In today’s World Series of Poker round-up, we bring you news of a bracelet win for a professional poker player who ‘doesn’t like the game that much,’ David Peters wins at the 39th time of trying, and tragedy strikes as young poker player dies.
When you are as good as David Peters is, it’s never a question of if you will win a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet but when.
Answer: the 39th time of trying.
Peters has competed in hundreds of WSOP events – all of them different. He cashed 38 times, made six final tables, and finished in almost every spot except the one that matters. The only place. The top spot. The one where they break out that little sliver of gold.
And then the breakthrough came in Event #56: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em when he defeated a field of 1,860 players to win the most coveted prize in poker and $412,557 in prize money.
“I knew it was coming,” Peters told WSOP officials after his win.
So did we, David.
So did we.
Peters might not have won a WSOP bracelet before this event, but he is not bad at winning money playing the game he loves. His most recent haul takes him over the $12m mark, making him the 22nd most successful person of all time when it comes to hauling in loot from the live tournament tables.
A day before Peters entered this event he won the $25,000 buy-in High Roller at The Aria for $393,120. He beat Ivan Luca in heads-up action. The Argentinean also finished 11th in Peters’s bracelet event.
The event also saw Ryan Laplante cash for the 11th time, finishing in 102nd place, maintaining a steady pace as he tries to beat Ismael Bojang’s record of 13 WSOP cashes in a single year.
Final Table Results
1. David Peters – $412,557
2. Vathal Shine – $254,890
3. Matt Affleck – $184,456
4. Muhammad Abdel-Rahim – $134,845
5. Zachary Okin – $99,592
6. Brendan Sheehan – $74,321
7. Takuya Suzuki – $56,044
8. Kilian Kramer – $42,711
9. David Patterson – $32,900
Other notables to run deep included Faraz Jaka (12th), Adrien Allain (15th), and Keith Lehr (30th).
David Nowakowski Wins Event #57: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hi-lo Split-8 or Better
From a professional poker player who loves the game to one who doesn’t like it very much.
Those unusual words spilt out of the mouth of David Nowakowski after he had defeated 732 players to take the bracelet and $203,113 first prize in Event #57: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hi-lo Split-8 or Better.
Nowakowski was the only player to take a seven-figure chip stack into the final day, where he bumped heads with Marco Johnson. Johnson was attempting to win his second bracelet of the summer, third overall, but was denied that honour when the eventual champion eliminated him in third place.
That elimination gave Nowakowski a 52bb to 39bb chip lead over the Canadian Timothy Vukson. The heads-up action was short and sweet. Vukson levelled things at one point, but Nowakowski had too much for him in the end.
It was a timely victory for Nowakowski who left the US to grind online in Panama two years ago. He recently returned to New Jersey where he plans to start school again and take up accounting.
Tony Cousineau also cashed in the event. It was his 74th WSOP cash without a bracelet.
Final Table Results
1. David Nowakowski – $203,113
2. Timothy Vukson – $125,507
3. Marco Johnson – $87,192
4. James Alexander – $61,519
5. Kenneth Po – $44,094
6. Colin Gelker – $32,114
7. Stephen Johnson – $23,772
8. Martin Staszko – $17,890
9. Matt Lefkowitz – $13,691
Dylan Hortin finished 16th; Rainer Kempe finished 24th, and Adam Owen finished 36th.
Poker Pro Found Unresponsive in Rio Hotel Room; Later Dies in Hospital
Tragedy has struck the World Series of Poker (WSOP) after Matthew Ryan Hauge, 26, was found unresponsive in his room at the Rio, and later died at 12:19 am at Spring Valley Hospital on Sunday.
Hauge was one of the hundreds of thousands of poker players who came to Las Vegas sharing a dream of one day winning a WSOP bracelet. Just before his death, Hauge cashed for the first and last time in a WSOP event coming 637th in the $888 Crazy Eight’s game. He also made Day 2 of the WPT500 at the Aria, an event he never got to finish.
His death remains a mystery.
A reporter from GlobeGazette.com wrote that a ‘representative from the coroner’s office said foul play is not suspected,’ despite a six-week wait for the findings of the toxicology report.
Hauge was a well-respected and well-liked member of the poker community, and our prayers are with his family and friends in this most dreadful of times.
