GEORGE DANZER WINS SECOND GOLD BRACELET THIS YEAR
The 2014 World Series of Poker is turning into “The George Danzer Show". The German poker pro from Salzburg just won his second gold bracelet in two weeks, triumphing amidst a stacked field and fiercely-contested final table filled with veteran players with plenty of poker jewelry.
 
Danzer’s latest victory occurred in the $10,000 buy-in Seven-Card Stud High-Low Championship. The breakout star of this year’s series collected $352,696 in prize money, plus lots of added notoriety as the player to watch for much of the remainder of this summer's annual extravaganza.

Danzer previously won the $10,000 buy-in Razz tournament. He now has two wins, three final table appearances, four top-ten finishes, and five cashes during this series. The achievements give Danzer first place in the WSOP Player of the Year race at the moment. He’s clearly the player to beat at this juncture of the schedule.
 
“I’ve had a very busy schedule so far, with one tournament every single day,” Danzer said when asked if he plans to play more events now that he’s the favorite to win Player of the Year honors.  “I’m already busy enough, playing in the events I schedule for myself.  So, I’m not going to overload myself too much.  I’m going to grind that way I intended, just as I did before.”

Danzer began the third day of play with the chip lead. Only 13 players returned, which was gradually whittled down to an official final table of eight. Danzer held the chip lead at that point as well. In fact, he was rarely threatened.  Although Danzer was temporarily derailed from the chip lead while play was three-handed, he regained his advantage and won a decisive victory that drew cheers from both sides of the Atlantic.
 
“This is probably a similar field to the other one [that I won],” Danzer said.  “These Championship-level events always draw the best players.  It was never easy.  It’s just a different Stud variation, but the players are the same.  I’d say this is just as satisfying to win as my other one.”
 
Danzer’s win means four gold bracelets so far from players from Germany.  Dominik Nitsche also won two titles – one in the National Championship, and another in a No Limit Hold’em event.  Danzer was asked which of the two emerging German stars is the superior poker player.
 
“It depends on which variation [of poker],” Danzer said.  “I’ll play him for the rest of our lives in Stud if he doesn’t get better.  I think I’m better in those games, but if it was No-Limit Hold’em, I wouldn’t play him even for a minute.  So, he’s the better No-Limit player and I’m the better Stud player.”

There were more gold bracelets than players sitting at this final table. Five-time winner Jeff Lisandro and one-time gold bracelet winners Danzer, Calvin Anderson, Brian Hastings, and David Singer brought the total number of bracelets at the table to nine.  The added presence of John Racener, who finished second in the 2010 WSOP Main Event, also continued the trend of November Niners making plenty of final tables this year. Racener ended up finishing second in a noble effort, despite having relatively few chips during the final few hours of the tournament.
 
Calvin Anderson, from Yukon, OK also merits special mention. Remarkably, he won his first career gold bracelet only days ago, in the $1,500 buy-in Seven-Card Stud 8 event. Anderson almost pulled off a second win in the same game with this event and was the only player to take the chip lead from Danzer on Day Three, but ended up finishing third. Anderson’s results this year are quite impressive, so far. He’s made three final tables.
 
This was the tenth of 13 Championship-tier events on this year’s WSOP schedule. The tournament drew 134 players and generated a $1,259,600 prize pool. The top 16 finishers each earned a payday. A highly-accomplished group cashed in this event, including gold bracelet winners who missed the final table Steve Zolotow (14th), Todd Brunson (13th), and Ted Forrest (11th).

Also worth noting was WSOP on ESPN commentator Norman Chad, who cashed in 10th place. This marked his fourth time to cash at the series.

Here are the final table results for the $10,000 Seven-Card Stud High-Low Championship:

1st:  George Danzer - $352,696
2nd:  John Racener - $217,935
3rd:  Calvin Anderson - $98,828
4th:  Brian Hastings - $77,238
5th:  Jeffrey Lisandro - $61,594
6th:  Chris George - $50,018
7th:  David Singer - $41,277
8th: Richard Sklar - $34,550