Ayaz Mahmood Wins WSOP Gold Bracelet in Event 35
NEWS FLASH:  Ayaz Mahmood Wins WSOP Gold Bracelet in Event 35

Veteran Poker Pro Becomes First Bangladesh-Born WSOP Winner


Ayaz Mahmood was the winner of the $10,000 buy-in Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em championship at the 2010 World Series of Poker.  This marked his first career WSOP gold bracelet victory after nearly a decade spent on the tournament trail.  First place paid a whopping $626,674 – which was Mahmood’s biggest payout ever.

Mahmood is a 38-year-old former furniture retailer-turned poker pro now living in the Houston suburb of Sugarland, TX.  He is originally from Bangladesh.  In fact, Mahmood became the first Bangladesh-born WSOP gold bracelet winner in the 41-year history of the WSOP.

Mahmood won nine straight heads-up matches spread out over four days and nights to achieve his gold bracelet victory.  The final match -- using a best two-out-of-three format -- proved to be the most grueling test.  Mahmood faced a formidable foe, German-born poker pro Ernst Schmejkal, who ended up finishing second.  The first match in the heads-up finale lasted a mind-numbing 6 hours and 20 minutes, making it the third-longest heads-up finale in WSOP history.  The duel went so long that players agreed to resume play (Match 2) on an unscheduled fourth day.  The second match proved to be much shorter than the first, as Mahmood won the victory in slightly more than an hour.  As the runner up, Schmejkal collected a nice consolation prize amounting to $386,900.

This year’s Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em championship sold out at 256 entries.  The total prize pool amounted to $2,406,400.  The top 32 finishers collected prize money.  Former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included – Alexander Kravchenko, David Williams, Scott Clements, and Antonio “the Magician” Esfandiari.

A full report of this event will be posted shortly.

For official tournament results and additional details, please CLICK HERE.