Event #32: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em

After a final table that featured the excitement of monster suckouts, quads, former bracelet winners and final tablists, Matthew Davis has been crowned the winner of the largest Seniors Event in WSOP history.

Davis topped a field of 5,919 players to take home the gold WSOP bracelet after defeating 2012 Senior Event final tablist Bill Stabler heads-up.

Davis, who teaches statistics at Chabot College in Haywood, California has two previous WSOP cashes in 2007 and 2009 worth $7,459, but today takes home a whopping $662,983 in prize money.

Official Final Table Results:

Speaking moments after securing the victory, Davis said that he was "elated beyond belief." Having come back from dinner break behind in the chip counts, it took him just 15 hands to turn the tables and close out the victory shortly before 7:30pm local time.

"Honestly, during the dinner break, I just went and enjoyed time with my family and friends. We talked about other things, and when they asked me about poker I just said not now.

"I came and played my first WSOP event in 2007, and I managed to secure a little over a min-cash. And I was talking to my daughter afterward - she was in first or second grade - and she asked me how much I had to spend to enter the tournament, so I told her that it was a $1,500 event.

"So she said 'Wow, Dad that's kind of a big risk!' And I was curious by what she meant by that, I mean she was only six or seven. So I asked her. And she said 'Well Dad, you're not that good at poker!'

"And now I have a bracelet!"

Final Day Recap

Coming into the final day, it was Gary Friedlander who held the chip lead. There were no major moves among the players until a gin-flop caused the first all-in and call. On a     flop Bill Bennett had flopped a set of eights while Joseph Schulman had flopped a set of fives. The two got their stacks in, with Schulman emerging second best and becoming the first elimination of the final day.

It was Bennett who would send the second player to the rail. Frank Berry shoved pre-flop with ace-seven, and after Bennett had gotten rid of another caller, he denied Berry the triple up by flopping a pair with ace-deuce and it held to send Berry to the rail.

Bennett was looking to set a new record for time between winning two bracelets, having taken down a $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event at the 1984 World Series of Poker, and he showed he still had some moves, pulling an audacious bluff with four-high to clip then chip leader Friedlander.

By the time players had recovered from the set over set that eliminated Schulman in the first level of the day, Rachel Delatorre fell to one of the most brutal beats at this WSOP, or indeed any WSOP.

Getting her remaining chips in with pocket tens on a nine-high flop, she feared a set when called by Matthew Davis. In fact, Davis turned over the exact same hand - pocket tens. However, the turn and river were both hearts and Delatorre was eliminated in gut-wrenching fashion.

This elimination pushed Davis to the top of the counts by the time the remaining five players went on their first break of the day. When they returned Bennett would move up the counts, using well-timed shoves to put pressure on Davis. But one mistimed shove would see Bennett eliminated in fifth place.

After betting a queen-high all-club flop, Davis called Bennett's bet and saw a ten roll off on the turn. Bennett shoved and got snap-called. Davis had flopped the nut flush, while Bennett had turned a set. The board failed to pair on the river and Davis moved to almost half the chips in play four-handed.

The next elimination was start-of-day chip leader Friedlander who got his remaining seventeen big blinds in with ace-five against Stabler's ace-jack. A jack on the turn sent Friedlander to the rail.

Scott Hamilton-Hill was the sole non-American at the final table, and the New Zealander narrowly missed out on the heads-up section of the competition after a poor run of cards saw him eliminated holding ace-deuce against Stabler's king-nine after Stabler flopped a pair.

Coming into heads-up play both Davis and Stabler were fairly level in chips and through over 100 hands of heads-up play, there were some show-stopping moments (including quads for Davis!). But most importantly the players were still very deep, meaning there wasn't a single all-in and call until the final moment in the tournament.

Even then the drama wasn't over. Getting it in with a flush draw against the flopped pair of Stabler, Davis didn't even realize that the river had given him a pair to secure the victory.

"Once I realized I was behind, all I was thinking was 'Diamond, diamond, diamond,'" said Davis, "So when it was black it didn't register. And then when I saw people react, I realized."

Realized that he had a pair. Realized that he had won. And realized a dream of becoming a WSOP gold bracelet winner.

Hand #230: Bill Stabler raised to 950,000 and Matthew Davis called. The pair checked the     flop and the turn brought the  . Davis checked and Stabler bet 1,000,000. Davis check-raised to 3,000,000 and Stabler folded.

Hand #231: Davis raised to 1,000,000 and Stabler called. Stabler check-folded to another bet of 1,000,000 on a     flop.

Bill Stabler	18,720,000	6,220,000
Matthew Davis	10,875,000	-6,220,000

Hand #217: Matthew Davis raised and took down the pot.

