EVENT UPDATES
view updates for day:
Monday, June 15, 2015 7:57 PM Local Time
Maryland pro shines brightest in field full of stars, dons second bracelet and pockets $224,383
Nick Schulman falls short of third 2-7 championship, finishes runner up for $138,665
MEET THE LATEST WSOP GOLD BRACELET WINNER:
Name: Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond
Age: 30
Residence: North Potomac, Md.
Occupation: Professional poker player
Marital status: Married
Number of WSOP Cashes: 15
Number of WSOP final table appearances: 6
Number of WSOP gold bracelet victories: 2
Best previous WSOP finish: 1st ($5,000 pot-limit Omaha with re-buys, 2008)
Total WSOP earnings: $2,156,473
The above stats include Galfond’s Event #29 victory
TOURNAMENT RECAP:
Las Vegas (June 15, 2015)
— Phil Galfond is a two-time gold bracelet winner following a
championship performance in Event #29 of the 2015 World Series of Poker
Monday night. Galfond, a professional poker player who hails from North
Potomac, Md., maneuvered through an uber-talented field in the $10,000
No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship and was rewarded handsomely with a
$224,383 first prize. Widely recognized as one of the brightest minds
in the game, Galfond’s Event #29 win marks his 15th WSOP cash and moves
him over the $2,000,000 mark in career earnings. What’s more, this marks
his second 2-7 championship final table having finished fourth in last
year’s limit event.
“It
means a lot — especially in a field this tough and at a table this
tough,” Galfond said in the moments following his victory. “I have a ton
of respect for all my opponents […] It’s been seven years since I won
[a bracelet]. I’m very happy.”
Galfond
earned his first gold bracelet in a $5,000 pot-limit Omaha with re-buys
event in 2008. Then his crowning tournament achievement, the win came
care of a 152-player field and earned Galfond $817,781. Much like his
most-recent win, the final table was a virtual who’s who of the
professional world as Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda and
others graced the table before falling short of gold.
Making
his 2-7 championship Monday night even sweeter and more impressive is
the fact it came at the hands of fellow pro Nick Schulman. Schulman, who
finished second earning $138,665, is a two-time champion of this event
and was poised for his third title holding a chip lead of better than
3-to-1 over Galfond during heads-up play. An early double up for Galfond
leveled the playing field, and from there, he simply chipped away at
Schulman until he held all of the 2,310,000 chips in play.
“When
we were shorthanded, everybody’s so good,” Galfond said of the final
table. “Normally in tournaments you tend to sort of shy away from spots
because there are going to be better situations to get your money in […]
When I was heads up with [Schulman], I’m going to take every spot that
presents itself. There’s no huge edge later. Just try to play every hand
as best you can.”
Galfond is best known for his exploits in high stakes, online cash games where he plays under the moniker OMGClayAiken.
One of the early stars of the virtual felt, he’s remained more than
relevant with continued success and the expansion of his influence away
from the table. Admittedly, he’s in a different place in his life now
than he was seven years ago when he won his first gold bracelet, but the
six-figure cash-game pots and business ventures haven’t numbed him to
the point where he can’t take a prideful look back at a tournament
victory.
“Because
we had so few players [in the 2-7], the prize pool — I mean, it’s big —
but compared to some of the other events it’s one of the smaller prize
pools,” Galfond said. “I’ve played for cash game pots the size of first
place. This feels a lot bigger and I think it’s because of this stage
and the bracelet. It’s more meaningful than cash games.”
The
no-limit 2-7 championship drew an intimate field of 77 players but was
ripe with talent. The $723,800 prize pool paid the top 14 finishers. Of
them, eight were gold bracelet winners, and of those, six were multiple
time winners. The award for most decorated player at the final table
went to Erik Seidel. Seidel, an eight-time gold bracelet winner, cashed
in a $10,000 championship event for the third time this year, but
ultimately came short of a ninth victory. Other notable finishers
include Bernard Lee (eighth, $19,824) who crossed $1,000,000 in WSOP
earnings, Eli Elezra (sixth, $31,463) who made his second final table of
the 2015 series and the runner-up Schulman.
