The twenty-third event of the WSOP this year was a $2,500 buyin Seven Card Stud event that attracted 246 entrants. After three days of grueling play, a winner emerged: pro player David Chiu. Chiu added another bracelet to his previous four, and another $145,520 to his bankroll.
Play started Friday with the initial field of 10 who had survived from the previous two days. Unfortunately, the final table only had spots for 8 players. Jesse Martin and Helmut Koch were the two unlucky players that busted out in 10th and 9th respectively, each earning $11,008. With that, the final table lineup was ready:
1. Gary Benson – 365,000
2. Michael Mizrachi – 320,000
3. David Chiu – 313,000
4. Scott Seiver – 260,000
5. Matthew Ashton – 240,000
6. Frank Kassela – 180,000
7. Freddie Ellis – 85,000
8. Adam Friedman – 60,000
David Chiu, WSOP Event 23 Winner
David Chiu first eliminated Adam Friedman, making a broadway straight to beat Friedman’s two pair. Friedman exited the table in 8th place, earning $14,086. Matthew Ashton was the next to fall, losing a big pot against Scott Seiver and then getting involved in a three-way pot with his remaining chips. Freddie Ellis sent Ashton to the rail, when Ellis’ trip fives prevailed over Ashton’s jacks-up. Matthew Ashton was knocked out in 7th place, taking home $18,266.
Gary Benson, the initial chip leader of the final table, meanwhile could not catch a break, losing pot after pot. He got his few remaining chips in against Freddie Ellis, with the Q
9
/ K4
on fourth street. Ellis had T
7 / TT and was way in front with his set of tens. No help came for Benson, and he left the tournament in 6th place, winning $24,003.
Almost immediately thereafter, Frank Kassela got all in against Scott Seiver on 6th street. The hole cards were revealed:
Kassela: AQ / 6963
Seiver: TT / 5675
Seiver’s wired tens put him in front with tens over fives against Kassela’s lone pair of sixes, and seventh street was no help to Kassela. Frank Kassela was eliminated in 5th place, good enough for a $31,978 prize.
Chiu hadn’t been able to make anything happen at around this point in the tournament, and in fact got below 4 big bets in his stack. But then he was able to recover nicely, doubling through Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi and Freddie Ellis in rapid succession.
The Grinder soon met his demise. He got involved in a multiway pot with Chiu and Ellis, and folded on 5th street with only a few chips remaining. He put those chips in shortly thereafter against Scott Seiver. The cards were shown:
Mizrachi: AQ / 5
Seiver: 44 / K
The remaining streets were dealt out, but Scott Seiver caught another 4 on 4th street, and Mizrachi was drawing very thin. The Grinder didn’t get much help from the dealer, and was sent packing in 4th place with $43,188.
Three-handed, Chiu seemed to be on fire. He brought his stack up from about 140,000 to nearly 1,000,000 chips, through a combination of lucky cards and outright aggression. Continuing his meteoric rise, Chiu got involved in a big pot against Freddie Ellis while showing a 57Q7 board. Revealing the 55 for rolled-up trips, which had improved to a full house, Chiu handily beat Ellis’ 99 / 4A8J. Freddie Ellis was sent home in 3rd place, with his earnings of $59,127.
Heads up play began with David Chiu holding a slight edge with 1,080,000 chips versus Scott Seiver’s 820,000 stack. The initial sparring between the two players went in Chiu’s favor, as he increased his chip total to 1,380,000 by the dinner break. After dinner, the cards continued to be in his favor, as he made trips and two pair to beat Scott Seiver at showdown. In a couple of other pots, Chiu bet on later streets, and Seiver folded.
Finally, when the ultimate hand was dealt, Scott Seiver only had about 250,000 chips. Seiver brought it in with the 8, and Chu completed with the 8, with Seiver making the call. Fourth street came the 9 for Seiver and the J for Chiu. Chiu checked and Seiver bet out, after which Chiu check-raised, and Seiver called. The 5th street cards were dealt: the 3 for Seiver, and the 3 for Chiu. Chiu continued his aggression on 5th and Seiver continued calling. 6th street came, giving each player the following boards:
Chiu: 8 J 3 7
Seiver: 8 9 3 4
Chiu led out again and Seiver raised him all-in for a little bit more, which Chiu easily called. The hole cards were revealed. Chiu held the JT, giving him a pair of jacks and a gutshot. Seiver showed 43, making him two pair, fours over threes. Seiver was in front with about 68% equity, but Chiu caught a lucky T on the river, while Seiver caught a meaningless A. Tom Seiver took down 2nd place money, $89,980, leaving David Chiu as the winner.
David Chiu, who at one point had fewer than four big bets remaining in his stack, was able to recover and eventually win the event #23 top prize of $145,520, earning his 5th WSOP bracelet in the process. He thus joins an elite group of 5-bracelet winners, which includes Daniel Negreanu, Scotty Nguyen and Stu Ungar. A complete list of final table payouts is included below:
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