WSOP Event #13

World Series of Poker Event #14, Seven-Card Stud World Championship, 7-9 June 2008

Entrants: 158
Buy in: $10,000
Prize pool: $1,485,200

Final results:

1. Eric Brooks $415,856

2. Fu Wong $259,910

3. Alexander Kostritsyn $163,372

4. Minh Ly $118,816

5. Erik Seidel $92,825

6. Jim Paluszek $74,260

7. David Oppenheim $59,408

8. Vassilios Lazarou $48,269

9. Phil Ivey $37,130

The $10,000 buy-in Seven-Card Stud World Championship No-Limit Hold’em Shootout attracted a stellar field of 158 players. The total prize pool amounted to $1,485,200. Only the top 16 places were paid.

Day Two of this event attracted perhaps the largest gallery of the year at this year’s WSOP. Several notable poker superstars including Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Erik Seidel, and others guaranteed that viewing space would be tight. Poker fans lined the rails and stayed positioned about the dwindling tables until 3 am, when the final eight players had finally been determined.

In what must be considered a monumental upset, the winner of this event was Eric Brooks, from Bryn Mawr, PA. This was not only Brooks’ first time ever to cash at the WSOP, it was also his first cash in a major poker tournament (anywhere).

Brooks collected $415,856 for first place. He also earned his first WSOP gold bracelet.
Incredibly, Brooks announced that he will donate the entire cash prize to a non-profit charity called the Decision Education Foundation. He make the following remarks in a post-tournament interview:

“No, (I did not expect to win). I guess all of us went home last night and thought about winning. But realistically, these are all really good players. You have to get lucky three days in the row, for sure, to win.”

“I feel good about what happened today. I’m leaving (Las Vegas) tomorrow and heading to Oregon for my father’s 85th birthday.”

Some other former WSOP winners who cashed in this tournament included Phil Ivey (9th), Daniel Negreanu (10th), Alexander Kravchenko (13th), and Robert Mizrachi (14th).
There was considerable interest in this tournament from many players in the tournament room. Phil Ivey had reportedly wagered millions of dollars on himself that he will win a WSOP gold bracelet this year.

Many top pros bet against Ivey, not doubting his talent necessarily as much as differing with Ivey as to his real chances of victory (Note: Ivey is said to have settled on a 1:1.8 payout in his favor). Ivey had a big stack when play went to two tables. But he busted out in ninth place, and many poker players breathed a sigh of relief.

Another note on the Phil Ivey wager: Seven-Card Stud is perhaps Ivey’s best poker game and with the smaller field, his detractors were most fearful he would win this event (or the Deuce-to-Seven tournament).

After 14 events, the “Professionals versus Amateurs” scoreboard reads – Pros (10) and Amateurs (4).

All WSOP images are supplied by “IMPDI for the 2008 WSOP”