Event #43: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship

George Danzer has just won his fourth World Series of Poker gold bracelet. 

The Brazilian-born poker pro of German decent now living in Vienna, Austria won the $10,000 buy-in Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split tournament.  The competition was played over three days and nights and just concluded on the ESPN main stage at the Rio in Las Vegas.  Danzer won this prestigious title for the second time. 

Danzer collected $338,646 in prize money.  This marked his 24th time to cash at the series, since his Las Vegas poker debut back in 2010.  Danzer won on three previous occasions – first the $10K Razz Championship in 2014.  Next, he won the $10K Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split Championship, also in 2014.  Then, he won the Eight-Game Mix title at WSOP Asia-Pacific, later in 2014. 

“It’s not like you win three (WSOP victories) every year.  That’s tough to do,” Danzer said afterward.  “Last year was a brick year for me, so this is becoming a much better year, so far.” 

Danzer won his latest victory by coming out on top among a final ten lineup loaded with gold bracelet winners – including David Benyamine, Justin Bonomo, David Grey, Eli Elezra, Scott Clements, Randy Ohel, Todd Brunson, along with Danzer.  For those keeping track, that’s eight out of ten seats with prior WSOP titles.  Esther Taylor-Brady, fresh off 10th and 11th place finishes within the past week, along with Roland Israelashvili (eight cashes at this year’s series) rounded out the formidable Day Three starting lineup. 

It was the craziest final table I’ve been to – that’s for sure,” Danzer said. 

On the third day of play, there was considerable movement among the top ten during the finale.  The chip lead changed several times.  Justin Bonomo was in the lead during the first few hours.  Then, Todd Brunson seized command.  However, he couldn’t hold the lead, and was replaced in the later stages of the tourney by Danzer.  Later, Bonomo regained the lead again and the whirlwind of chip leads swung with what seemed to be each and every hand. 

The most thrilling part of the tournament took place when action was three-handed between Danzer, Ohel and Bonomo.  The trio traded chips back and forth for four hours, with each player assuming a commanding position at one point until Danzer emerged with the clear advantage. 

“When it got short-handed, it got crazy.  Eight-or-Better becomes a game of lots of re-steals,” Danzer explained.  “It’s easy to lose the overview.  Sometimes, you just have to look at your hand and hope it’s the best at some point.” 

After Bonomo was eliminated in third place, the ultimate moment of triumph came when the three-time champ scooped the final pot of the tournament against Ohel who finished as the runner up.  By this time, the betting limits were so high (less than 30 bets on the table between both players) that just a hand or two could have changed the final outcome.  However, Danzer did admit that some of his previous experience in the same spot two years ago proved useful during the later stages of this tournament. 

With the victory, Danzer becomes the all-time winningest German player in history at the WSOP.  He had been tied with Dominik Nitsche coming into this event, with three wins.  Overall, German poker players have now won 26 gold bracelets in the 47-year history of the series. 

“Now that I have won this tournament twice, I feel more comfortable to play it again,” Danzer said.  “I think I’m a favorite over the field.  But I wouldn’t say I am one of the best because there are so many players that play high-stakes who are ahead of me.  But I am doing fine because tournament strategy is a little bit different.”

This tourney attracted 136 entrants which created a prize pool totaling $1,278,400.  The top 21 finishers collected prize money. 

Aside from the winner, here’s a brief report of the other top finishers who made the final table: 

Second Place:  Randy Ohel, from Las Vegas, NV put up a tough fight, but finished as the runner up.  This was his 25^th time to cash at the series.  His $209,302 payout put him over $1.2 million in WSOP earnings, to date.  Although he’s yet to win a title this year, Ohel has still posted some remarkable numbers – including a 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and 8^th. 

Third Place:  Justin Bonomo, from Glendale, CO has enjoyed two close calls with first place, coming in second in the $1,500 buy-in HORSE tourney and now taking third place in this latest competition.  The former gold bracelet winner (2014) now has 38 cashes at the series to go along with close to $2.8 million in career earnings.  Third place paid out $148,601. 

Fourth Place:  Esther Taylor-Brady, from the Philadelphia area, cashed in fourth place.  This was her fourth time to make a deep run at this year’s series.  She’s now improved with each cash, finishing 32^nd, 11^th, 10^th and now 4^th.  This was her deepest run yet in a WSOP event.  She also picked up her richest WSOP-related finish, which came to $107,551.  Taylor-Brady came in second in a WSOP Circuit Championship back in 2008, which also paid out six figures. 

Fifth Place:  Todd Brunson, from Las Vegas, NV made another deep run at this year’s series.  He made his second final table in 2016, which paid $79,381.  This marked Brunson’s 50^th in-the-money finish at the WSOP.  He won a gold bracelet back in 2005 in an Omaha High-Low Split event. 

Sixth Place:  Eli Elezra, from Las Vegas, NV has cashed six times in 2016, but he’s not been able to win what would have been a fourth gold bracelet.  This was his 48^th cash at the WSOP.  Elezra, a top high-stakes cash game player and popular pro in local card rooms, made $59,773 for this effort. 

Seventh Place:  Scott Clements, from Mt. Vernon, WA is a high-low split specialist who has quite a track record in Omaha tourneys.   Two of his three gold bracelets were in various forms of Omaha.  He has also posted six second-place finishes in WSOP events.  Clements, now with 49 cashes and more than $2.8 million in career earnings, pocketed $45,935. 

Eighth Place:  David Grey, from Henderson, NV has won two gold bracelets, in 1999 and 2005 respectively.  He’s also cashed 18 times at the series.  His second final table appearance of this year’s series paid out $36,044.