Vaswani wins bracelet

Ram Vaswani has won Event #53, $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout, earning $217,438, a Corum watch, and a coveted WSOP bracelet.

The win marks the first success for a British player at the 2007 World Series of Poker, and follows up the dual victories of Praz Bansi and John Gale last year.

This tournament attracted 720 players who contributed to a prizepool of $982,800 The end came at around 4am in the morning, as the Hendon Mobster defeat Andrew Ward in heads-up play. Vaswani built up an unassailable chip lead, before winning the bracelet after turning a King high flush.

The first place prize of $217,438 could be regarded as small change for a gambler of the stature of Vaswani, but he now joins an elite band of British poker players who have won a highly coveted World Series of Poker gold bracelet.

Vaswani has come close to winning a gold bracelet numerous times. He has 13 career cashes since 2002 – including 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and other finishes. He was cheered on by a rowdy crowd of supporters despite the late hour at which the tournament concluded.

Final results:
1. Ram Vaswani, Hendon, UK, $217,438
2. Andy Ward, London, UK, $124,816
3. Anh Van Nguyen, Toronto, ON, $83,538
4. David Mosca, $58,968
5. Ishak Noyan, Sweden, $31,450
6. Sondre Sagstuen, Norway, $19,656
7. David Baker, Katy, TX, $12,776
8. Rayvenia Puckett, $9,582
9. Annaud Ramdin, Las Vegas, NV, $6,634