Two more World Series of Poker events reached a conclusion Sunday night, with Dan Heimiller and George Danzer respectively winning event 17 Seniors NLHE Championship and event 18, a $10,000 buy-in Seven Card Razz competition.
The Seniors event pulled in 4,425 entries to generate a prize pool of $3,982,500 which over two days was whittled down to a final table comprising David Smith, Anthony Wise, former WSOP champ Dennis Phillips, David Tran, Doc Barry, David Vida and Jim Custer, Dan Heimiller and Donald Maas.
Three handed play saw Maas holding a 2 million lead, but Heimiller persisted and third placed Dave Smith was eliminated for $279,412.
The heads up between Heimiller and Maas was a hard-fought affair lasting just six hands, starting with Heimiller in the lead. He was able to leverage that into a win, emerging victorious to claim the bracelet and the top prize of $627,462, and sending Maas to the cashier for a still impressive runner-up prize of $388,054.
It was Heimiller’s second WSOP bracelet and his biggest yet win in a career which has seen him earn over $4 million.
Other pay-outs were:
4th Anthony Wise $206,492
5th Dennis Phillips $153,833
6th David Tran $115,651
7th Doc Barry $87,615
8th David Vida $66,945
9th Jim Custer $51,573
In event 18, a $10,000 buy-in Seven Card Razz contest, a record 112 players entered, making for a prize pool of $1,052,800.
By the end of the first day the field was down to 74, and by the end of the second just 12 players were left to play down to a final table that included German ace George Danzer sporting a decidedly Viking-style haircut, Brandon Shack-Harris, Todd Barlow, Yuval Bronshtein, Brian Hastings, Todd Dakake, Naoya Kihara and David Bach.
Daniel Negreanu, who had looked set to win the event earlier on, was denied his seventh WSOP bracelet when he was busted out by Gordon Vayo before the final table was reached.
Three handed, it looked as if Brandon Shack-Harris was going to win with over 70 percent of the chips on the table, but third placed Todd Barlow went on a heater that diminished his stack, and by the time Barlow was eliminated in third for $114,081, Shack-Harris was trailing Danzer as the two determined players entered the heads up finale.
The lead changed several times and right up to the end, when Shack-Harris rallied with three double ups, it was a tension-filled match. However, Danzer proved to be a worthy winner, claiming his first WSOP bracelet and the main prize of $294,792.
Shack-Harris was well-rewarded for his brave effort, leaving with the runner-up prize of $182,155, a nice addition to the $205,634 he won in the PLO event 3 he won earlier in this year’s WSOP.