Williams scoops bracelet

All eyes were on Johnny Chan for this one as he made it to the final table and the possibility of winning a record eleventh World Series of Poker bracelet, but it was another well known name, David Williams that caried off the spoils in Event #10.

Event #10 was the $1,500 buy-in Seven-card Stud tournament, which attracted 478 competitors and a prize fund of $652,470.

It was a grest result for David Williams, a seasoned pro and always there or there abouts when it comes to tournament finishes.

He is probably best known for finishing second to Greg Raymer in the Main Event in 2004, and frequent appearances on WPT TV shows.

After scooping $3.5 million for second place in 2004, Williams turned pro, moved to Vegas, signed deals and became one of the recognisable faces of today’s poker scene. But a big win still eluded him.

He is mostly known for playing Hold’em however, and this success in a different poker variant comes as somewhat of a surprise.

“I play a lot of the mixed games against some very good players,” the 26 year old from Las Vegas explained.

“I play with Chau Giang, David Singer, Mike Wattel, and top players who really know the game. I picked up on some of the things they do, and that really helped me. I also talked to (noted sports handicapper) Alan Boston who is a very solid stud player and got some very good advice from him.”

It was agreat result for Williams who has definitely arrived now, with the kudos from the winning a WSOP bracelet massively outweighing the $163,118 cash prize.

“It’s really all I have thought about or cared about,” Williams said following his greatest personal triumph.

“I wanted it so bad that I changed my daily activities to put myself in a much better position to win. Now, I am so happy I feel like crying. I’m fighting back the tears right now. It’s the best I’ve ever felt in my life.”

It was a tough final table, with three of the eight finalists former gold bracelet winners – including Johnny Chan (with 10 wins), Miami John (with three wins), and Jack Duncan (with one).

Williams arrived with a more than healthy chip stack and was able to dictate the pace from there on in.

It’s not often that ten-time gold bracelet winner Johnny Chan is short stacked at a poker table, he made the final table with little ammunition. Low on chips throughout, Chan was eliminated when he lost with a pair of sixes to “Miami John” Cernuto’s trip nines.

Those in the packed gallery expecting to see yet another night of history being made at this year’s WSOP in what would have been Chan’s record-breaking 11th gold bracelet left disappointed, along with Chan. The 1987 and 1988 world poker champion collected $22,836.

Williams faced John Hoang in heads-up and Hoang battled valiantly for more than three hours before finally succumbing to defeat.

The 39-year-old former software engineer was outchipped during the entire heads-up match, although Williams was certainly put to an unwanted test of endurance. Williams won the final hand with a rather unimpressive (6s-4s) Ks-3h-4c-Jd (8h) versus Hoang’s (Ad-8s) 4c-5s-9d-3c (10s).

A lonely pair of fours is normally not very worthwhile in seven-card stud, but in Williams case – it was worth $163,118, and a lot more in terms of significance. Hoang, who won also won major tournament in Tunica, MS in the past, collected $110,920 for second place.

Event #10
$1,500 Seven-Card Stud
Final table results:

1. David Williams $163,118
2. John Hoang $110,920
3. Jack Duncan $71,772
4. Mitchell Ledis $45,673
5. "Miami" John Cernuto $35,886
6. Ivan Schertzer $29,361
7. Johnny Chan $22,836
8. Matt Hawrilenko $16,312
9. Mark Dickstein $8,482