Nenad Medic wins WSOP Event #1, $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em

Nenad Medic strikes first at the 2008 WSOP. Besting a field of 352 in the $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em event, Nenad Medic takes home his first bracelet and $794,112 in winnings.
The final table consisted of a strong line up of well-known tournament pros. The chip stacks to begin the day were as follows:
Seat 1: Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers — 675,000Seat 2: Chris Bell — 455,000Seat 3: Amit “amak316” Makhija — 525,000Seat 4: Patrik Antonius — 230,000Seat 5: Andy Bloch — 2,115,000Seat 6: Mike Sexton — 1,130,000Seat 7: Phil Laak — 425,000Seat 8: Nenad Medic — 1,200,000Seat 9: Kathy Liebert — 285,000Once the cards are dealt, the action starts off with a bang. Patrik Antonius pushes all-in w/ KK from the BB and is called Phil Laak’s JJ in MP. Laak managed to become the strong favorite with a flop of Ad Jd 2h. However, with a Kd on the river, Antonius doubled up, leaving Laak as the short stack at the table.
A few hands later, Laak picked up JJ in the SB and moved all in w/ 165,000 in chips. He was called by Nenad Medic’s AA. After a board of Ks 6s 2s 9d 5c, Phil Laak was eliminated in 9th place, winning $74,448.
Eight place belonged to internet phenom Mike Sowers after Sowers found himself pot-committed w/ 94un vs. Mike Sexton’s QQ. The board came Ks 8c 3c Ac Js. Sowers took home $99,264 for his Eighth place finish.
Patrik Antonius, the heartthrob of the online poker community, was eliminated 7th when his Kd 10c ran into Andy Bloch’s Ac 4c. With a board that helped neither player, Antonius took home $124,080 for his 7th place finish.
Chris Bell ran into trouble when he got all in preflop w/ Ah 3h against Medic’s Jh Jd. The flop came Qd 6c 5s. However, when an As fell on the turn, Bell looked to be in great shape to double up. When the Js fell on the river, Chris Bell was knocked out in 6th place, earning $157,168.
After a lull in the action, Amit Makhija got all in w/ A3 against Andy Bloch’s A7:
Makhija: Ac 3d
Bloch: As 7d
Board: Qd 9d 6d 4c Ad
The river gave both players a flush, but Bloch’s 7 kicker bested Makhija’s 3 kicker. Makhija took hime $198,528 for his 5th place finish.
With 4 players left, the chip stacks were as follows:
Andy Bloch: 3,300,000Nenad Medic: 1,700,000Mike Sexton: 1,600,000Kathy Liebert: 580,000It took over 2 hours for the next player to be eliminated. In that time, Kathy Liebert managed to double up through Andy Bloch. With a healthier stack, Liebert had Mike Sexton covered when on a flop of As Jd 8c, Sexton moved all in w/ Ac 6c and was called by Liebert’s Ad 8h. Liebert’s 2 pair held up and Mike Sexton was eliminated 4th, winning $248,160.
Not long after, a monster hand developed where all 3 players got all in preflop:
Liebert: 6s 6dBloch: 9s 9h
Medic: Qc Qh

Medic flopped a set on a Ah Qs 2c board, and knocked out Kathy Liebert in 3rd place, good for $306,064. This hand was huge for Medic, giving him a large chip lead over Bloch as well. After an hour of heads-up play, Medic and Bloch got all in on the flop:
Medic: 5h 7h
Bloch: 9h 9d
Flop: 8h 5s 4h
Medic prevailed when the Jh on the turn gave him a flush. Bloch had a draw to a higher flush, but the 5c on the river sealed his fate. On his birthday, Bloch took home 2nd place and $448,048. Medic earned $794,112 and his first WSOP bracelet.