Michael "Big Store" Moore Wins Event #37: $5,000 Limit Hold'em for $211,743
After three longs days of player Event #37: $5,000 Limit Hold'em of the 2013 World Series of Poker has played down from a starting field of 170 players to a champion. That man is Michal “Big Store” Moore, who outlasted a tough final table that included Ronnie Bardah, Greg Mueller and Justin Bonomo to win his firth bracelet and a $211,743 first-place prize.
Moore, who finished tenth in the 1995 WSOP Main Event for $27,680, finally captured his long-sought-after bracelet and tripled his WSOP career earnings in one fell swoop.
It took about 20 minutes for the first elimination of the day, and it was no surprise that it was the short stack to fall. Jeffrey Yass managed a couple of doubles at the start of play, but it proved too little too late as Bonomo sent the man from Haverford, Pennsylvania home in 12th place.
In the next level, Jan Sjavik and Steve Landfish were felled in 11th and 10th place respectively, bringing about the official final table of nine.
It took a long time for the first final table elimination, but it came on Hand #57 in Level 22 (12,000/24,000 limits) when Bonomo’s 
failed to overcome the 
of Mueller.
Unfortunately for Mueller, his momentum would be short lived as he was the next to go on Hand #78 of the final table. Mueller, who made his third final table of the 2013 WSOP, was denied his third limit hold’em bracelet when he was eliminated in seventh place—which wasn’t quite as good as his two third-place finishes in the weeks prior. Still, it’s been a heck of a summer for “FBT”.
Just two hands later, Ben Yu was sent to the rail in sixth place courtesy of Todd “Dandruff” Witteles. He was no doubt disappointed, but given the fact that he started the day on the second shortest stack he likely took solace in the $31,264 prize money.
It took a long time for the next elimination to occur and it didn’t happen until after the dinner break. With the limits at 25,000/50,000 two players hit the rail in back-to-back hands. The first to go was Dom Denotaristefani, who grew short and fell to Bardah on Hand #171. The very next hand 2005 WSOP limit hold’em bracelet winner Witteles followed him out the door after his pocket sevens failed to win a race against Brian Aleksa’s king-queen.
Ten hands later it was Aleksa’s turn to go, and then the last bracelet winner in the field, Bardah, was eliminated in third place on Hand #199.
Gabriel Nassif, a member of the Magic the Gathering Hall of Fame who was at one point down to just 40,000 six-handed, entered heads-up play with a 2-1 chip lead over Moore. Even so, the man from the small town of Agar, South Dakota (Pop. 72) used his well of experience to chip away at his opponent and take the chip lead over the course of 134 hands. Then, on Hand #334 of the final table, Moore finished off Nassif to complete the come-from-behind victory.
Results from Day 3
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Michael Moore | $211,743 |
| 2nd | Gabriel Nassif | $130,852 |
| 3rd | Ronnie Bardah | $94,793 |
| 4th | Brian Aleksa | $69,968 |
| 5th | Todd Witteles | $52,582 |
| 6th | Dom Denotaristefani | $40,205 |
| 7th | Ben Yu | $31,264 |
| 8th | Greg Mueller | $24,721 |
| 9th | Justin Bonomo | $19,863 |
| 10th | Steve Landfish | $16,211 |
| 11th | Jan Sjavik | $16,211 |
| 12th | Jeffrey Yass | $16,211 |
Congratulations to Michael “Big Store” Moore on winning the $5,000 Limit Hold'em event here at the 2013 WSOP. While Event #37 is complete, there is plenty of great tournament action to follow throughout the summer. Check out our live reporting section for more details.