Ylon Schwartz Wins WSOP $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.2008 November Niner Defeats David Chiu To Win First Bracelet |
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2008 November Niner Ylon Schwartz has won his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet, defeating David Chiu heads-up to capture the WSOP $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. title, along with the $267,081 first-place prize and 912 Card Player Player of the Year points.
“My initial reaction was just, joy,” said Schwartz of his moment of victory. “I just feel very happy right now. It’s a really sick feeling to finally get it done. I have been so close so many times, and now I’m there and it’s great.”
Indeed, this was the Brooklyn native’s fifth WSOP final table, including his fourth place finish in the 2008 WSOP $10,000 main event, which netted him $3,774,974. He now has lifetime tournament earnings in excess of $4.7 million, with 61 career cashes.
In this event Schwartz outlasted an 889-player field, doing battle with a number of notables deep in the event on day three, including Chip Jett (19th – $7,116), Cliff Josephy (16th – $8,641), Rep Porter (14th – $10,669) and Allen Cunningham (10th – $17,150).
Play was halted late on Friday night with only Schwartz, Stephen Chidwick and David Chiu remaining. The betting limits had grown perilously high, and within an hour and a half of restarting, it was all over. Schwartz eliminated Chidwick in third place, taking home $112,106 and 608 POY points, which moved him into 59th place in the POY race. With that, Schwartz took a chiplead into his heads-up battle with Chiu, a four-time bracelet winner.
“It just a shoot-em-up at that level, playing 100,000-200,000 limits,” said Schwartz of his heads-up match with Chiu. “The player that gets hot is just going to win. I got a lot of strong hands in Omaha eight-or-better, and I just kept betting and luckily he didn’t have anything.”
Chiu was unable to overcome the chip deficit, coming close to evening things up before losing a massive pot in seven-card stud to leave himself crippled. Moments later, Chiu was sent to the rail in second place, earning $164,960 and 760 POY points.
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at this final table:
Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
1 | Ylon Schwartz | $267,081 | 912 |
2 | David Chiu | $164,960 | 760 |
3 | Stephen Chidwick | $112,106 | 608 |
4 | Robby Rasmussen | $78,021 | 456 |
5 | Elior Sion | $55,422 | 380 |
6 | John Rogers | $40,169 | 304 |
7 | Jason Brown | $29,679 | 228 |
8 | Marlon Milne | $22,358 | 152 |