Michael Chu Wins Event #8 at the WSOP

Like the opposing forces of yin and yang, the final two players of event #8 at the World Series of Poker used two opposite, yet equally effective styles to battle heads up for the bracelet. Winner Michael Chu took down the tournament by playing carefully and picking his spots. He sat back and let the larger stacks battle as he vigilantly acquired and analyzed information. His style was a sharp contrast to that of second-place finisher Tommy Vu, who was easily the most aggressive player at the final table. However, in the end, Vu's all out assault was masterfully picked away by Chu. Chu navigated a field of 884 that rebought a staggering 1,814 times to create a prize pool of $2,533,062.

The final table began with Amir Vahedi ($1,360,000), Mike Gracz ($730,000), Dolph Arnold ($520,000), Michael Chu ($480,000), Barry Cales ($420,000), Tommy Vu ($344,000), Shane Schleger ($290,000), Robert Aron ($285,000), and Jan Von Halle ($205,000). In the end only Chu remained standing, and he took down the first-place payday of $575,774 as well as the gold bracelet.

When play got down to heads up, the pair played two key hands to determine the outcome of the tournament. In the first of these hands, Vu limped and Chu raised to $200,000. Vu made the call and the flop came 9 8 3. Chu bet $375,000 and Vu moved all in. Chu quickly called and tabled J 10, while Vu showed down 8 6. The turn was the 5 and Vu was still in the lead. The river brought the 7, though, and Chu made his straight. At that point the chip counts were $4,420,000 to $1,080,000 in favor of Chu. The tournament finished a short time later when Vu open-pushed with K 8 and Chu called with A 3. The board was dealt 6 5 3 6 4, and Chu dodged the flush draw to take down the pot and the title.

Second-place finisher Tommy Vu used to run infomercials claiming he could make you rich. In the end he helped himself out with a second-place cash of $364,761. Vu was chip leader for much of the final table. On two different occasions, he continued to raise pots preflop until the other players finally played back. Chu claimed he isn't a professional and would not quit his day job. He also said his parents did not like him playing poker, but with a $575,774 win, and a shiny new bracelet to show for his efforts, they may have to reconsider.

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