David Bach Reins In $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship

The final heads-up match between Chip Reese and Andy Bloch in the inaugural $50,000 World Series of Poker H.O.R.S.E. world championship in 2006 set the standard for this prestigious event. The two played heads-up poker for seven hours and 10 minutes at a final table that took 354 hands to determine a winner.

Another chapter was added to that H.O.R.S.E. legacy this year, and it’s another long one. David Bach won the 2009 event to capture his first gold bracelet. In the tradition of great sports trophies like the Stanley Cup, his name will now be a part of the legacy of the Chip Reese memorial trophy.

The final heads-up match that transpired between Bach and John Hanson lasted close to seven hours and ended at just after 10 o’clock in the morning. The 2009 H.O.R.S.E. final table beat the 2006 H.O.R.S.E. final table in terms of length, as Bach topped Hanson on the 480th hand of play after 18 hours and 44 minutes at the final table. The only WSOP final table that was longer than this one was the 2008 WSOP Europe main event (484 hands, 19 hours and nine minutes).

Bach followed Reese’s footsteps via the determination of his play and the gentlemanly manner with which he carried himself during the long hours at the final table; he was one of the most gracious winners in this year’s Series.

Day 1: Where Have All the Horses Gone?
At the scheduled starting time for the event, very few players were registered. All of the top poker players in the world appeared to be involved in a waiting game to see just how many players were going to jump into the ring and play in the fourth edition of the “players’ championship.” In the end, 95 entered the event, making it the smallest H.O.R.S.E. world championship field in history.
The total prize pool was $4,560,000 and the top prize was $1,276,802.

One year ago, Scotty Nguyen won $1,989,120 after topping a field of 148 players. In 2007, the size of the field was also 148 players, and during the inaugural year of the event, the field was 143 players. Everyone involved had a different opinion of why the field size was only 64 percent of the previous year’s, but one fact that stood out was that ESPN was not filming the event for television. “The turnout is directly related to ESPN deciding that they weren’t going to film it because it’s not no-limit hold’em at the final table,” said Daniel Negreanu, a member of the Players Advisory Council, a group of poker players who give their input to Harrah’s each year concerning the WSOP schedule. “Next year, we’ll switch it back to no-limit hold’em at the final table; then we’ll have all those extra sponsored players, and we’ll be back to 150, if not more.”

The final-table format will certainly be up for debate before the 2010 H.O.R.S.E. world championship, but one thing that no one in the Amazon Room disputed was the fact that the event’s status as the players’ championship was intact. The 95 players in the field were competing in one of the toughest poker tournaments in history.

Days 2-4: Chasing a Spot in the Legacy of H.O.R.S.E.
The ensuing action among the top professionals in the game quickly melted the disappointment that was present on day 1. Gus Hansen jumped to the top of the leader board at the end of day 2 with 686,000 in chips, and was looking to make a deep run at his first bracelet. Scotty Nguyen held 463,000, which had more than a few people thinking back-to-back H.O.R.S.E. final tables for the “Prince of Poker.”

Day 3 was defined by the fall of the biggest names in the game, as defending champion Nguyen, Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, and the only player who had cashed in the first three years of the event, Barry Greenstein, made their exits. Only 19 players remained at the end of the day, with $40,000 no-limit hold’em event winner Vitaly Lunkin leading the way with 1,527,000.

The money bubble loomed right at the start on the penultimate day of the tournament. Only the top 16 players were going to walk away with at least $72,914, and the first three players to bust out left empty-handed (Todd Brunson, Brett Richey, and bubble boy Frank Kassela). The players then took new seats at the final two tables and quick work was made of slicing the field in half, as the short stacks fell quickly.

The most notable eliminations during this period of the tournament included Freddy Deeb and Gus Hansen. Deeb, the 2007 H.O.R.S.E. world champion, was attempting to become the first repeat champion in this event, but he fell in 14th place. Hansen earned the dubious distinction of being the final-table bubble boy, busting out in ninth place.

Familiar Faces in Familiar Places
Here is a look at the chip counts when the final table began:

In addition to the compelling story lines supplied by the presence of multiple-bracelet winners Chau Giang, Erik Seidel, and Huck Seed at the final table, there were also two players who were looking to extend their recent success at the 2009 WSOP. Lunkin could win his second bracelet at his third final-table appearance of the summer, and Ville Wahlbeck also was looking for his second bracelet of this Series. Wahlbeck already had cashed six times and made three final tables prior to the H.O.R.S.E. finale. John Hanson was showing consistency of a different sort with his final-table appearance. He finished in third place in the 2007 H.O.R.S.E. world championship, and joined Seed, David Singer, and Barry Greenstein as the only players to make multiple H.O.R.S.E. world championship final tables. The two wild cards in the group included Swedish online star Erik Sagstrom and American tournament grinder David Bach, who were looking to win their first bracelet.

