2013 World Series of Poker Day 17: David Chiu Defeats Scott Seiver to Win 5th Bracelet
Day 17 was certainly memorable at the 2013 World Series of Poker. In one corner of the Amazon Room at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, David Chiu outlasted a star-studded final table to claim his fifth WSOP bracelet, tying him with greats like Stu Ungar, Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, Scotty Nguyen, and Jeff Lisandro, among others. Meanwhile at the ESPN stage, Josh Pollock stormed back from a sizable chip disadvantage to deny Noah Schwartz of his first bracelet in Event #22: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha.
Earlier in the day, a record-setting field of 4,407 turned out for Event #26: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship. The massive field generated a prize pool of nearly $4 million, with $634,809 going to the eventual winner. That top prize will be one of the biggest of the summer.
Event #22: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha
When Day 3 of Event #22 began Friday afternoon, all eyes were on Noah Schwartz as he attempted to lock up his first WSOP gold bracelet. Schwartz dominated on Day 2, at one point owning five times as many chips as his closest competitor.
But alas, it wasn't meant to be for the high-stakes cash-game player from Florida. Schwartz relinquished a big chip lead during heads-up play, and 29-year-old Josh Pollock emerged as the champion after a lengthy heads-up match.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Josh Pollock | $279,431 |
| 2 | Noah Schwartz | $172,931 |
| 3 | James Parks | $108,196 |
| 4 | KT Parks | $78,532 |
| 5 | Shawn Silber | $57,974 |
| 6 | Eric Shanks | $43,460 |
| 7 | Eddie Blumenthal | $33,057 |
| 8 | David Greene | $25,483 |
| 9 | Brandon Crawford | $19,909 |
The day kicked off with an early elimination when Brandon Crawford, who had finished as the Day 1 chip leader, got the last of his chips in on the turn with two pair, but Schwartz had flopped a straight. The river failed to help Crawford, who exited in ninth place for $19,909.
It took 61 hands for the next elimination to occur when David Greene fell to Josh Pollock. One level later, Eddie Blumenthal was eliminated by Schwartz, giving him his second seventh-place finish of the 2013 WSOP (the other came in Event #15 $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. for $28,778).
Later in the same level, Eric Shanks' A♣A♥10♥8♥ was cracked by Pollock’s 8♣10♣A♠K♥ after all the chips went in preflop. The board brought three spades, and Shanks exited in sixth place for $43,460.
On the first hand back from the dinner break, Shawn Silber was eliminated in fifth place by Pollock. Three hands later, James Park eliminated KT Park.
Unfortunately for James Park, he wasn't able to put those chips to good use. His run ended in third place when he ran queens into Schwartz's kings. That gave Schwartz a three-to-one chip lead going into heads-up play against Pollock, but it was everything but smooth sailing for him from there.
Over the course of a 62-hand heads-up battle, Pollock managed to score a few fortunate doubles and then took the chip lead shortly thereafter. From there, he whittled Schwartz down and then delivered the knockout on Hand #215 of the final table to secure his first WSOP bracelet.
Event #23: $2,500 Seven-Card Stud
Day 3 of Event #23: $2,500 Seven-Card Stud began with seven bracelet winners looking to add another piece of jewelry to their wrist. The final table ended up being everything a poker fan could ask for, as veteran poker pro David Chiu earned his fifth WSOP title — his first in eight years — while denying young superstar Scott Seiver of his second.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Chiu | $145,520 |
| 2 | Scott Seiver | $89,980 |
| 3 | Freddie Ellis | $59,127 |
| 4 | Michael Mizrachi | $43,188 |
| 5 | Frank Kassela | $31,978 |
| 6 | Gary Benson | $24,003 |
| 7 | Matthew Ashton | $18,266 |
| 8 | Adam Friedman | $14,086 |
Day 3 began with 10 of the original 246 players attempting to reach the final table of the only seven-card stud tournament of the series. Not surprisingly, the field was loaded with talent, and after the eliminations of Jesse Martin (10th place) and Helmut Koch (9th), an eight-handed final table was reached.
The eight remaining players were mixed-game specialists with eight of the 12 bracelets on the table coming in a form of seven-card stud. Young guns Adam Friedman and Matthew Ashton were the first to go, and Gary Benson's pursuit of another stud bracelet fell to pieces when he exited in sixth. 2010 WSOP Player of the Year Frank Kassela fell next before three-time bracelet winner Michael Mizrachi exited in fourth. That left 2009 Stud Championship winner Freddie Ellis, Chiu and Seiver balling for the title, and unfortunately for the 78-year-old Ellis, his run ended in third place.
In a heads-up battle of youth versus experience, Chiu and Seiver swapped chips back-and-forth before Chiu slowly began to claw his way to the lead, eventually holding nearly a four-to-one advantage. Seiver doubled once to stay in the match, but it came to a close after 89 intense hands of heads-up play when Chiu spiked a bigger two pair on seventh to send Seiver out in second place.
Chiu offered some kind words to Seiver before starting his photo and interview sessions. Chiu said he decided early on that he would be playing this event in memory of the late Jerry Buss, who was honored with a touching tribute at the beginning of this tournament. Chiu dedicated this victory to Buss after the tournament came to a close.
Event #24: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em
Day 2 of Event #24 began with 198 players knowing they were already in the money. Their goal was to reach the final table, but play ended with 17 players left fending for the bracelet. Leading the way is Salvatore Dicarlo (984,000), who doubled up into the chip lead on the final hand of the night. Among those chasing Dicarlo on Saturday will be Paul Spitzberg, Mohsin Charania, Zimnan Ziyard , and Travell Thomas.
