Daniel Zack played an eight-hour heads-up match in the Event No. 40:$10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo or Better Championship and won another World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet. This was a few weeks after winning his second bracelet in a seven-hour heads-up battle.
Ballys and Paris in Las Vegas organized the event and Zack took home $324,174. He stated after the tournament that he was more energetic and happier than he was after winning the previous bracelet.
Reports state that he currently holds the first position in the WSOP Player of the Year (POY) standings. This was his third bracelet in professional poker and the second WSOP bracelet. Each of them has a different format.
Zack claimed that his success is a result of spending long nights playing cash games. He has played many games heads-up of late that have taught him to handle one hand and make the right selections. The poker pro has been eying for the WSOP POY award for a long period during which he made five chances, got two wins, and advanced to three final tables.
The Championship’s Final Table Results
1. Daniel Zack from the U.S.-$324,174
2. David Funkhouser from the U.S.-$200,356
3. Ziya Rahim from the U.S.-$147,800
4. Eric Kurtzman from the U.S.-$110,379
5. Shaun Deeb from the U.S.-$83,465
6. Chad Eveslage from the U.S.-$63,914
7. Brian Hastings from the U.S.-$49,571
Action on the Final Day
The day’s action kicked off at 3:00 p.m. as three players returned from the past day. Ziya Rahim took less than an hour to leave the event in third place and win $147,800.
He lost a huge portion of his stack after he ran into Zack’s full house and one hand went against him. David Funkhouser eliminated Rahim after making a straight.
Heads-Up Action
A long heads-up game took place after Rahim’s elimination as each remaining player had a stack lead for a while. Funkhouser had a big chip lead over Zack and hands favored him in a heads-up battle. The former made a wheel that left the latter with a chip deficit of almost 7:1.
Even so, Zack got more momentum after the break as a full house enabled him to even out chips. A pair of queens helped him take over the chip lead. The battle intensified when Zack’s lead fluctuated from 2:1 to almost 1:1.
Funkhouser’s Spirited Fight
Funkhouser didn’t give up as he got a few pots that reduced Zack’s lead. The former got kings after several pot hours that made the latter fold a river bet hence giving Funkhouser more chips. He revealed a set of threes in one pot that gave him a 3:1 chip lead.
Zack held a pair of kings while Funkhouser had a pair of nines after a while. The seventh street boosted Zack to queens-up as Funkhouser lacked an improvement. Still, Zack regained the chip lead after several hands.
Zack led Funkhouser by over 7:1 after 20 minutes. But a double helped the latter even the chips again. Unfortunately, he lost most of his chips after Zack’s eight-high straight beat his open kings hence leaving him with one huge wager.
Funkhouser put his remaining stack all in and Zack’s twos and aces were the winning hand. The former finished as the runners-up and took home $200,365 while Zack won the WSOP bracelet and first-place cash prize.
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