Ruben finishes first in WSOP $1,500 Razz

In what appears to be a year of thirds at the World Series of Poker 2021, Bradley Ruben has earned his third career WSOP gold bracelet in Event #42: $1,500 Razz for $99,188. He defeated a final table including Charles Sinn, Yuri Dzivielevski, David "ODB" Baker, and Matt Grapenthien. He conquered a field of 311 entrants on his way to victory.

Ruben's first bracelet came in 2020 when he won the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha GGPoker Online Event #63 for $220,160, while his second came earlier this year when he won the WSOP Online Event #21: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha for $69,148. This victory represents Ruben's first bracelet captured on the live felt, as well as his first victory not in Pot-Limit Omaha.

Ruben claimed victory in the tournament despite saying it was probably only his third ever live Razz tournament. One of those was in 2017, when he finished third in this very event. While he said he has played some Razz and other mixed games online, he recognized his achievement is special.

"My theory is, if you play a game that you haven't played much before, it's more enjoyable. You're kind of like a kid, you're in awe of it. That's helped me a lot in this tournament, and the one I got third in, in 2017."

Ruben's path to the title was far from easy, as he spent a lot of the day on a short stack chasing Sinn, who held the chip lead most of the day.

"I think I had like 300K in chips, and I just ran like God pretty much from then on, doubled up a couple of times, so it's really just running good at the end."

While skill is obviously a factor, in a game like Razz, timely card-catching is crucial, and Ruben had no reservations in saying he caught more than his fair share at key points of the final table.

"It's a lot of it. Getting big hands, a lot of times equities run close, so it's who catches better. But it's also a lot about picking your spots and waiting and being patient when you're short-stacked and getting it in okay, so there's a skill in that, but a lot of it is catching.

As mentioned, Sinn's aggressive style propelled him into heads-up play, as the rest of the final table fell throughout the day. A pair of key back-to-back hands rendered Matt Grapenthien short, and he ended up finishing in third place for $41,758, while Yuri Dzivielevski (4th place - $29,089), and David "ODB" Baker (5th place - $20,732), rounded out the top five.

As for Ruben, we can expect to see him in the $10,000 Razz Championship in a couple of weeks, but for now, he'll be jumping into Event #45: $10,000 8-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha, the game in which he won his first two bracelets in WSOP online events. That said, neither of these games is where his ultimate motivation lies for bracelet number four.

"I've always had the motivation, like after winning the first one, I wanted to win a second one to legitimize it, and then I'm like all right, I've gotta win a third one, and I need to win my first live one, so I always had that motivation, and I'll keep finding ways to motivate myself. I haven't won a Hold'em one, so that's next."

Final Table Results
1 Bradley Ruben United States $99,188
2 Charles Sinn United States $61,303
3 Matt Grapenthien United States $41,758
4 Yuri Dzivielevski Brazil $29,089
5 David "ODB" Baker United States $20,732
6 Brett Feldman United States $15,127
7 Alex Livingston Canada $11,305
8 Hassan Kamoei United States $8,658

(Article courtesy of World Series of Poker)