Event #53
Limit Hold’em Shootout
Buy-In: $1,500
Number of Entries: 720
Total Prize Money: $ 982,800
Date of Tournament: July 3-4, 2007
WSOP GOLD BRACELET WINNER
EVENT # 53 – RAM VASWANI
The winner of the $1,500 buy-in Limit Hold’em Shootout championship was Ram Vaswani, from London, England. He is a 37-year-old professional poker player. This was Vaswani’s first victory at the World Series of Poker, after numerous wins and cashes at tournaments in Europe and elsewhere.
Vaswani has come close to winning a gold bracelet numerous times. He has 13 career cashes since 2002 – including 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and other finishes. He was cheered on by a rowdy crowd of supporters despite the late hour at which the tournament concluded.
Vaswani is one-quarter of the famed “Hendon Mob.” They are a collection of four unique poker personalities who became famous in the clubs around the Hendon section of London and have since taken their fame internationally. Terrific poker ambassadors all, Vaswani now has bragging rights as the first “mobster” to get a WSOP win. The other members of the Hendon Mob are Joe “the Elegance” Beevers, Barney Boatman, and Ross Boatman.
Vaswani’s poker nickname is “Crazy Horse.” Prior to playing poker professionally he was a snooker player, a popular billiards game played in the U.K. Vaswani is married and has one child.
Vaswani was the European Poker Champion in 2000.
First place paid $217,438. But far more important to Vaswani than prize money was the thrill of wining his first WSOP gold bracelet after so many tries.