Richard Ashby Wins WSOP Gold Bracelet in Event 21
NEWS FLASH:  Richard Ashby Wins WSOP Gold Bracelet in Event 21

Ashby Becomes Third Englishman to Win Victory at 2010 WSOP


Richard Ashby was the winner of the $1,500 buy-in Seven-Card Stud tournament at the 2010 World Series of Poker.  It marked his first ever gold bracelet victory.  By conquering a tough late-stage lineup which included former WSOP event winners Dan Heimiller and Alexander Kravchenko, Ashby pocketed the top cash prize amounting to $140,467.  More meaningful perhaps, was adding his name to the history books.

Ashby, age 38, is primarily an online cash game specialist.  He lives in Vatford, England.  Ashby has now cashed nine times at the WSOP, dating back to 2003.

Ashby also became the third Englishman to win a gold bracelet at this year’s WSOP.  He followed in the footsteps of previous UK champions, Praz Bansi and James Dempsey.

The second-place finisher was Christine Pietsch who barely missed becoming the 16th woman in history to win an open WSOP event.  She had a big chip lead late when heads up play began, but Ashby proved to be a formidable opponent in the duel, leaving the lady from Orange County, CA in second palce.  Pietsch would have joined an illustrious group of female champions, including Jennifer Harman, Annette Obrestad, Annue Duke, Kathy Liebert, Cyndy Violette, Nani Dollison, Kayja Thater, Linda Johnson, Jerri Thomas, Maria Stern, Starla Brodie, Vera Richmond, Donna Doman, Barbara Enright, and Vanessa Selbst – which constitutes the grand circle of female gold bracelet winners.  Selbst was the last woman to win the most coveted of all poker jewelry, which took place in Event #19 at the 2008 WSOP.

This year’s Seven-Card Stud tournament attracted 408 entries, a slight increase in attendance over last year.  The top 40 finishers collected prize money.  Four former WSOP gold bracelet finishers cashed in this event, including Dan Heimiller (4th), Alexander Kravchenko (9th), Scott Seiver (19th), and Rod Pardey, Jr. (37th).

Dan Heimiller’s high finish meant becoming only the third player at this year’s WSOP to reach three final tables, to date.  He finished 2nd in Omaha High-Low Split, 9th in the $10,000 buy-in Seven-Card Stud championship, and came in 4th in this event.  The other two players with three final table appearances so far are John Juanda and Vladimir Shchemelev.

The defending champion was Jeffrey Lisandro, from Salerno, Italy.  He entered this year’s tournament, but did not cash.

A full report of this event will be posted shortly.

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