George Danzer won Event #43: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Split-8 or Better Championship at the 2016 World Series of Poker (WSOP) early Tuesday morning, acquiring his fourth career gold bracelet. He is now tied with Max Pescatori in that category, topping the list of European WSOP bracelet winners. Danzer received $338,646 for the victory, bringing his earnings total for this year’s Series to just over $445,000.
Danzer made his mark on poker history in 2014, when he became just the sixth player to win three World Series of Poker bracelets in the same year. He won this very same event and $10,000 Seven Card Razz in Las Vegas, following those up with a win in $5,000 8-Game Mixed at the WSOP Asia-Pacific. He is just one of six players to pull the trifecta, joining Puggy Pearson (1973), Phil Hellmuth (1993), Ted Forrest (1993), Phil Ivey (2002), and Jeffrey Lisandro (2009). Danzer is the only one of the six to win his bracelets at different WSOP venues (which may or may not discount his feat in the eyes of some, but regardless, three in one year is amazing).
“It’s not like you win three (WSOP victories) every year. That’s tough to do,” Danzer said in his interview after the tournament. “Last year was a brick year for me, so this is becoming a much better year, so far.”
Like the exclusive three-bracelet club he joined two years ago, the final table of this event was crowded with extremely successful poker players. Eight of the final ten players, including Danzer, had previously earned WSOP bracelets. They included runner-up Randy Ohel, Eli Elezra, Justin Bonomo, David Grey, Scott Clements, Todd Brunson, and David Benyamine.
According to reports, the final table really got nuts when it was down to three-handed play, as Danzer, Ohel, and Bonomo, constantly traded the chip lead. And not just slight chip leads; each man had a sizable lead at one point or another. On one hand, Danzer, who was barely hanging on, had to triple-up on a two-outer just to stay in the game.
“When it got short-handed, it got crazy,” Danzer recounted. “Eight-or-Better becomes a game of lots of re-steals. It’s easy to lose the overview. Sometimes, you just have to look at your hand and hope it’s the best at some point.”
Danzer and Ohel were almost even in chips heading into heads-up play. A couple big hands helped Danzer open up a gap before finally putting Oher away. On the final hand, Ohel had to post the bring-in with a 3♠. Danzer felt fine completing with 4♣. Ohel added another bet and Danzer called. On the next street, Ohel was dealt K♥, but only checked when Danzer was given the 2♠. Danzer bet, though, and Ohel called. On fifth street, Ohel did bet after being handed the 2♣, only to see Danzer raise him with T♦. Ohel moved all-in and Danzer made the call, showing J♣-4♠, good for a pair of Fours. Ohel had 6♠-4♦, which didn’t make any sort of hand, but he had a gut-shot straight draw for the hi and a draw to the low hand. The 2♦ on sixth street improved Danzer to two pair, while the J♦ did nothing for Ohel.
On the river, Danzer was dealt the 8♦, leaving him with two pair for the high and no qualifying low. Ohel would need to hit his straight to scoop or at least get one more low card for a split pot. The Q♦ did none of that for him, though, giving the pot to Danzer along with his fourth WSOP bracelet.
