a close after only four hours of play, with Timur Margolin overcoming Agharazi Babayev to take down his third bracelet.

The Israel native was congratulated by a rail of friends and fellow players. After what felt like a dominant run on the final table, he pocketed $342,551 for first place and, of course, a coveted WSOP bracelet to add to his collection.

Crushing last year's impressive numbers, the event was another record-breaker, with a turnout of 4,278 entries, which generated a prize pool of $3,011,712.

Final Table Payouts

With the inclusion of an unexpected Day 3, Margolin found himself starting the day as the chip leader. However, his early aggression hindered his stack as he failed to win many pots throughout the first 45 minutes of play. His prior experience with final tables in the WSOP and continued aggression helped him to climb back and soar through the remaining field looking unstoppable along the way.

Winner's Reaction

Margolin was quick to thank his family for their support, and said he was looking forward to playing more at the Series.

"I wanna thank my wife and kids for being so supportive of my decision to travel and play poker," Margolin told PokerNews. "To live a family life and grind tournaments is not an easy lifestyle to manage.

"If it wasn't for my wife's support, I would be playing the Series in the first place."

Compared to his previous bracelet wins, Margolin said that this tournament went quicker than expected.

"It just led to more action and short-stack play," he told PokerNews.

Margolin shared that a big win with ace-queen suited was a calculated risk as he had a lot of fold equity against the similar sized stacks.

"This allowed me to regain momentum and apply maximum ICM pressure on the shorter stack players and expand my chip lead exponentially." Margolin added.

Final Day Action

Margolin already held two WSOP bracelets and his prior experience in WSOP events showed. Also among the final table were 25k Fantasy Draft picks Adam Hendrix and Joseph Couden.

Jeremy Chen was the first to fall as Babayev chipped up to a healthy third place stack.

Margolin then eliminated Vaughan Machado in a battle of the blinds to hold nearly double the stack of his nearest opponent.

Players began dropping left and right while Margolin continued to assert maximum pressure. Cole Uvila and Francisco Riosvallejo fell in rapid succession to Margolin who now sat with sixty percent of the chips in play.

Both Couden and Hendrix found themselves with most of their stack committed due to the increased blinds. Couden lost his flip, while Hendrix made a double with the worst starting hand in poker.

Hendrix soon fell to Babayev as both he and Michael Allen both battled to ladder up. It was the former who achieved that as Allen was eliminated soon after.

Finally, Margolin's overwhelming chip lead was too much to overcome over the heads-up contest, as Babayev finished as the runner up.

This ends PokerNews coverage of this event, but be sure to stay tuned as we bring you all the action for the rest of the World Series of Poker.

Timur Margolin raised to 6,500,000 from the small blind. Michael Allen, in the big blind, thought for a considerable amount of time before moving all in for 36,600,000 and Margolin snap-called.

Michael Allen:   
Timur Margolin:   

The board ran out      ; Allen was dominated from the start and couldn't improve on the five-card run out, ultimately sending him to the rail in third place.

Timur Margolin	155,600,000	37,900,000
Agharazi Babayev	16,200,000	-6,300,000
Michael Allen	0	-37,900,000

Agharazi Babayev moved all in for 11,200,000 from the button. After some time in the tank, Adam Hendrix called off the bet from the big blind for his effective stack of 7,500,000.

Adam Hendrix:   
Agharazi Babayev:   

The flop brought a decent sweat for Hendrix as the     gave him a flush draw. However, the   turn and   river did not complete Hendrix's draw and he was sent to the rail.

Agharazi Babayev	22,500,000	2,825,000
Adam Hendrix	0	-11,000,000

Adam Hendrix had 4,000,000 of his 6,500,000 chips in for the big blind and ante. Action folded to Timur Margolin in the small blind and he raised to 5,000,000. Hendrix said he had "the worst starting hand in poker" but he had to make the call as both players revealed their hands.

Adam Hendrix:   
Timur Margolin:   

The board ran out       for Hendrix to find the double.

Timur Margolin	119,100,000	11,200,000
Adam Hendrix	11,000,000	-7,000,000

As the hand began over half of Couden's stack was in the pot for the big blind and ante and he announced that "he would be all in no matter what." Action folded to Timur Margolin in the small blind who raised to 4,000,000. Couden called and both players revealed their hands.

Joseph Couden:   
Timur Margolin:   

The board ran out       for Couden to find the double.

Timur Margolin	67,400,000	-26,700,000
Joseph Couden	9,800,000	-4,050,000

Cole Uvila moved his short stack of 5,600,000 infrom under the gun. Timur Margolin, in the cutoff, three-bet to 14,500,000 and the hand went to a showdown.

Cole Uvila:   
Timur Margolin:   

The board ran out      ; Uvila couldn't pull in front of the premium pocket pair of the chip leader and was sent to the rail.

Cole Uvila

0

-20,200,000

Life Outside Poker is a new podcast for PokerNews hosted by Connor Richards that seeks to pull back the curtain on poker players and allow viewers and listeners to get to know them on a personal level.

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