BAD BEAT STEURY
Las Vegas, NV (June 12, 2011) – The most recent winner of a World Series of Poker gold bracelet is Aaron Steury, from Fort Wayne, Indiana.  He won the $1,500 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. Championship, held at the Rio in Las Vegas.  The three-day tournament attracted 963 players, a near-record for any Mixed Game format.

Steury is a 24-year-old poker pro and self-described grinder.  He came into this year’s WSOP with eight previous WSOP cashes.  His best showing had been a 14th-place finish in the $5,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. Championship, played in 2009.  But this triumph trumped everything he'd done before and paid out nearly three-times the combined figure that he earned up to this point.  Steury received $289,283 in prize money for this victory.  But the real treasure he collected was priceless -- his first WSOP gold bracelet.

The final table was played on the same ESPN main stage that hosted the John Juanda--Phil Hellmuth showdown the night before.  While the finalists' names in this tournament might not have been quite as familiar, the level of competition was just as intense, the caliber of play was just as strong, and the final outcome was just as thrilling.  At least , Aaron Steury would agree.

The runner up was Michael Chow, from Honolulu, HI.  He won last year's $1,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split event.  This time he took second place, which paid $178,691.

Several former gold bracelet winners cashed in this event – including Denis Ethier (6th), David Bach (14th), Todd Brunson (19th), Eli Elezra (21st), Farzad Rouhani (25th), Ken Aldridge (30th), Layne Flack (48th), Lyle Berman (49th), Max Pescatori (52nd), Cyndy Violette (55th), Ryan Hughes (58th), Svetlana Gromenkova (69th), Allen Bari (78th), Ivo Donev (83rd), and David Chiu (93rd).

H.O.R.S.E. is an acronym for five of the most popular poker games played inside American cardrooms today.  H.O.R.S.E. tournaments include a rotation of the following games -- Hold'em, Omaha High-Low Split, Razz, Seven-Card Stud, and Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split (also called Eight-or-Better).  Many purists consider H.O.R.S.E. to be the ultimate test of poker skill, since it requires that players play all games well in order to win. 

For a list of all players who cashed, in Event #17, please click here.
 
The complete official report will be posted shortly to WSOP.com.