WSOP Event #26

The winner of Event #26 the $5,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. championship was 28-year old Wall Street hedge fund manager Ralph Schwartz from New York City.

His ability to manage money will come in very handy as he now has a $275,683 first place prize to organise.

Schwartz has been playing poker seriously for about four years. Prior to this win, Schwartz’ one and only in-the-money finish occurred a few weeks ago in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em competition (Event #3) in which he finished 100th. He collected $3,500.

Bill Gazes was the runner up. He has a lengthy tournament record over the past decade, but he has yet to win a World Series gold bracelet. Gazes played remarkably well, overcoming a nearly impossible chip disadvantage at one point when play was at five-handed. He managed to survive and move up the money ladder but failed to catch the rush of cards necessary to go the distance. Gazes collected $153,408.

This was poker superstar Phil Ivey’s second final table appearance at this year’s World Series. He was the runner up in the Seven-Card Stud World Championship (Event #11) last week. His quest for a sixth WSOP gold bracelet fell short yet gain, as he ended up going out in fourth place.

Robert Mizrachi has already made it to two final tables this year. Remarkably, both have been in HORSE competitions. He was sixth in the $2,500 event (#16) and did a little better this time, taking fifth place.

— Alex Kravchenko, from Russia, was eliminated in 10th place. He won Event #9 at this year’s WSOP, which was the Omaha High-Low championship. He now has combined for over half-a-million in winnings at this year’s World Series.

There are three H.O.R.S.E. events on this year’s schedule (and also a S.H.O.E. event). The $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. championship begins June 24th.

Day Two played long, as 12 players were forced to return for Day Three. The final table of eight players was set after three hours. It then took seven more hours to determine the winner.

This was the second smallest field of this year’s WSOP, to date. The 192 entries were slightly more than the 180 sign-ups for the $5,000 buy-in Seven-Card Stud championship. This is the first time such an event with a $5,000 buy-in has ever been featured at the World Series.

Final results:
1. Ralph Schwartz Manhattan, NY $275,683
2. Bill Gazes Las Vegas, NV $153,408
3. Yuebin Guo Brooklyn, NY $99,264
4. Phil Ivey Las Vegas, NV $65,424
5. Robert Mizrachi Sunny Isles Beach, FL $49,632
6. Alexander Jung Berlin, Germany $37,901
7. Thomas Schultz Littleton, CO $28,877
8. Phillip Campbell Duluth, GA $20,755
9. Alex Kravchenko Moscow, Russian Federation $14,438