WSOP Event #39 - $50,000 H.O.R.S.E
Saturday, June 30, 2007 | Adrian Milewski
This is the event that the Pro’s regard as the Main event, with the largest buyin by far of the WSOP meaning that this five day event only has a very narrow field of the worlds best players participating.
This year there were 148 entrants with the field packed with star studded names, way too many to list out here.
The H.O.R.S.E event is a rotation of five different variations of poker, with Limit Holdem, Omaha, Razz, Stud and Stud Eight or better (Hi/Lo).
As we reached the final table the remaining 8 players were left to fight it out for the $2.2m first prize and a special WSOP bracelet encrusted with 91 black diamonds. Not only this but this event also carries the unofficial title of “Best Player in the World”.
The final table line up was as follows:
- Seat 1: Kenny Tran — 2,445,000
- Seat 2: David Singer — 1,330,000
- Seat 3: Bruno Fitoussi — 895,000
- Seat 4: John Hanson — 1,995,000
- Seat 5: Freddy Deeb — 3,500,000
- Seat 6: Thor Hansen — 40,000
- Seat 7: Amnon Filippi — 4,015,000
- Seat 8: Barry Greenstein — 750,000
Thor Hansen who suffered a huge hit to his stack in the last hand before the final table was the extreme short stack and in fact he pushed all in on the first hand of the final table. He found himself in a four way pot with Amnon Filippi, Bruno Fitoussi and John Hanson. Thor Hansen was eliminated when his two pair could not beat the higher two pair of John Hanson and Thor Hansen left in 8th place collecting $188,256.
It was well known pro Barry Greenstein who was eliminated next during the Omaha Hi/Lo section. With a board of 
Amnon Fillipi held 
for the winning hand of trip nines with the A-Q kicker which beat Greenstein’s 
who only had an A-10 kicker. Greenstein was eliminated in 7th place and collected $259,296.
Fellow “big-game” pro David Singer was next to leave during the Razz section. Singer had also made the final table of this prestigious event last year but once again fell short of claiming one of poker’s biggest titles and finished in the exact same position he did in 2006. Singer missed an 8 low draw that he had and was beaten by the 8 low of Bruno Fitoussi. Singer left in 6th place with a nice payday of $337,440.
We had a while to wait before the next elimination as play continued for a number of hours six handed. Kenny Tran found himself the next to finish when he was crippled in a hand with Filippi and then Amnon Filippi went on to eliminate him the following hand when Tran was all in for the 30k ante. Tran finished in 5th place and took home $444,000 for his 5 day effort.
Next to be eliminated was the chip leader going into the final table Amnon Filippi. During the Stud hi/lo section Filippi went all the way to seventh street with a big draw, but somehow missed all his outs and was beaten by the 9 high flush of Bruno Fitoussi. Filippi collected $586,080 for his 4th place finish.
John Hanson previous to this event was unknown in the poker world and he had played some great poker to make it into the top three of this event. He even held his own down to three handed lasting for sometime before eventually being eliminated by Freddy Deeb who made a 6-5 low during the Razz section. Hanson left in 3rd place for a massive payday of $852,480.
By this stage this marathon final table had been playing for 16 hours and it would take another hour for heads up to be decided.
Going into heads up the chip counts were as follows:
- Freddy Deeb — 10,800,000
- Bruno Fitoussi — 4,070,000
Deeb, one of the most experienced pro’s in the poker world, slowly built his stack and chipped away at Fitoussi’s stack. The decisive moment came during the Stud Hi/Lo section where Deeb made an 8 low to accompany his pair of fives which claimed both the high and low pot and awarded Freddy Deeb the prestigious title and bracelet and the monster first place prize of $2,276,832. Despite Fitoussi’s disappointment at not claiming the title he would have been consoled by the 2nd place prize of $1,278,720.
The final standings for Event #39 of WSOP 2007 were:
- Freddy Deeb $2,276,832
- Bruno Fitoussi $1,278,720
- John Hanson $852,480
- Amnon Filippi $586,080
- Kenny Tran $444,000
- David Singer $337,440
- Barry Greenstein $259,296
- Thor Hansen $188,256
There’s still time to qualify for the WSOP main event by winning one of the many satellites taking place on Pokerstars.
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