Andrew Lichtenberger has finally crossed his name of the ‘best players with no bracelet’ list. The person known by many within the poker world as ‘Lucky Chewy’ topped a field of 1,125 players to win the 2016 World Series of Poker $3,000 no-limit hold’em event, capturing his first WSOP gold bracelet and the $569,158 first-place prize.

“It feels amazing. I’ve been playing the arena Series of Poker since 2009 and watching it on TV since I USED TO BE a child with the Chris Moneymaker phenomenon, as a way to be here today and win just feels amazing,” said Lichtenberger after it was all over.

This was the 28-year-old poker pro’s eighth final table on the WSOP, along with his prior best finish being a runner-up finish in a 2009 $5,000 no-limit hold’em shootout event. He has won big titles at the World Poker Tour, the Epic Poker League and a WSOP Circuit championship, so it gave the impression of it was likely only a matter of time until he broke through on the series.

This event was scheduled to run over three days, but an additional day was needed after play was halted after the elimination of Christopher Johnson in third place ($249,336). Lichtenberger came into heads-up play holding greater than a 3-to-1 chip lead over Australia’s Craig Blight.

“I felt really comfortable coming in. I had no fears or doubts,” said Lichtenberger. “I more or less thought he could be within the mentality of ’I’ve gotten this far’ and he can be roughly fearless as a result, just seeking to opt for it.”

Blight was in a position to hang out and mount a small comeback, but Lichtenberger kept hold of the lead heading into what will be the final hand of the tournament. With blinds of 80,000 – 160,000 with an ante of 20,000 Lichtenberger limped in from the button and Blight checked his option.

The flop came down 742 and Blight checked. Lichtenberger bet 300,000 and Blight check-raised to 800,000. Lichtenberger made the decision and the 3 hit the turn.

Blight checked and Lichtenberger fired out of venture of 1.2 million. Blight made the decision and the K completed the board. Blight checked again and Lichtenberger moved all in, having Blight’s 5.5 million covered. After a while within the tank Blight made the decision with the 74 for 2 pair only to peer Lichtenberger turn over the 65 for a turned straight. With that Blight was eliminated in second place, earning $351,721 for his deep run and Lichtenberger finally secured his first gold bracelet.

Here is a glance on the payouts and POY points awarded at this final table:

Place	Player	Earnings (USD)	POY Points
1	Andrew Lichtenberger	$569,158	1440
2	Craig Blight	$351,721	1200
3	Christopher Johnson	$249,336	960
4	Mac Sohrabi	$179,015	720
5	Linglin Zeng	$130,191	600
6	Erhan Iscan	$95,925	480
7	Thomas Miller	$71,617	360
8	Roger Teska	$54,190	240
9	Daniel Wagner	$41,563	120

For more coverage from the summer series, visit the 2016 WSOP landing page complete with an entire schedule, news, player interviews and event recaps.

Read More... [Source: CardPlayer Poker News]