“In
a field this tough, you can’t have a huge edge, but I felt pretty good
going in and throughout the tournament,” Galfond said.
Here’s a look at the tournament’s eight-handed final table results:
1st: Phil Galfond - $224,383
2nd: Nick Schulman - $138,665
3rd: Dan Smith - $87,898
4th: Erik Seidel - $59,532
5th: Jon Turner - $42,298
6th: Eli Elezra - $31,463
7th: Adam Owen - $24,457
8th: Bernard Lee - $19,824
EVENT FUN FACTS:
Adam Owen was the only international final table participant. He hails from Folkstone, United Kingdom.
Eight
of the 14 in-the-money finishers were gold bracelet winners. Of these,
six were multiple-time winners. Seidel topped the latter group claiming
eight.
Deuce-to-Seven
Lowball made its tournament debut at the 1973 WSOP. The game is rarely
played anywhere except at the very highest levels. It’s rarely spread
inside public card rooms — either as cash games or tournaments. In fact,
the WSOP is one of the few places where this poker variant is offered.
The game was tacked onto the WSOP schedule because it was the preferred
game of many high-stakes cash game players.
“It’s
probably the purest form of poker that I’m aware of,” Galfond said.
“It’s very much a one-zero game where they either have it or they don’t.
There’s a lot of psychology that goes behind that. It’s just a lot of
people trying to read each other more or less.”
The
very first Deuce-to-Seven Lowball champion was Aubrey Day. Since then,
the Deuce-to-Seven gold bracelet has been won by a royal court of poker
champions, including Jack Straus, Sailor Roberts, Billy Baxter, Doyle
Brunson, Bobby Baldwin, Sarge Ferris, Stu Ungar, Dewey Tomko, Seymour
Lebowitz, Bob Stupak, John Bonetti, Freddy Deeb, Johnny Chan, Erik
Seidel, Jennifer Harman, O’Neil Longsen, Barry Greenstein, and others.
EVENT DIRECT LINKS:
Phil Galfond’s official WSOP player profile page is available HERE.
Final results, live reporting log, photos and official winner photo are available HERE.
Live stream archive of the event is available HERE.Monday, June 15, 2015 6:32 PM Local Time
Phil Galfond raises to 50,000 from the button and Nick Schulman moves all in from the big blind for a total of 649,000. Galfond asks for an exact count, and after a few moments of deliberation, Galfond makes the call.
Schulman now takes his turn to enter the tank as he contemplates whether to stand pat or how many to draw. After about a minute, Schulman discards one and Galfond does the same.
Schulman:
Galfond:
As a now standing Schulman bends down to squeeze his card, he asks Galfond, "do you wanna squeeze first?"
Galfond responds by adding, "yeah I'll just flip it over!"
Galfond reaches for his draw card and reveals the to render Schulman drawing dead.
Schulman flips over his and heads over to Galfond to give him a congratulatory handshake while simultaneously heading to the rail in 2nd place for a $138,665 - his first runner-up finish in this event after winning it in 2012 and 2009 as well as a 5th in 2011.
Monday, June 15, 2015 6:20 PM Local Time
Nick Schulman raises to 50,000 and Phil Galfond calls as both players draw one.
Galfond bets out 65,000 and Schulman deliberates for a few moments before making the call.
Galfond tables his for a rough nine to capture the pot from Schulman.
Phil Galfond - 1,740,000
Nick Schulman - 570,000
Monday, June 15, 2015 6:18 PM Local Time
Phil Galfond raises to 50,000 and Nick Schulman calls and draws one as Galfond stands pat.
Schulman checks and Galfond checks behind.
Galfond tables his and Schulman mucks.
