Event #26: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship

After three long days of play and surviving a field of 4,407 players, Ken Lind was victorious in Event #26: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship. Playing in a WSOP Event was on his bucket list, and play he did, all the way to the gold bracelet and a first-place prize of $634,809. Additionally, he will be forever remembered for this victory as his name is the latest to be inscribed on the Golden Eagle Trophy.

Lind started to break away from the pack early on day two by accumulating chips by playing big pot poker. The cards continued to fall his way as he entered today second in chips and never looked back. The day started with 34 players and the few notable players left in the tournament were lost early on when we saw Hoyt Corkins (23rd), Mark Kroon (25th) and Larry Wright (26th) hit the rail on our way to the final table.

Lind started the final table where he started the day, second in chips behind Dana Ott, our second place finisher. It wouldn't take Lind long to gain control of the table and earn the chips to secure his victory. Our first elimination came when Fernando Halac was unable to make his draw against Lind. Our next elimination also came at the hands of Lind, when Jack Ward found his threes up against Lind's tens. The tens held and Ward was eliminated in eighth place.

Just three hands later, James Miller found himself all in against Randy Spain with a weaker ace. Miller couldn't find help on the board and left the tournament as the seventh-place finisher. Michel Bouskila was the next to go in sixth place when his ace queen ran into the queens of Lind and he couldn't find an ace on the board. Randy Spain (5th) and Barry Bashist (4th) were the next players to be eliminated when their hands failed to improve against Lind, who was catching just what he needed to win pots. It was three-handed play for quite a while before John Holley fell victim to Dana Ott, who played his flush a little tricky and trapped Holley for all his chips.

Heads up play began and both Ott and Lind changed gears. It was more about waiting for the right cards and was sort of reminiscent of old-school poker before the boom. Eventually, it took both players having big hands to end the tournament. Ott's trips were up against Lind's straight and the straight held. And just 30 minutes into an extra level of play that was added at the request of the players, Ken Lind won the tournament that just three days ago he was just happy be to playing.

Now that our champion is crowned, our coverage of The Senior's Championship is complete. Stay with PokerNews.com for all the latest coverage coming to you from the 44th Annual World Series of Poker.

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Hand #210: Kenneth Lind folded the small blind giving Dana Ott a walk.

Hand #211: Ott completed the small blind and Lind raised to 635,000. Ott folded and Lind wins.

Hand #212: Lind completed the small blind, Ott raised to 400,000 and Lind folded.

Hand #213: Ott raised to 360,000 and Lind folded.

Hand #214: Lind folded the small blind giving Ott a walk.

Hand #215: Ott completed the small blind and Lind checked his option. Lind check folded to the 300,000 bet of Ott on the     flop.

Hand #216: Lind completed the small blind and Ott checked his option. Both players check the     flop and   turn. Ott checked the   river and Lind sent his cards to the muck.

Hand #217: Ott completed the small blind and Lind checked his option. Lind check folded to the 400,000 bet of Ott on the     flop.

Hand #218: Lind folded the small blind giving Ott a walk.

Hand #196: Ken Lind completed the small blind and Dana Ott checked his option. Ott led for 300,000 on a     flop and Lind called. Both players checked the   turn. Ott check folded the   river to Lind's 500,000 bet.

Hand #197: Ott completed the small blind and Lind checked his option. Both players checked the     flop and the   turn. Lind check folded the   river when Ott bet 300,000.

Hand #198: Lind opened to 360,000 and Ott called. Ott check folded the     when Lind bet 500,000.

Hand #199: Ott completed the small blind and Lind checked his option. Lind checked the     flop and Ott bet 300,000. Lind raised to 1,000,000 and Ott folded.

Hand #200: Lind raised to 360,000 and Ott folded.

Hand #201: Ott raised to 360,000 and Lind folded.

Hand #202: Lind raised to 360,0000, Ott made it 1,000,000 and Lind folded.

Hand #185: Ott limped in and Lind checked his option. The flop fell     and Lind check-called a bet of 250,000 by Lind. Both players checked the   on the turn, and the   arrived on the river. Lind checked for a third time, continuing his extremely passive play, and he mucked when Ott fired 500,000 his way.

Hand #186: Ott's big blind was refunded after Lind folded in the small blind.

