Medic wins opener

It was a first World Series of Poker bracelet for the Canadian pro as he defeated Andy Bloch during heads-up play to win the $794,112 first prize.

The 24-year-old from Ontario, who was born in Serbia, has previously had three WSOP cash finishes and also won the 2006 World Poker Tour finals.

But he took the biggest victory of his career against a final table comprising of star professionals such as Phil Laak, Mike Sowers, Patrik Antonius, Mike Sexton and Kathy Liebert.

Medic started the final table, which lasted eight hours, with 1.2 million in chips, nearly a million behind Bloch while Laak, Liebert and Antonius were short stacked and the former had to settle for ninth place after being eliminated by Medic.

Sowers soon lost a healthy chip stack and finished eighth while the 'Flying Finn' Antonius was eliminated in seventh place for his 12th money finish at the World Series of Poker.

Amit Makhija and Chris Bell were the least heralded players at the final table and they finished fifth and sixth respectively.

At this point Medic and Sexton were nearly even in chips but the 2006 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions victor was only fourth after losing a big hand to the eventual winner before finally being eliminated by Liebert.

Sexton opened for 280,000 from the button and Liebert called from the big blind before checking after an Ace, Jack, eight flop. Sexton moved All-in and was shiftly called by his opponent who showed an Ace, eight compared to his Ace, six. The turn produced a four and the river a six meaning Liebert's two pair took the pot.

However the effort consolidated his position in the top 10 for all time number of finishes in the money at the WSOP with over 40 cashes now for the 50-year-old.

Liebert, the first woman ever to win a tournament with a first prize of $1,000,000 and the winner of the gold bracelet in the 2004 WSOP Texas Hold 'em Shootout event, had managed to hang around for a long time with a short stack before departing to Medic.

Medic made a pre-flop raise of 300,000 from the button, Liebert moved All-in from the small blind for 850,000 and Bloch increased it to 2.8 million.

Medic made the call and went All-In with his pocket queens while Bloch held a pair of nines and Liebert's pocket sixes. The community cards were Ace, Queen, two then four and a five and it gave the man from north of the border a 2-1 chip lead going into heads-up play.

Medic's aggressive style eventually paid off in the final hand as he hit a flush draw on the turn and he said afterwards: "It was the toughest final table I've been at. Really it was a strong field the whole way. It feels great knowing that it was a really good field and I was able to pull through. Sure I caught some cards, but I felt like I played really well the whole way. I made a couple of folds in the early stages that were maybe questionable, but here I am with the bracelet."

There are 54 bracelets up for grabs between now and July 8 at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and also the members of the final table for the World Championship No-Limit Texas Hold'em will be decided in the largest and most prestigious set of poker tournaments in the world.