The World Series of Poker Event#64 US$10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better was brought to an end in the early hours of Wednesday morning, with Dan Matsuzuki emerging as champion, taking hold of his first-ever WSOP bracelet. The Arizona player also scooped a prize pool portion of US$364,387, which is also his sixth WSOP cash so far.
Matsuzuki managed to defeat a total player field of 141 entries to win the event, grasping the lion’s share of the accumulated prize pool. Considering his relatively small experience in live WSOP tournaments, this is a great achievement for the player, who had not even intended to play but was eventually convinced by a friend to give it a go. Still, Matsuzuki further revealed that his decision to take advantage of late registrations on Day 2 was somewhat of a strategy, as he had been aware of the fact that many of his competitors had a lot more experience than him.
For the time being, the total live earnings of Matsuzuki amount to $384,883, mostly thanks to his latest win in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship. In addition, this has been only the sixth WSOP cash of the player so far in his career.
Matsuzuki Takes Down the Event Early on Wednesday Morning
As mentioned above, Matsuzuki outlasted 140 other players in order to emerge victorious from the event and win his first-ever gold WSOP bracelet. He managed to make a comeback, after falling to a short stack at the time of the three-handed play and made a massive chip lead, which he took to into heads-up play.
The third and final day of the event started with 15 players, including the defending champion Christoper Vitch who had ended both Day 1 and Day 2 as a chip leader. At the time when the final table of the tournament was set, Matsuzuki was last in chips and his ambitions were associated with survival only. However, at the time of the four-handed play, Matsuzuki managed to eliminate the reigning champion Vitch on the fourth place and managed to get the chip lead.
Three hours later, Ken Aldridge hit the rail to rank third, with only Matsuzuki and Bohlman remaining around the final table. At the time of their heads-up play, the chip lead literally swung almost after every pot. Eventually, at the early hours of Wednesday morning, Dan Matsuzuki took down the event, emerging as the one and only champion.
With Dan Matsuzuki claiming the first-place prize of $364,387, Scott Bohlman remained on the runner-up position, taking home a prize pool portion of $225,210. The third place in the ranking was occupied by Ken Aldridge for a total of $154,648.
Defending champion Christopher Vitch left with a $108,739 after ranking fourth in the competition, followed by Daham Wang on the fifth place. Jerry Wong remained sixth, while the seventh place was occupied by Bryce Yockey. Joseph Michael got on the eight place of the $10,000 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship.