Hand #187: Ott limped in and Lind checked, while the dealer fanned a flop of     across the felt. Both players tapped the table, and the   on the turn saw Lind check-fold to Lind's 300,000 bet.

Hand #188: Lind limped in and Ott checked his option. The flop fell    , and both players checked around, bringing the   on the turn. Ott then checked to Lind, who won the pot with a bet of 150,000.

Hand #189: Ott limped in on the button, and Lind checked his option, continuing to avoid raises and bets. When he saw the     flop, Lind checked and snap-folded to Ott's 300,000 wager.

Hand #190: Lind surrendered his small blind to Ott.

Hand #191: Ott raised to 360,000, and Lind came along to a flop of     hit the board. Lind then check-folded to Ott's 300,000 bet, sending yet another pot across the table to his formerly short-stacked opponent.

Hand #181: Ott opened for 360,000, and Lind relinquished his blind.

Hand #182: Ott received a walk in his big blind.

Hand #183: Ott opened for 360,000, and Lind relinquished his blind.

Hand #184: Ott received a walk in his big blind.

Hand #172: After a limp by Lind and check by Ott before the flop, we saw the     arrive on board. The two players practiced gentlemanly senior style poker, and the board was checked down on all three streets. Ott rolled over his hand first, and the    was good enough for the win.

Hand #173: The action repeated itself on this hand, with a limp and check preflop, and the       board being checked down. Lind's    was the winner over Ott's   , and Ott said "you got it on the river," while tossing his cards away.

Hand #174: Ott went for a walk in the big blind.

Hand #175: Ott raised his button to 300,000, and Lind called to take a flop of    . Once again, both players tapped the table through the turn ( ) and river ( ), and the pot was chopped when both players turned over king-high.

Hand #161: Dana Ott raised to 350,000 and Ken Lind called. Both players checked the    . Lind check called Otts' bet of 300,000 on the   turn. Both players check the   river. Ott showed    for a pair of nines but they could not beat Lind's    which made him a set.

Hand #162: Lind completed the small blind and Ott checked his option. Both players check the     flop and the   turn. Ott checked the   river and Lind made it 1,000,000. Ott folded to the bet.

Hand #163: Ott completed the small blind and Lind checked his option. Lind check folded to Ott's bet of 250,000 on the     flop.

Hand #164: Lind raised to 300,000 and Ott folded.

Hand #165: Ott completed the small blind and Lind checked his option. Both players checked the     flop. Lind checked the   turn, Ott bet 250,000 and Lind folded.

Hand #154: Ken Lind opened to 300,000 and Dana Ott reraised to 800,000. Lind folded.

Hand #155: Ott opened to 500,000 and Lind folded.

Hand #156: Lind open folded giving Ott a walk.

Hand #157: Ott Opened to 500,000 and Lind folded.

Hand #158: Lind open folded giving Ott a walk.

Hand #159: Ott completed the small blind and Lind checked his option. Both players checked the     flop and   turn. Lind checked teh   turn and Ott bet 300,000. Lind raised to 1,000,000 and Ott folded.

Hand #160: Lind open folded giving Ott the walk.

Hand #153: John Holley's last hand in this Senior Championship ended with a bang, but it began with a simple check of his big blind option. Dana Ott had limped in on the button, and Kenneth Lind did the same from the small blind.

After tapping the table, Holley saw a flop of    , and after Lind checked to him, Holley did the same. Ott seized on this sign of weakness by betting 275,000, which folded Lind quickly, and the action was back on Holley.

He assessed the size of his stack in relation to Ott's, and then reraised to 575,000, putting the pressure back on his opponent. Ott grabbed a stack of chips and moved it forward, saying "I call it" as he did so, and for a brief moment the table thought he had moved all in. After correcting the dealer, Ott's flat call was accepted and the   arrived on the turn.

Holley then shipped his stack into the middle, shoving for just over 1.5 million, and he was dismayed to hear Ott snap him off while beating him to the pot.

"Nice hand sir," said Holley, turning over his    and suspecting he was in bad shape. When Ott turned over his    for the nut straight, Holley discovered that his tournament life had come to an end, and the meaningless   on the river changed nothing. The WSOP Circuit veteran exited in 3rd place, and despite coming up short here at the Mothership, he just added a few more buy-ins to his bankroll.

John Holley

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-2,500,000