Event #30: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship

This year's version of the $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship attracted a staggering 3,752 players, all of whom packed the Rio to the rafters on Day 1 to set a new record for an opening day field. The bustouts came fast and furious on the first day of action and thousands of seniors hit the rail in succession.

After nearly four thousand hopeful seniors converged on the World Series of Poker looking to win the Seniors Championship, we have crowned a new champion. James Hess, who hails from Encino, California, navigated the record-setting opening day field to make the final table. Once he got there, Hess used a combination of pressure poker and modern strategy to exert his will on the rest of the competitors. After claiming the chip lead halfway through the final table, Hess never relinquished it and used his big stack to punish his opponents for the rest of the night.

Hess defeated Richard "Dick" Harwood in a relatively quick heads-up contest, after dispatching no less than five other players from the final table. A one-man wrecking crew, Hess was the most aggressive player in the room for the entirety of Day 3, using three-bets and re-steals to bully his opponents into submission.

Hess told us early on in the day that his trip to South Africa was weighing heavily on his mind, even with glory of a WSOP bracelet so close at hand. When asked why this flight was so important, Hess became emotional as he told us about his father-in-law, who currently lives in South Africa. With this 1st place finish occurring on Father's Day, Hess will undoubtedly be able to give a very special gift: a WSOP victory dedicated to him.

With his stack shrinking by the minute, Craig Koch new he had to make a stand at some point. After folding his way to a stack of only 400,000, good for just four big blinds at this level, Koch heard James Hess raise to 300,000 and knew it was time to take the plunge. Koch, which we are told rhymes with "luck," made the call with his    and hoped to have live cards.

Hess ended those hopes when he turned over   , his hand having Harwood's outkicked. The final board ran out       and Koch was eliminated in 3rd place. He will take home $248,971 for his run through this massive Seniors Championship field.

James Hess	8,100,000	1,450,000
Craig Koch	0	-1,000,000

After raising to 500,000 from the button, James Hess watched as Richard "Dick" Harwood shipped his stack into the middle. The reraise was for 1,350,000 more and Hess could easily have the laydown, but with the dominant chip lead he decided to take the risk.

"It's a stupid call, but I call" said Hess as he turned over his   . When he saw the    held by Dick Harwood, Hess simply shook his head in confirmation and waited for the dealer to spread the board.

The flop of     was as dry as it gets for Hess and he said "nice hand sir" while still shaking his head. The   on the turn left him drawing dead, and after the meaningless   on the river, Hess shipped nearly 2,000,000 to the revitalized Harwood.

James Hess	6,650,000	-1,850,000
Richard Harwood	3,700,000	1,400,000

James Hess raised from the button and Joseph Bolnick went all in from the big. Hess called.

Hess:   
Bolnick:   

The board ran out       and Bolnick was sent to the rail.

Hess now has a commanding chip lead with 8.5 million.

There have been an abundant amount of walks going into four-handed play. Hopefully the dealer begins giving the players some cards they like.

In a blind vs. blind confrontation, James Hess went all in from the small and Gregory Alston called from the big.

Showdown

Alston:   
James Hess:   

The flop came     and Alsto sat up from his seat, bracing for the next two cards. The turn came the  , but the river brought a  , pairing Hess on the end and leaving Alston thunderstruck and he walked away from the table.

Hess is up to 5.5 million heading into four-handed play.

Richard Harwood raised to 275,000 from the cutoff and was met with an all-in raise for 780,000 from Craig Koch from the small blind. Harwood deliberated for a bit, but slid out a call.

Harwood:   
Koch:   

The board ran out       and Koch doubled up to 1.6 million. Harwood slipped to 1.9 million.

Charles Cohen opened to 215,000 and action folded around to James Hess on the big, who called.

The flop came     and Hess checked. Cohen immediately went all-in and Hess snap-called.

Hess:    for a flopped set.
Cohen:    for a pair of aces.

Cohen would need running cards to survive, however, the turn and river bricked    respectively and Cohen was sent to the rail.

After dropping a few chips in a previous pot, Charles Cohen raised all-in from the button, putting his last 645,000 at risk. Joseph Bolnick capped his cards and asked the dealer to pull in his big blind, wondering how much more he needed to call.

Cohen, who is known as "Brooklyn" by his fellow players, stood up and pulled a package of Lifesaver candies from his pocket, tossing it to the tanking Bolnick. "Want a Lifesaver?" he asked before walking away to await Bolnick's decision.

Eventually, Bolnick announced "I'm gonna have to let you have this pot Brooklyn" before tossing his cards in the muck. He later told Cohen, "I was honestly going to call until you offered me the Lifesavers." Depending on whether or not Cohen was bluffing, those candies may have really been life savers after all.