Will Patrick Leonard’s Bracelet Win Spearhead a British World Series of Poker Charge?

The latest WSOP bracelet event saw Patrick Leonard and Espen Jørstad win their first-time bracelets as the $1,000 buy-in Tag Team saw a thrilling final table play down to the winners on PokerGO. It was a remarkable final table in many ways, with the overnight and heads-up chip leaders overcome twice after being in a dominant position.

The Early Stages of the Final

“I am teamed up with a wizard!!!”

With only five teams starting the last day’s play in the event, it was all to play for, but with Leonard and Jørstad sat in third place, there was plenty of work for the team comprised of a British player and a Norwegian. In fact, of the five teams who made the final, it was the only duo who came from different countries from each other.

Earlier in the event, Jørstad paid tribute to his other-worldly partner at the felt.

Bagging a milly going into day 3 of the @WSOP Tag Team event! 20 players left, and I am teamed up with a wizard!!! 🧙‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/khtD03IWRs

— Espen Uhlen Jørstad (@UhlenPoker) June 28, 2022

Once into the action, it was the previous day’s chip leaders who busted, with leader Mackenzie Kraemer and Jon Schiller busting to cash for $34,299 as the first players to leave the final table. They busted to the chip leaders, Jamie Kerstetter and Corey Paggeot, who were backed by a raucously supportive American rail.

Play Moves Heads Up

With four duos left, Kerstetter was crushing the opposition, and the popular professional player and broadcaster on PokerGO also took out the next duo as Franco Spitale and Martin Pochat from Argentina busted for a score worth $46,904.

Next to go were the Japanese duo of Yutaro Tsugaru & Taichi Ichikawa, who busted for $65,059 when Kerstetter was again the doer of damage. Heads-up loomed, and Kerstetter and Paggeot held a strong advantage of 6:1. However as Kerstetter tagged in her teammate Paggeot, Leonard had stepped aside for the inclusion of Jørstad for the opening exchanges of the final duel.

It was to prove an inspired move. In a massive five-bet pot, Jørstad showed he had the stones to go with his undoubted skills as he pinged ace-jack all-in and forced Paggeot to fold king-four. It would have been easy to ride that hand and try to use that momentum with Jørstad in the seat. Instead, the duo had discussed their tactics and sent in ‘Pads’ for the final battle.

Leonard Seals the Deal

“We’ve probably played about 50/50. We were fresh and taking hours in, hours out.”

With the drinks flowing on the rail, the Thunderdome was full of friends and fellow players, the two high-profile teams had ended up battling each other for the title. While Kerstetter had swapped out, however, Leonard was in the driving seat and feeling fresh.  Both he and Jørstad had enjoyed roughly equal amounts of time at the felt during the three-day event and had timed it perfectly.

With Leonard and Jørstad level, the British player surged into the lead and then got it all-in with pocket sevens against Paggeot’s king-jack. A flop of A-8-8 was no help to the American duo, except for meaning an ace would see the sevens counterfeited, but a four on the turn and a three on the river ended the event in the British and Norwegian team’s favor.

Kerstetter and Paggeot, who had enjoyed an almost 6:1 chip lead, were out in second place for $91,513, with Leonard and Jørstad claiming the bracelets and $148,067 top prize.

First Bracelet and in such fun fashion. Thanks so much for the rail in Vegas and on Instagram! #COTB #NowWereCooking pic.twitter.com/UhVwWdoB2g

— Patrick Leonard 🫡 (@padspoker) June 30, 2022

After the event, both teams paid tribute to each other, as Leonard said in an interview with PokerNews after the event’s conclusion, “A lot of people had played solo for the last few days. Some had played four days by themselves, whereas we’ve probably played about 50/50. We were fresh and taking hours in, hours out, and when I was out, I was studying and I knew what to do coming in, so that was our biggest advantage.” As Jørstad confirmed, “We were prepared for a really hard grind.”

In the end, as you can watch here on PokerGO in a full final table replay, the ‘boys’ proved exactly that.

Photo courtesy of PokerGO, home of the 2022 World Series of Poker, with final table live streams throughout June and July.