Monday, June 15, 2015 6:16 PM Local Time
Nick Schulman raises to 50,000 and Phil Galfond calls and draws one as Schulman stands pat.
Galfond checks and Schulman bets out 60,000 with Galfond folding.
Monday, June 15, 2015 6:13 PM Local Time
Phil Galfond raises to 50,000 and Nick Schulman calls and draws two cards as Galfond stands pat.
Schulman bets out 150,000 and Galfond makes the call.
Galfond tables his and scoops the pot from Schulman.
Monday, June 15, 2015 6:10 PM Local Time
Nick Schulman raises to 50,000 and Phil Galfond calls and draws one as Schulman draws one also.
Galfond checks and Schulman bets out 100,000 and Galfond folds.
Phil Galfond - 1,450,000
Nick Schulman - 860,000
Monday, June 15, 2015 6:03 PM Local Time
Nick Schulman raises to 50,000 and Phil Galfond three-bets to 160,000 from the big blind.
Schulman folds and Galfond is pushed the pot.
Monday, June 15, 2015 6:02 PM Local Time
Phil Galfond pops it up to 50,000 from his button and Nick Schulman calls. Both players take one card at the draw. Schulman leads out with a bet of 130,000. Galfond lets it go and Schulman wins the pot.
Monday, June 15, 2015 5:59 PM Local Time
Nick Schulman raises to 50,000 and Phil Galfond makes the call and draws two as Schulman draws two also.
Galfond bets out 60,000 and Schulman makes the call.
Galfond tables a pair as Shulman tables his to scoop the pot.
Monday, June 15, 2015 5:57 PM Local Time
Phil Galfond raises to 50,000 from the button and Nick Schulman calls from the big blind. Both players take two new cards at the draw.
Schulman bets 80,000 and Galfond calls. Galfond rolls over for a pair of deuces and takes down the pot.
Phil Galfond - 1,598,000
Nick Schulman - 812,000
Monday, June 15, 2015 5:54 PM Local Time
The cards are back in the air!
Monday, June 15, 2015 5:54 PM Local Time
Level: 23
Blinds: 12,000/24,000
Ante: 6,000
Monday, June 15, 2015 5:35 PM Local Time
The two players are heading on a 20-minute break.
Monday, June 15, 2015 5:32 PM Local Time
Nick Schulman raises to 50,000 and Phil Galfond three-bets to 155,000. Schulman quickly folds.
Monday, June 15, 2015 5:31 PM Local Time
Phil Galfond makes it 40,000 from the button and Nick Schulman calls. Schulman takes one card on the draw and Galfond stands pat.
Both players check and Galfond shows for the win.
Monday, June 15, 2015 5:28 PM Local Time
Nick Schulman raises to 50,000 and Phil Galfond calls from the big blind and draws one as Schulman also draws one.
Galfond bets out 65,000 and Schulman makes the call.
Galfond tables his and Schulman mucks his hand.
Monday, June 15, 2015 5:27 PM Local Time
Nick Schulman raises to 50,000 from the button only to have Phil Galfond pop it up to 150,000 from the big blind. Schulman calls and the two are off to the draw.
Galfond takes one new card while Schulman stands pat. Galfond cuts out a bet of 445,000 following the draw. Schulman goes deep into the tank, pondering his action for right around three minutes. Ultimately, he decides to kick his cards into the muck and Galfond brings the match to about even.
Phil Galfond - 1,130,000
Nick Schulman - 1,180,000
Monday, June 15, 2015 5:18 PM Local Time
Phil Galfond makes it 40,000 from the button and Nick Schulman calls. Both players pull one new card at the draw. Schulman bets 80,000 and Galfond lays it down.
Monday, June 15, 2015 5:15 PM Local Time
Phil Galfond raises to 40,000 from the button and Nick Schulman calls from the big blind as both players draw one.
Schulman tosses out a bet of 50,000 and Galfond folds.