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.

George Danzer:     /    
Randy Ohel:     /    

George Danzer (pictured) has the bring-in with the  . Randy Ohel completes with the  , and Danzer defends. Danzer bets his lead on fourth street, and Ohel calls. On fifth street, Danzer checks, Ohel bets, and Danzer check-raises to 600,000. Ohel folds.

Two hands later, a simliar pot:

Danzer:     /    
Ohel:     /    

Danzer has the bring-in with the  . Ohel completes, and Danzer defends. Danzer bets his lead on fourth street, and Ohel calls. Danzer bets again on fifth street, Ohel raises, and Danzer three-bets to 900,000. Ohel considers for a long while, then folds.

Danzer has opened up quite a gap thanks to those two hands.

George Danzer - 5,700,000 (19 BB)
Randy Ohel - 1,100,000 (4 BB)

George Danzer and Randy Ohel are heads-up for the bracelet in Event #43. Each of them will earn more than $200,000 this evening, with a top prize of $338,646 reserved for the winner. The two are virtually even in chips as the duel begins:

George Danzer - 3,485,000 (15 BB)
Randy Ohel - 3,315,000 (14 BB)

George Danzer:     /      /  
Justin Bonomo:     /      /  
Randy Ohel:     /      /  

George Danzer is the bring-in with the  . Justin Bonomo completes with the  , Randy Ohel calls, and Danzer raises, committing almost all of his remaining chips. Bonomo and Ohel call the extra bet.

On fourth street, Bonomo checks, Ohel bets, Danzer calls all in for 30,000, and Bonomo calls the full bet to create a side pot. Bonomo pairs his door card on fifth street and bets, Ohel raises, and Bonomo calls. That action repeats on sixth street when Bonomo shows two pair on board. He bets, Ohel raises again, and Bonomo calls. Both players check seventh street.

Bonomo shows     for kings and eights.

Ohel shows     for trip threes, scooping the side pot. Bonomo's cards are mucked.

Danzer leans over the table to take a better look. "No low?" he confirms with Ohel, who does not have one. "I have two outs," Danzer says, revealing    with his river squeeze pending. He needs to find one of the two remaining aces to win the pot. He puts his face down low next to the felt and begins to peel corners of his last card. "It's a no-spotter," he says hopefully. "Clubs." Danzer looks at the exposed cards on board and notices the   is already dead. "It's either the ace or the three," he says. "Fifty-fifty."

What Danzer and the others don't realize is that Bonomo's mucked cards already contain the  , so it must be the ace. Sure enough, Danzer completes the squeeze, ripping over the   to improve to trip aces.

Danzer (pictured) triples up, Ohel profits from the side pot, and Bonomo gets nothing.

"Well, that's a bad result for me," Bonomo realizes.

George Danzer - 900,000 (4 BB)
Randy Ohel - 4,110,000 (17 BB)
Justin Bonomo - 1,790,000 (7 BB)

This is the tenth level of Day 3, and it's scheduled to be the final level of action. If three players still remain at the end of this level, play will be suspended for the night. If the match is heads-up by that point, the two finalists will have the option to play one additional level to try to determine a winner.

The average stack is less than ten big bets at this new level.

George Danzer:     /      /  
Justin Bonomo:     /      /  

Randy Ohel is the bring-in with the  . George Danzer completes with the  , Justin Bonomo raises with the  , Ohel folds, and Danzer calls.

Danzer checks his lead on fourth street, Bonomo bets, and Danzer calls. Bonomo bets his new lead on fifth street, and Danzer calls. Both players check sixth street. Bonomo bets seventh street, and Danzer calls.

Bonomo announces a straight, tabling    . He wins the pot.

Justin Bonomo - 1,700,000 (9 BB)
George Danzer - 1,540,000 (8 BB)

Justin Bonomo Can't Believe Randy Ohel's Hand

Justin Bonomo:     /      /  
Randy Ohel:     /      /  

George Danzer is the bring-in with the  . Justin Bonomo (pictured) completes with the  , and Randy Ohel makes it two bets with the  . Danzer folds and Bonomo calls.

Ohel proceeds to bet every subsequent street. Bonomo sticks around and calls every bet.

Ohel tables     for a full house, sixes over threes, and with some visible disgust, Bonomo folds.

Randy Ohel - 3,500,000 (17 BB)
Justin Bonomo - 1,300,000 (6 BB)

Randy Ohel:     /      /  
George Danzer:     /      /  

Randy Ohel has the bring-in with the  . George Danzer completes with the  , Ohel raises, and Danzer calls. Danzer checks fourth street, Ohel bets, and Danzer calls.

Ohel gets an open pair of eights on fifth street and bets. Danzer calls. Ohel bets sixth street, and Danzer calls once again. Both players check seventh street.

Ohel shows     for eights and deuces, and Danzer has     for sixes and fives. Ohel scoops the pot.

Randy Ohel - 2,000,000 (12 BB)
George Danzer - 3,800,000 (23 BB)