WSOP

WSOP

7 Card Stud is a game that many professional players had to master to survive in the game year ago. Now in 2013 it is still going and the WSOP is the place where you will see the biggest 7 Card Stud tournament, not to mention 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo.

This $1,500 was in fact a 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Event and 558 came looking for that coveted WSOP bracelet, creating a $753,300 prize pool.

Unofficial Final Table

Seat 1 Mike Leah 148,000
Seat 2 Tony Gill 310,000
Seat 3 Linda Johnson 125,000
Seat 4 Fei Chu 385,000
Seat 5 Joseph Hertzog 355,000
Seat 6 Daniel Idema 345,000
Seat 7 Raul Paez 290,000
Seat 8 Matt Vengrin 440,000
Seat 9 Artie Cobb 135,000

With the official final table in an event like this being an 8-max final table, the final 9 took to the felt to decide the last elimination before the official final table. The shortest stack at the table was in fact Poker Hall of Famer Linda Johnson, who unfortunately was the one who bubbled the final table.

After a few unlucky break Linda was down to her last few big bets as she was on the bring in. Daniel Idema completed with an 8 showing from early position and Tony Gill raised it up with an A showing. Daniel went on for the ride, but by fifth street he was pushed out of the hand by Tony who revealed his full hand A Q A 2 4 and was ahead of Linda Johnson who needed help with 4 3 7 7 Q . Neither player improved their hand by 7th street and the most accomplished player at the table was gone with $12,459.

With that the official final table was set and it was Fei Chu leading the pack:

Seat 1 Mike Leah 106,000
Seat 2 Tony Gill 359,000
Seat 3 Fei Chu 533,000
Seat 4 Joseph Hertzog 375,000
Seat 5 Daniel Idema 355,000
Seat 6 Raul Paez 292,000
Seat 7 Matt Vengrin 436,000
Seat 8 Artie Cobb 76,000

Just 7 hands into the final table it was short stack Artie Cobb who got tangled up in hand that turned out to be his last. Joseph Hertzog started off the action by completing with a 7 . Raul Perez and Matt Vengrin called with 8 and 8 respectively and Cobb raised with Q , receiving calls across the board. By sixth street Cobb was all-in for his tournament life and with nothing substantial showing while Hertzog and Paez were still going at it having pushed out Vengrin put of the hand. With Hertzog hitting the A on the turn he put in another bet which was called by Vengrin who hit a T . Hertzog now had X X 7 5 K A and Vengrin was showing X X 8 6 J T with one card to come. Cobb seemed to have given up on the hand at this point. After 7th street was deal Hertzog quickly fired another bet and Vegnrin called just to see that Hertzog hit lightning on 7th making a wheel to scoop both the high and the low. With that it was Artie Cobb who was eliminated in 8th place, earning $16,037.

Fei Chu started the final table as the chip leader, but 40 hands in Fei was headed in the wrong direction and finally a big hand deal a knockout blow. In a pot where several streets were raised and re-raised, it was Fei Chu and Matt Vengrin who went all the way to 6th street where Matt finally put Fei all-in. Fei was playing an A 4 2 7 J T and was down to the last card for a chance to improve to the low, while Matt was sitting comfortably with A A T 9 3 3 and had half of the pot locked. 7th street brought a Q and just like that Fei Chu went all the way from being the final table chip leader to being eliminated in 7th place.

Quite a few hands later the situation at the table changed dramatically and another one of the former big stacks, Tony Gill found himself on the brink of elimination. In his last hand Tony went head to head with Raul Perez and got it in 0n 5th street with a very good looking 2 4 5 T 7 , but Raul was still ahead with J J 8 8 K . Amazingly, both players bricked both of their last cards and Tony Gill had to settle for 6th place and a nice $27,834 payday.

Just a few hands later Mike Leah was crippled when he missed his flush draw and decided to call the river with a decent low anyway against Raul Perez who was showing 3 low cards showing. Unfortunately for him, Raul hit a wheel on 7th street, scooping the pot. The next hand Leah got it in against Vengrin and was well ahead at the start with a pair of tens against Vengrin’s pair of sixes. However, 5th street brought Vengrin another 6 and Mike Leah was eliminated in 5th for a $37,552 score.

Not long after that Vengrin’s fortunes shifted as well as he was up against the ropes with 2 players gunning for his elimination. With only a few big bets left, Vengrin was all-in on 4th street and way behind both Daniel Idema and Raul Paez. Raul and Daniel continued to go at it and each put it another 3 big bets as they finally decided to check it down on 7th street. Daniel showed K Q A 4 6 K 4 for two pair, which beat Raul’s A A 6 K 3 J 4 as well as Vengin’s T 9 9 5 2 4 8 . With that Matt Vengrin was gone in 4th place with $51,488 for his impressive effort.

After the great start to the final table Raul Perez was now in freefall and could not win a single hand. After Daniel Idema once again beat him for a huge pot leaving him with only 160,000, Raul had no choice but to get it in two hands later. Hertzog took up Raul on his all-in and was way ahead all the way, eventually coming up with two pair on the 7th street and sending Raul to the rail in third, which was good for $71,736.
After a long fought heads up battle, Daniel Idema finally reached a solid advantage and was able to put Hertzog all-in on 4th street holding K K 2 9 , while Hertzog needed help with 2 5 8 K . The Q on 5th street all but sealed Hertzog’s faith, leaving him with only 1 out for the scoop. Unfortunately for him, it did not come as he was eliminated in 2nd place, earning $114,109.

Congratulations to Daniel Idema on his first WSOP bracelet and a nice $184,590 payday!

 

Daniel Idema

Daniel Idema

 

Final table payouts

1 Daniel Idema $184,590
2 Joseph Hertzog $114,109
3 Raul Paez $71,736
4 Matt Vengrin $51,488
5 Mike Leah $37,552
6 Tony Gill $27,834
7 Fei Chu $20,964
8 Artie Cobb $16,037