The moniker “best poker player who’s never won a gold bracelet” is a bit unjust.
It implies there’s a small clique of players who somehow are more deserving of a World Series of Poker victory than others. It also puts unnecessary pressure on the players who are thought of in this way.
Just ask the players of the very recent past who found themselves in this category before finally shedding the proverbial poker monkey in 2010 – Gavin Smith, Michael “the Grinder” Mizrachi, Frank Kassela, Chris Bell, and others.
But no longer does Fabrice Soulier, from France need to worry about it as he has finished off Shawn Buchanan, from Canada just a short while ago to capture his first WSOP gold bracelet.
Soulier was able to close out the win versus a tough battle-tested Buchanan, becoming the third French WSOP winner this year.
In addition to the two very deserving heads-up finalists, the other final table players -- all of whom have since been eliminated -- were also quite worthy of a victory based on their reputations and accomplishments. This illustrious list included Andrey Zaichenko, Daniel Ospina, Tom Dwan, Matthew Ashton, Michael Binger, and Jacobo Fernandez -- who finished third through eight respectively.
Soulier received the coveted WSOP gold bracelet. He also wins a whopping $609,130 in prize money. Buchanan collected $463,480, but will also continue to linger in the "Best Not to Win" category.