CHIP STACKS AFTER DAY 2
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salvatore Dicarlo | 984,000 |
| 2 | Paul Spitzberg | 957,000 |
| 3 | Mohsin Charania | 940,000 |
| 4 | Corey Harrison | 542,000 |
| 5 | Daniel Cascado | 541,000 |
| 6 | Robert Brewer | 511,000 |
| 7 | Zimnan Ziyard | 461,000 |
| 8 | Anthony Antico | 396,000 |
| 9 | Arshin Gamini | 381,000 |
| 10 | Ryan Franklin | 354,000 |
| 11 | Gareth Teatum | 298,000 |
| 12 | Jacob Schindler | 269,000 |
| 13 | Gregory Josifovski | 267,000 |
| 14 | Joon Yi | 261,000 |
| 15 | Travell Thomas | 254,000 |
| 16 | Tavish Margers | 238,000 |
| 17 | Joel Tushnet | 146,000 |
Among the notables who busted late in the day were Daniel Idema (47th), Paul Wasicka (31st), Shannon Shorr (30th), Sam Stein (23rd), Victor Ramdin (22nd), and Kevin MacPhee (18th), who was sent home with 15 minutes left on the clock.
The 17 remaining players will return Saturday at 1 p.m. local time to battle for the title. As always, we'll have hand-for-hand updates from the final table, so keep your browsers locked to PokerNews.com.
Event #25: $5,000 Omaha Hi-Low 8-or-Better
Day 2 of Event #25: $5,000 Omaha Hi-Low 8-or-Better began with 152 of the original 241 players returning, and after nearly 10 levels only 27 remained. Tournament organizers informed players late in the evening that play would end when the money was reached, and that happened when James Dempsey bubbled the money for the second straight year.
Leading the way heading into Day 3 is Robert Mizrachi, who holds a comfortable lead entering what is scheduled to be the final day of action. Shawn Buchanan (263,500), Brian Hastings (259,000), George Danzer (242,500), Christopher George (162,500), Jonathan Duhamel (133,000), Eric Crain (98,500), Jeff Lisandro (94,500), Maria Ho (87,500), and Huck Seed (43,000) are also among the 27 who will return to vie for the gold WSOP bracelet.
Dan Kelly managed to score his seventh cash of the 2013 WSOP by making the money in this event. Kelly was relatively quiet most of the day, but managed to squeak into the money and will take 31,000 into Day 3 (26th on the leaderboard).
Play will resume at 2:00 p.m. PST on Saturday in the Amazon room. Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews as we provide you with all of the latest updates from the tournament floor as this event draws to its exciting conclusion!
Event #26: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship
It was an historic morning at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. At 10 a.m. PST, a large crowd of players took their seats at the table for $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship. When registration closed, 4,407 players had entered, making it the largest seniors event in WSOP history.
A number of notable names from the professional ranks were spotted early on in Day 1, with Johnny Chan, Chad Brown, Susie Isaacs, Men Nguyen, and defending champion Allyn Jaffrey Shulman all trying their best to run up a chip stack and make a deep run. Hall of those players failed to advance to a second day, but plenty of top-flight players managed to bag and tag after 11 hours of play, including "Captain" Tom Franklin (48,100) Hoyt Corkins (48,100), Robert Varkonyi (39,900), John Strzemp (32,700), and T.J. Cloutier (29,400).
Day 2 of the Seniors Championship will resume at 11 a.m. PST on Saturday when the 491 players will attempt to play down as close to a final table as possible. However, as WSOP Communications Director Seth Palansky said on Friday, a fourth day may be added to the event in response to the immense size of the field.
Stay tuned to PokerNews.com as we bring you live updates of the seniors event until the next champion is crowned.
Event #27: $3,000 No Limit Hold'em (Mixed Max)
Day 1 of the innovative Event #27: $3,000 No Limit Hold'em (Mixed Max) kicked off Friday evening with 593 players attempting to accomplish what Aubin Cazals did last year. At the end of the day, only 181 remained, with Calvin Anderson finishing among the leaders.
Anderson bagged 79,425 chips, and received much of his stack from Cylus Watson in a big hand in Level 6. Anderson flopped top two-pair with king-jack against Watson who held aces, the money went in the middle, and Anderson’s hand held up.
Others moving on with big stacks were Dominik Nitsche (72,000), John Hennigan (71,600), Darryll Fish (61,000), Simon Charette (59,650), Brandon Cantu (57,000), Ana Marquez (51,275), Chris Moorman (51,275), David Sands (45,600), and Daniel Negreanu (32,400).
Day 2 of the event will transition to a six-max tournament, and those who advance to Day 3 will play a series of heads-up matches to determine a champion. Be sure to return for our live coverage straight from the tournament floor through the end of the event.
On Tap
Two events are scheduled to play down to a winner on Saturday: Event #24: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em and Event #25: $5,000 Omaha Eight-or-Better. Event #26: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship and Event #27: $3,000 No Limit Hold'em (Mixed Max) will resume with Day 2 action, and two more events will get underway: Event #28: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em (12 p.m. PST) and Event #29: $5,000 H.O.R.S.E. (5 p.m. PST).
Video of the Day
David Chiu joined some elite company by winning his fifth WSOP bracelet on Friday. Sarah Grant caught up with Chiu afterward to discuss what the bracelet means to him and who he dedicated it to.
Be sure to follow our Live Reporting page for continuing coverage of every event at the 2013 World Series of Poker, and follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