Hand #218: Bill Stabler raised to 950,000 and Davis called. Davis check-folded to a bet of 950,000 on the     flop.

Hand #219: Davis raised and took down the pot.

Hand #220: Davis received a walk.

Hand #221: Davis raised to 1,000,000 and Stabler three-bet to 2,500,000. The flop came     and Stabler bet 2,500,000. Davis quickly called.

The pair checked the   turn and   river. Stabler had to show, but elected to muck and Davis took down the pot uncontested.

Hand #222: Davis received a walk.

Hand #223: Davis limped and Stabler raised to 1,500,000. Davis folded.

Matthew Davis	18,100,000	5,325,000
Bill Stabler	11,500,000	-5,325,000

Hand #208: Bill Stabler raised the button to 750,000 and Matthew Davis called from the big blind. The flop came     and Davis checked. Stabler bet 750,000, Davis folded, and Stabler took the pot.

Hand #209: Davis raised to 750,000 form the button and Stabler called. The flop came     and Stabler check-called a bet of 700,000 from Davis. The turn brought the   and both players checked. The   fell on the river and Stabler bet 1 million. Davis called, Stabler showed   , and Davis tabled    to take the pot.

Hand #210: Davis got a walk in the big blind.

Hand #211: Davis raised the button to 750,000 and Stabler called. The flop came     and Stabler checked. Davis bet 800,000 and Stabler folded.

Hand #212: Stabler raised to 750,000 and won the pot uncontested.

Hand #196: Matthew Davis got a walk in the big blind.

Hand #197: Bill Stabler got a walk in the big blind.

Hand #198: Stabler raised the button to 750,000 and Davis called. The flop came     and both players checked. The   hit the turn, Davis bet 800,000, and Stabler folded.

Hand #199: Stabler got a walk in the big blind.

Hand #200: Stabler raised the button to 750,000 and Davis called. The flop came     and both players checked. The turn brought the   and Davis check-called a bet of 1.25 million from Stabler. The   fell on the river and Davis checked. Stabler bet 3.25 million, Davis folded, and Stabler took the pot.

Bill Stabler	21,445,000	1,550,000
Matthew Davis	8,150,000	-1,550,000

Hand #185: Matthew Davis called from the button and Bill Stabler checked his option. The flop came    , Stabler checked, Davis bet 375,000, and Stabler tossed his hand into the muck.

Hand #186: Stabler raised the button to 725,000 and Davis called. The flop came    , Davis checked, Stabler bet 750,000, and Davis folded.

Hand #187: Stabler got a walk in the big blind.

Hand #188: Stabler raised the button to 725,000 and Davis called. The flop came     and both players checked. The   fell on the turn and Davis check-called a bet of 750,000 from Stabler. The   hit the river and both players checked. Davis tabled    and his hand was good enough to take the pot.

Hand #189: Davis raised the button to 750,000, Stabler three-bet to 2.25 million, Davis shoved, and Stabler folded.

Bill Stabler	15,845,000	-3,655,000
Matthew Davis	13,750,000	3,650,000

Hand #173: Matthew Davis raised the button to 750,000 and won the pot uncontested.

Hand #174: Davis got a walk in the big blind.

Hand #175: Davis raised the button to 750,000, Bill Stabler three-bet to 1.7 million, and Davis folded.

Hand #176: Davis got a walk in the big blind.

Hand #177: Davis called from the button, Stabler raised to 925,000, and Davis called. The flop came    , Stabler bet 1.25 million, and Davis folded.

Hand #178: Davis got a walk in the big blind.

Players are taking a short break. Here are the chip counts.

Bill Stabler	19,450,000	-1,345,000
Matthew Davis	10,150,000	1,350,000

Hand #162: Bill Stabler raised the button the 580,000 and Matthew Davis called from the big blind. The flop came     and Davis check-called a bet of 625,000 from Stabler. The turn brought the  , Davis checked, Stabler bet 1.25 million, and Davis called. The   hit the river and Davis checked. Stabler bet 2.25 million, Davis folded, and Stabler took the pot.

Hand #163: Davis raised the button to 545,000 and Stabler called. The flop came     and Stabler checked. Davis bet 600,000, Stabler folded, and Davis took the chips.

Hand #164: Stabler raised the button to 580,000, Davis three-bet to 1.84 million, and Stabler called. The flop came    , Davis bet 2 million, and Stabler folded.

Hand #165: Davis raised the button to 540,000 and Stabler called. Both players checked all the way down the       board and Davis showed    to take the pot.

Hand #166: Stabler raised the button to 580,000, Davis three-bet to 1.82 million, Stabler four-bet, and Davis folded.

Bill Stabler	20,795,000	1,300,000
Matthew Davis	8,800,000	-1,300,000