WSOP Event #33

World Series of Poker Event #33, Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split World Championship, 17-19 June 2008

Entrants: 261
Buy in: $10,000
Prize pool: $1,226,700

Final results:

1. Sebastian Ruthenberg, $328,762

2. Chris Ferguson, $202,405

3. Bob Lauria, $125,736

4. Marcel Luske, $95,069

5. Annie Duke, $73,602

6. Alessio Isaia, $58,268

7. Steve Sung, $46,001

8. Bob Beveridge, $36,801

9. Howard Lederer, $30,667

The $10,000 buy-in Seven-Card Stud World Championship attracted 261 entries and created a record prize pool totaling $1,226,700. The top 24 finishers (final three tables) collected prize money.

This was the first million-dollar prize pool ever for a Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split tournament. Accordingly, it now stands as the richest Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split tournament in poker history.

Since 1976, the list of event winners reads like a “Who’s Who” of poker. Past winners include – Johnny Moss, Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese, Mickey Appleman, Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Max Stern, Men “the Master” Nguyen, Mike Sexton, Artie Cobb, Vince Burgio, Cyndy Violette, and Rich Korbin.

The 2008 Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split World Champion is Sebastian Ruthenberg, from Hamburg, Germany. He is a 24-year-old poker pro, who has been playing full-time for about two years.

Ruthenberg collected $328,762 for first place. He also earned his first WSOP gold bracelet. This was his second year to play at the WSOP.

Ruthernberg’s best previous finish in a major poker tournament had been 3rd place in the European Poker Tour’s Dortmund championship.

Following his upset victory over one of poker’s living legends, Ruthenberg complimented his rival by saying, “(Chris Ferguson) is the better player. He really is a better player than me….I have only been playing this game for six months and he has played so much more than me.”

With this finish, Ferguson cashed for the 54th time in his career at the World Series. He now ranks third on the all-time WSOP list, behind only two players – Phil Hellmuth (65) and Men “the Master” Nguyen (57).

Determined to play in as many events as possible, Ferguson registered for the $10,000 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split World Championship, which started as this final table was being played. During occasional breaks while most players would freshen up, Ferguson instead rushed over to play in the other tournament.

When the final table went past midnight, Ferguson sat down just in time to double up his dwindling stack, which gave him an additional number of rounds in the conflicting tournament.

Poker pro, activist, and former WSOP gold bracelet winner Annie Duke cashed for the 35th time in her illustrious WSOP career. She took fifth place in this event.

Two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Howard Lederer, a.k.a. “the Professor” of poker, cashed out in ninth place. This marked his 37th career WSOP cash. An interesting side note is that Lederer just missed making it to the final table along with his sister Annie Duke. This would have marked the third occasion where that has happened.

While all 55 WSOP tournaments on the 2008 schedule are “gold bracelet” events, this is also known as a “world championship” event. This means the winner of this event is the Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split world champion.

Beginning this year, all $10,000+ buy-in tournaments are designated as official world championships. This means a total of ten WSOP tournaments are world championships. This includes eight gold bracelet tournaments with $10,000 buy-ins, the $50,000 buy-in HORSE event, and the Main Event.

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