WSOP Event #31

The winner of Event #41 the $5,000 buy-in World Heads-Up Poker Championship was 21-year-old student from Seoul, South Korea, Daniel Schreiber.

The final match pitted Schreiber against Las Vegas poker pro Mark Muchnik. In the best two-out-of three series, Schreiber won both matches for the sweep. The first match took 79 hands to complete, with the second much shorter, lasting just 11 hands.

First place paid $425,594, and was Schreiber’s his first tournament cash ever, at the WSOP or any other poker event.

The heads-up tournament was much different logistically than conventional poker events. With players sitting face to face with a dealer in-between them, the vast tournament arena more closely resembled a series of chess matches than poker games.

2006 WSOP main event runner-up Paul Wasicka made it as far as the sixth round, and then busted out. According to poker journalist Gary Wise, Wasicka ran off a remarkable 13 straight wins in heads-up matches, dating back to the previous event held at Caesars Palace. That is the longest recorded series of heads-up wins ever recorded in live tournament play.

1998 World Series of Poker champion Scotty Nguyen also busted out in the sixth round. Former gold bracelet winner Kevin Song also busted out in the same frame.

Several former WSOP gold bracelet winners made it past the first day and finished in-the-money. However, they crashed in the fourth round. These players included – Layne Flack, Gavin Griffin, and Jennifer Tilley.

Jennifer Tilly (2005 Ladies World Poker Champion) was nominated for an Academy Award (Best Supporting Actress) in 1994 for her role as the seductress in Woody Allen’s "Bullets Over Broadway."

Winning required the champion to win 10 consecutive matches – 3 matches on Day One, 3 matches on Day Two, and 4 matches on Day Three.

Sixty-four players received prize money. That meant three winning matches were needed to cash (except for those players who received byes in the first round, which was mandated by an odd number of total entries).

Final results:
1. Daniel Schreiber Seoul, S. Korea $425,594
2. Mark Muchnik Las Vegas, NV $230,300
3. Keith Block Pomona, NY $128,968
4. Vanessa Selbst Brooklyn, NY $128,968
5. Steve Sarrafzadeh Roslyn, NY $46,060
6. Jared Davis Philadelphia, PA $46,060
7. Shannon Shorr Tuscaloosa, AL $46,060
8. Toto Leonidas Riverside, CA $46,060
9. Paul Wasicka Las Vegas, NV $23,030