The $5,000 HORSE Event #29 played down to a single winner Tuesday evening. It was the same winner as the previous $1,500 HORSE Event #15 – Tom Schneider. The pro player from Scottsdale, Arizona outlasted and outplayed a field of 261 to win his fourth career bracelet and $258,960.
The event featured alternating rounds of Hold’em, Omaha Eight, Razz, Seven Card Stud, and Stud Eight. The variety of games along with the relatively high buyin caused it to draw in some very famous poker players including Marcel Luske, Barry Greenstein, Andy Bloch and the defending champion from last year, David “Bakes” Baker. The field was consistently narrowed, and by day three only 28 players were left standing. After about five and a half hours of play on Monday, most of the big names had busted out and the final table was set:
1. Tom Schneider – 874,000
2. Adam Friedman – 803,000
3. Greg Mueller – 748,000
4. Chris Klodnicki – 657,000
5. Viatcheslav Ortynskiy – 311,000
6. Benjamin Scholl – 279,000
7. David Benyamine – 155,000
8. Konstantin Puchkov – 91,000
Tom Schneider, Winner of Events #15 and #29
After about half an hour of final table play, short stack Konstantin Puchkov was eliminated in the Omaha Eight round as his A
6T
3 failed to hold up against Adam Friedman’s A
569 in an all-in confrontation. Puchkov left the tournament in 8th place, with a prize of $30,876.
A few minutes later, David Benyamine played out a big razz hand to the river with Friedman. Unfortunately for Benyamine, his last three cards were a queen and a pair of kings. He was forced to fold his hand when Benyamine led into him on the river, leaving him severely crippled. He got his few chips in shortly thereafter in a 4-way pot. Unfortunately, he caught a pair of kings again, and his razz hand was no good. David Benyamine was eliminated in 7th place for $40,039.
After those quick eliminations, the six remaining competitors played for over two hours without anyone being eliminated. The chip lead changed several time, as the ebbs and swings of fortune first rewarded, then punished different players. Finally, the fates caught up with Adam Friedman. Having lost a couple of pots to Schneider, and been bluffed off the best hand by Greg Mueller, he then got it on 3rd street in razz with 8 3 / K against Schneider and Benjamin School. The dealer was most unkind to Friedman, double-pairing his board. Schneider won the hand, and Adam Friedman went out in 6th place with a $52,613 prize.
The five remaining players played for about an hour before another player was knocked out. Chris Klodnicki and Tom Schneider got it in during the razz round on 6th street with the following hands:
Klodnicki: K 5 / 2 4 8 T
Schneider: 4 2 / 6 3 Q T
Schneider was in front with 70% equity, and Klodnicki received a useless 5 on 7th to pair his board. Chris Klodnicki was sent packing in 5th place, earning $70,093 for his efforts.
That elimination left four men standing, who continued to play for another two hours. Schneider was fortunate to win some nice pots from Greg Mueller and Benjamin Scholl. The day was then declared over, and the four of them had to return Tuesday to finish playing. At the end of day 3, the chip stacks looked like this:
1. Tom Schneider – 2,500,000
2. Viatcheslav Ortynskiy – 680,000
3. Benjamin Scholl – 600,000
4. Greg Mueller – 140,000
Tom Schneider had worked his stack up, not only to a significant advantage over any one of his competitors, but indeed to a quite respectable lead over all of his competitors’ stacks combined.
According to any sane method of chip valuation, Greg Mueller should have been the heavy favorite to be the next one eliminated. However, he was able to ride the variance train by doubling up, then losing a pot, then doubling up, then losing another pot. Therefore, it was Ortynskiy’s lot to be the next one to go home. After losing a pot to Benjamin Scholl, he got his short stack in against Tom Schneider. His K4 failed to improve against Schneider’s A2, and Ortynskiy hit the rail in 4th place with $94,664.
Finally, the fates caught up with Greg Mueller and drove the nail in his coffin. Schneider again was the player to deliver the bad news. The two competitors got it in on 4th street with the following boards:
Mueller: 88 / 7T
Schneider: K
3 / K9
Schneider was in front with a pair of kings to Mueller’s eights. But fifth street was the 7 for Mueller and the 6 for Schneider, allowing Mueller to pull ahead with two pair. Schneider caught the 9, however, on 6th street, making a better two pair, while Mueller caught a Q to give him a flush draw. The river cards improved both players, a 5 giving Mueller a flush and the 9 making a full house for Schneider. Mueller’s hand, though big, was not big enough to drag the pot. Greg Mueller went out in 3rd place for $129,600.
Tom Schneider entered heads-up play with better than a 3-1 chip advantage. While Benjamin Scholl put up a brave fight and won a few pots, it was not enough for him to get any momentum going.
Then, the Tom Schneider contingent arrived, in the shape of Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, who suddenly appeared shouting “Tom Schneider is my f***ing hero!” While one person may not technically constitute a “contingent,” I posit that Mike’s infamous mouth is equal to 5 or 10 mouths of lesser individuals.
Perhaps rattled by this startling declaration by Mike The Mouth, Scholl got all of his chips in on a Hold’em board of AJ6 K while holding KQ for second pair. Second pair is a fairly good hand heads-up, but it was no match for Schneider’s AT top pair. The river was the J, and Benjamin Scholl walked away in 2nd place, with $197,228 to soothe his ego.
Thus did Schneider dominate his adversaries and emerge victorious after the arduous four-day Event #29. Schneider’s bracelet is the fourth of his career, and his second in 2013. For his display of prowess on the felt, he was rewarded with the $318,955 top prize. The list of final table earnings is as follows:
1. Tom Schneider – $318,955
2. Benjamin Scholl – $197,228
3. Greg Mueller – $129,600
4. Viatcheslav Ortynskiy – $94,664
5. Chris Klodnicki – $70,093
6. Adam Friedman – $52,613
7. David Benyamine – $40,039
8. Konstantin Puchkov – $30,876