Seidel was the first to fall on the final day, as Bach took the high half of a seven-card stud eight-or-better pot and Lunkin took the low. Seidel was awarded $162,382 for his eighth-place finish, which took his career tournament winnings to more than $9.5 million. Giang was eliminated less than 10 minutes later in seventh place ($184,087), when his Q-9 fell to the A-Q of Sagstrom on an A-Q-5-10-4 board during limit hold’em. These two quick eliminations were then followed by a lull that lasted until well after the dinner break.

It was approaching 10 p.m. when Wahlbeck’s run in the event came to an end. During a hand of Omaha eight-or-better, Wahlbeck called all in for 135,000 after Bach led out on a board of the J 4 3 K. Wahlbeck turned over the 7 5 3 2 for a straight draw and low draw. Bach showed the A J 4 3 for two pair. The 4 on the river locked up the pot for Bach, and Wahlbeck was eliminated in sixth place. With the $219,655 that he collected, Wahlbeck increased his 2009 WSOP winnings to $849,786. The table then lost Seed in fifth place ($276,610). The former main-event champion called all in for his final 195,000 in a hand of limit hold’em, and watched as Hanson, Lunkin, and Sagstrom bet and raised an A-10-4-Q-5 board. Hanson flipped over A-J on the river, which was good enough to win the hand after all of his opponents mucked, including Seed.

Lunkin’s quest to win the WSOP’s two largest buy-in events in the same year came to a halt at 1 a.m. The Russian got the last of his chips into the middle during a hand of seven-card stud eight-or-better. He revealed trip eights and a draw to an 8-5 low, but Sagstrom turned up trip aces. Lunkin missed his low draw, and Sagstrom scooped the pot. Lunkin was eliminated in fourth place, and the $368,813 that he was awarded took his 2009 WSOP winnings to $2,696,306.

Three-handed play was a lengthy affair, and during one two-hour stretch, Bach watched his stack fall to 670,000 before he staged a huge comeback to take the chip lead. He surged during a stretch of Omaha eight-or-better that saw him win multiple pots to build his stack to 8.625 million. On one of the final Omaha eight-or-better hands during that round, Sagstrom was eliminated in third place. Sagstrom was all in on the flop, and after the betting ended between Hanson and Bach, Hanson turned up eights in the hole to win the hand, and Sagstrom was eliminated in third place ($522,394).

The chip counts were exactly even when heads-up play began at 3 a.m., with each player holding 7.1 million. Hanson jumped out to an early lead, but Bach fought back to take the lead with 10 million. Hanson recaptured the chip lead once more, but by 6 a.m., it was Bach’s once again after a run during Omaha eight-or-better. Hanson then made it five lead changes when he took a small lead just before 8 a.m.

It was after 9 a.m. when Bach regained the lead, and the sixth lead change would prove to be the last. Bach began to close the door on Hanson when he made the nut flush in a limit hold’em hand to increase his stack to seven figures. The final hand was a little anticlimactic, given the length and scope of the overall match. Hanson was facing a 15-1 chip deficit when he brought it in on a razz hand and Bach completed. Hanson then raised, Bach reraised, and Hanson made the call. Bach bet out on fourth street, and Hanson made the all-in call. The rest of the cards were then dealt out, and Bach made a 9-7 low to beat Hanson’s 9-8 low. Hanson received $789,199 for his runner-up finish. Bach is now one of the few to hold a prominent position in H.O.R.S.E. world championship history.

The Champion’s Profile: David Bach
David Bach had appeared at a World Series of Poker final table in each of the four years leading up to the 40th-annual WSOP. He made his fifth final-table appearance in as many years the most memorable one, and realized a personal dream by winning his first gold bracelet. The joy was apparent on Bach’s face as he accepted his first bracelet and began to put it on. He paused for a moment, and said, “I never wanted to touch one until I earned it,” then continued to place it on his wrist while grinning from ear to ear.

Bach has been a consistent presence on the tournament circuit in recent years; he scored his first tournament cash in a $1,500 seven-card stud event at the WSOP in 1997. He had earned more than $1.2 million in tournaments prior to this year’s H.O.R.S.E. world championship, and that consistency made him eager to break through. “I write e-mails to family and friends when I get done every night, and two nights ago, I told them that this is really the bracelet that I should win. It’s the game that I’m best at; it’s the tournament that I want to win the most. If I was going to break through and win one, this was the right one,” said Bach.

