Seven-Card Stud tends to be a niche event, especially when you pair it with Hi-Low-8 or Better. However, that didn’t stop a wealth of talent from coming out for WSOP Event 25, a $1,500 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better tournament. 606 players put up the buy-in which created a $810,110 prize pool, leaving $200,459 for the victor.
Before the final table was reached, there was quite an amount of talent floating around. 25 players made the trip to Day 3, including 2010 World Series Player of the Year Frank Kassella and Cyndy Violette, the winner of this event in 2004.
However, neither of these two decorated professionals would make the final eight. That isn’t to say the final table was weak. On the contrary, the final table possessed well over 7 million in cashes, including a WSOP bracelet and a World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event victory!
Coming to the final table as chip leader, Cory Zeidman was looking for his first bracelet after numerous deep runs in past WSOP Seven-Card Stud events.
Sitting behind Zeidman in 2nd was Tyson “POTTERPOKER” Marks. Marks is well known in the online poker world for taking down the biggest online prize of all time in the 2010 WCOOP Main Event for a whopping $2,278,097. Coming into the final table with over $4 million in lifetime online cashes, Marks was in prime position for his first bracelet.
In the middle of the pack was perhaps the most well known man in the poker world, Mike Sexton. Most know Sexton as the voice of the World Poker Tour as he is the long time announcer for all of their televised events. Some look at Sexton as the ambassador of poker due to the amazing amount of time he spends promoting the game.
What many don’t know about Sexton is that he is quite accomplished when it comes to the live poker scene. Boasting millions in cashes and a bracelet in this very event from 1989, Sexton is truly a force to be reckoned with.
Coming into the final table, Chris “PiMaster” Viox was at a bit of a disadvantage as he started the action off in 7th place. Viox’s resume boasts over $500,000 in online scores. The long time pro had his work cut out for him if he wanted to win his first bracelet.
Just a few hours into the final table, however, Viox saw himself vaulted to the top of the leaderboard. Zeidman, on the other hand, went in the opposite direction. He saw his massive stack dwindle away and he ended up busting in 6th place.
Not long after, Marks would suffer the same fate, busting in 5th place. Despite the fact Viox and Sexton came into the final table with less than stellar stacks, they found themselves in 1st and 2nd respectively as 4-handed play began.
An hour later they were heads-up with Sexton holding a slight chip lead. Viox and Sexton had a long battle ahead of them. In fact, it ended up being too long. The two played for roughly ninety minutes which got them to ten total levels played on the day. The decision was made for both to come back today to finish their duel at 3 PM.
Viox had an over three to one chip lead as play restarted. Sexton battled hard, but he ultimately found himself on the wrong end of the match and fell just short of his second bracelet. It took four days for Viox but his first bracelet was secured, along with a handsome $200,459.
Congratulations to Viox and everyone else who cashed Event 25. Please see below for the list of final table cashes.
1 – Chris Viox – $200,459
2 – Mike Sexton – $123,259
3 – Gerald Rechnitzer – $77,097
4 – Hakon Lundberg – $55,917
5 – Tyson Marks – $40,782
6 – Cory Zeidman – $30,228
7 – Sean Urban – $22,767
8 – Hernan Salazar – $17,417