David Bach Wins WSOP Event #30: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship
Another day has come to a completion at the 2017 World Series of Poker (WSOP) with David Bach being crowned the Event #30: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship winner. Bach claimed the $383,208 first prize and his second bracelet of this year's series and third overall.
The final day of Event #30 began with just 15 players remaining from the original 150 that took a seat on Thursday afternoon. Many seasoned poker veterans and savvy young guns had come and gone over the course of the first two days, and with a winner in sight, this tournament was truly one to watch. The spotlight was cast on two-time WSOP Player of the Year and six-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu who began the day as chip leader. Negreanu had already notched a second-place and third-place finish at WSOP events this series, and would have his eyes squarely set on eclipsing both of those results. The other major story line was Jason Mercier, who was looking to join the likes of Layne Flack and Tuan Le in going back-to-back in defending their WSOP gold.
Once cards were in the air, Phillip Wallace was the first casualty, and he soon would be followed by Mark Gregorich. Mack Lee, Scott Bohlman, and Brian Rast all were eliminated to leave a final ten before Richard Chase's tournament would finish in 10th when Bach rivered a flush to send nine players to the main stage at the unofficial final table. Leading those final nine players would still be Negreanu who rode somewhat of a roller coaster during the first few levels of play as Don Zewin and Mercier were the only two other players in the seven-figure club.
Following a couple of doubles, Anthony Zinno's tournament would end just one short of another WSOP final table when he was all in with split jacks in stud against the split aces of Eric Rodawig who would carry the official chip lead into the final table. Once play resumed after a short break, Jerry Wong exited in 8th place after he was crippled by Zewin's aces in the hand previously. Yuebin Guo was then eliminated in 7th place, running his 8?8? into Andrew Brown's 9?9? in hold'em. Play then slowed down as chips made their way around the table before Rodawig would still hold the chip lead at dinner break over Mercier, while Negreanu and Bach held the two shortest stacks.
Once play resumed, the chip lead was held by a rotation of players, but unfortunately one of them wouldn't be Negreanu. The overnight chip leader managed to double but he was then eliminated in 6th place by Rodawig during the Omaha hi-lo orbit. The next big name to go was Mercier who grinded the short stack for a multitude of game changes finding double ups here and there. However in a hand of razz, he would be forced all in and would be unable to better Brown's eight-seven low.
Now down to the final four, Brown would hold half the chips in play, but after multiple battles with Rodawig, those two would switch places in the chip counts as Rodawig surged ahead to hold more then half the chips in play also. Unfortunately for Brown who was looking to collect his second career WSOP bracelet, his run would end in 4th place when he missed a monster Omaha hi-lo hand against Bach. With Brown on the rail, Bach would now hold nearly half the chips in play. Several orbits later, Zewin would be eliminated in 3rd place - following a 3rd place in this very event back in 2015 - when Rodawig rivered a straight to hold a slight lead entering heads up play.
Rodawig was eyeing his second career WSOP bracelet, and he had a rail that featured Matthew Ashton, Brandon Shack-Harris, and Chris George all cheering him on. Bach was aiming for bracelet number three, and also his second within the past 10 days after winning Event #11: $1,500 Dealers Choice for $119,399. Once heads-up play began, it would be Bach in control winning pot-after-pot. Bach was on cruise control as he won nearly every relative hand between the two. His slight chip disadvantage turned into a lead, and then into a two-to-one lead before the final hand begin with him holding a commanding nine-to-one chip lead over Rodawig. During the Omaha hi-lo orbit, Rodawig committed his final chips holding J?9?9?3? on a Q?K?A? flop against Bach's A?J?9?8?. No club or nine would come for Rodawig, and Bach was crowned the Event #30 champion!
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | David Bach | United States | $383,208 |
| 2nd | Eric Rodawig | United States | $236,841 |
| 3rd | Don Zewin | United States | $163,557 |
| 4th | Andrew Brown | United States | $115,485 |
| 5th | Jason Mercier | United States | $83,415 |
| 6th | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | $61,677 |
| 7th | Yuebin Guo | United States | $45,587 |
| 8th | Jerry Wong | United States | $36,218 |
"I'm running well and I fell like I'm playing well," said Bach while being interviewed after his win. "I pride myself on being able to play with anybody!"
For Bach, not only is this is his second bracelet of the series and third overall, but it also the second in this H.O.R.S.E. discipline after he won the 2008 $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship for $1,276,806 before it became known as the Poker Players Championship. Following this win, Bach's career lifetime winnings now eclipse $4 million, and with the way he is running and playing this WSOP, he has a strong chance to add to that while also be a strong candidate at chasing Player of the Year honors.