Bach is no stranger to the pressures of professional competition. Before he became a professional poker player, he was a professional bowler who traveled around the country and participated in top tournaments. “Bowling prepared me for pressure. In bowling, you have to be able to control your body and your mind at the same time; in poker, you have to control only your mind. So, all of that training really makes dealing with the pressure of poker that much easier,” said Bach.

Bach also is no stranger to long sessions at the poker table, so the marathon final match between John Hanson and him played right into his hands. “I used to play long home games when I was younger. I played a 64-hour session once, and I would regularly play 30- and 40-hour sessions. It’s been a while, but I do have some experience with that,” he said. He also drew some inspiration from the defining moment in H.O.R.S.E. world championship history. When the match started to run into the early hours of the morning, all Bach had to do was look at the Chip Reese memorial trophy just a few feet away from him. “I just said to myself, ‘Be a professional.’ I kept looking at Chip Reese’s name on that trophy and told myself that that’s what he would do,” said Bach.

The prestige of the win is something that is not lost on a professional who has spent years on the tournament trail, paying his dues the right way. Bach carried himself with a dignity that Reese would have been proud of, and just as Reese did when he won the H.O.R.S.E. world championship in 2006, Bach thanked those closest to him. “This is great; I have so many people to thank and so much to be thankful for. This really goes to my father more than anyone else, as we’re so close; he has had a lot of health struggles, and I’m just happy that he is still around to be a part of this,” said Bach.

A Long, Drawn-Out Concerto From Bach
Wins War of Attrition in $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship
By Julio Rodriguez

If the past four years are any indication at all, it is clear that the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. world championship is one of the most mind-numbingly slow poker tournaments of the year. In fact, in the history of the World Series of Poker, the H.O.R.S.E. event holds four out of the top five spots in the record books for most hands played at a final table.

So, it’s fitting that each and every champion had not only the endurance, but the extreme patience to overcome in a situation in which others have faltered. David Bach knew his place at the table well, and never forced the action until he absolutely had to. Knowing that the value of chips lost is far greater than the value of chips won, the former professional bowler sat back tolerantly and waited for just the right opportunities to get his chips in the middle and keep his head above water.

Bach came to the final table without much of a choice, however. Sitting in seat 6, he was handcuffed by all three short stacks sitting to his immediate left. Not wanting to double up the very dangerous Erik Seidel, Chau Giang, and Ville Wahlbeck, Bach stayed quiet early on and waited for his best game, seven-card stud, to make its way through the rotation.

Finally, about an hour into the final table, Bach played a significant seven-card stud pot with Huck Seed that saw his stack reinflate above the comfort level and produce a fourth short stack. After chopping up Seidel with Vitaly Lunkin, Bach had enough ammo to sit back and outlast Giang’s elimination that came soon thereafter.

Six-handed, Bach was in major trouble and down to six big bets. He was well aware that his next hand could be his last, yet he didn’t panic and once again waited almost a full rotation until stud to make his move. “I was at the point that whatever hand I played, I needed to win,” he said. “I wanted to get my money in good with the best hand. I ended up making a flush in five cards in seven-card stud, which is a pretty good spot.”

Bach then woke up with a hand in Omaha eight-or-better to take out Wahlbeck. During that round, he won nearly every pot and closed out that game with a monster full house to challenge Lunkin for the chip lead.

Seed and Lunkin began to hemorrhage chips and were unceremoniously eliminated over the next hour or so, and once again Bach was nearing the felt. A couple of scoops in Omaha eight-or-better gave him more breathing room, and then a massive pot with trip nines in stud evened out the chip counts. John Hanson then took out Erik Sagstrom to make it a heads-up affair.

The clock read 3:30 a.m. and both players were dead even in chips with 7.1 million, but with the big bet at 360,000, a raising war could easily decide the match. Although Hanson had final-table experience from his third-place finish in 2007, it was clear that he was the one more willing to gamble and get it in. Bach said, “He wanted to play big pots with big hands. He was content to let me chip a little bit here and a little bit there. When I did play a pot with him, I usually had the worst hand. I think I was kind of freerolling off all of those small pots that I won.”

More than six hours of small pots later, Bach finally had Hanson on the ropes. Ironically, it was in razz that he finished him off, which had easily been Bach’s worst game throughout the final table.

A deserving champion, Bach let the game come to him at his own pace and never really tried to play table sheriff. The end result was a victory in one of the game’s most prestigious events, the respect of his peers, and a handsome payday of $1,276,802.