David Chiu is one of the most accomplished poker players in the world. Chiu not only is one of the greats, but also one of the nicest people on the tour whether you’re a fellow player, railbird or media member.
With an amassed $7.4 million in lifetime earnings, Chiu currently sits equal 13th on the all-time WSOP cashes leaderboard with 56. However Chiu will be looking to join an elusive group of individuals that have 5 bracelets that include Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, Jeffrey Lisandro and Stu Unger.
Holding an impressive 313,000 in chips, Chiu will be a force to watch out for at this final table, and mixed with his years of experience and nice-guy attitude, players will want to stay out of Chiu’s way.
Although his poker career has been at times crowded by some controversy, it is hard to argue that Michael Mizrachi isn’t one of the greats of this generation. With two WPT wins early in his career, it wouldn’t be until 2010 that he broke out at the WSOP capturing his first bracelet with a win in the Poker Players Championship.
Mizrachi would travel to Europe and win gold there before returning in 2012 to repeat in the Poker Players Championship to stand alone with many greats as having three gold bracelets. Throw in 31 WSOP cashes and $14.4 million in lifetime earnings and you already have one of the best poker resumes out there.
However if Mizrachi can motor his XXXX chip stack here today and claim his 4th gold bracelet to join the likes of David Chiu, Mike Matusow, Huck Seed and Amarillo Slim, he will forever have his name etched in the WSOP record books for being one of the best all round poker players.
The oldest player at the table, Freddie Ellis is admired by many as he is a legendary seven card stud cash game player here in Las Vegas. He is so admired, that even Phil Ivey came up to him to shake his hand.
Back in 2009, Ellis captured the 2009 $10,000 World Championship of Seven Card Stud for $373,751 besting a final table that included Eric Drache, Ville Wahlbeck, Hasan Habib and Greg Mueller.
If Ellis is able to capture the title here, he will be the first player to claim multiple Seven Card Stud Championships.
Although having a roller coaster of a final day, Adam Friedman survived to the final table to sit with 60,000 in chips.
Friedman – who already has one cash this year – has amassed over $1.2 million in lifetime earnings that features eight WSOP cashes and a bracelet in last year’s $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo for $269,037 where he beat out Todd Brunson heads-up.
With an extensive poker resume that features results across all the mixed games, Friedman’s short stack can’t be overlooked as he has the skills and experience to make a run at collecting his second gold bracelet and second piece of the Stud Triple Crown.
Hailing from Sydney, Australia, Gary Benson has been a long time visitor to the USA to play the WSOP. One of the stalwarts of Australian poker, Benson has the most experience playing Seven Card Stud and has been notching results since 1995 both here and abroad and was inducted into the Australian Poker Hall of Fame in 2010.
Most notably, Benson claimed gold in the $1,500 Seven Card Stud event back in 1996 for $148,200 – which amazingly is a few thousand more than today’s first prize. With 11 WSOP cashes, multiple Aussie Millions titles and over $1 million in lifetime earnings, if Benson captures his second Stud bracelet today he will become the player with the second longest gap between bracelets – 17 years – behind the late and great Chip Reece.
One of the Internationals on the final table, Matthew Ashton hails from the Liverpool, England, and although he may not be the most well-known player on the final table, his results speak for themselves.
With six WSOP cashes to his name, two of Ashton’s have come this year. More amazing is that they are both final tables where he took 3rd in Event 5: $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo and then 2nd in Event 13: $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo.
Only 1 of his 13 lifetime cashes have come in a non-mixed game discipline, so although he may be the baby-face of the final table, Ashton’s skills equal that of most of his counterparts. And if Ashton can finish 3rd or better he can move into outright second in the race for Player of the Year behind Daniel Negreanu.
Frank Kassela became a household name in 2010 when he had a breakout WSOP with six cashes that resulted in three final tables and bracelets in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-lo Championship ($447,446) and $2,500 Seven Card Razz ($214,085) which eventually lead to him being crowned Player of the Year.
Although previously being known as a cash game grinder, Kassela has been amassing results for the best part of ten years around the country and currently sees him sit with 17 WSOP cashes and over $2.3 million in earnings coming into today’s final table.
With his vast experience playing mixed games – and two bracelets to show for it – Kassela and his 180,000 chip stack will see him as easily one of the biggest threats for the other nine players seated alongside him.
With two cashes already at this WSOP, Scott Seiver will be hoping that his third can result in his second bracelet after he won the $5,000 No Limit Holdem for $755,891 back in 2008.
Although Seiver has 25 WSOP cashes to his name, his biggest results have come outside of the WSOP when he won the WPT Championship in 2011 for $1.6 million and the PCA Super High Roller this year for over $2 million.
Known for playing in the high stakes mixed cash games around Las Vegas, Seiver will still want to cement his name as being a great all-round player, and heading into the final table with 260,000 in chips gives Seiver a great chance of capturing his second gold bracelet if he can outlast his talented counterparts.
David Chiu completed and Helmut Koch called all-in for his last 15,000. Both Adam Friedman and Frank Kassela made the call before all three players checked the action down.
Chiu: / /
Koch: / /
Friedman: / /
Kassela: / /
Koch tabled his , but it would be Friedman's for two pair to capture the pot and send Koch to the rail in 9th place.
David Chiu two-bet over a Scott Seiver complete with the , and directly following him Helmut Koch three-bet. Seiver folded but Chiu called before Koch bet fourth and Chiu called before both players checked fifth. Sixth street saw Chiu bet out with Koch calling before Chiu bet seventh and Koch folded leaving himself just 19,000 after he flashed the .
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, but it would be Friedman's 
for two pair to capture the pot and send Koch to the rail in 9th place.
, and directly following him Helmut Koch three-bet. Seiver folded but Chiu called before Koch bet fourth and Chiu called before both players checked fifth. Sixth street saw Chiu bet out with Koch calling before Chiu bet seventh and Koch folded leaving himself just 19,000 after he flashed the 
