Daniel Zack Wins 2022 WSOP $10,000 Seven Card Stud Eight-or-Better Championship for Third Career Bracelet

It took Daniel Zack more than seven hours of heads-up play to come away with his second career World Series of Poker gold bracelet on June 11. Just ten days later, the 29-year-old poker pro found himself heads-up again. As with his victory earlier in the series, Zack found himself embroiled in another marathon showdown with a WSOP bracelet and six figures in prize money on the line. This time around, it took eight hours for him to close out the title. When he finally closed out the victory, Zack earned $324,174 and his third career gold bracelet as the winner of the $10,000 buy-in seven card stud eight-or-better championship event.

“I’m really happy, much happier and I feel more energetic than the last bracelet,” Zack told WSOP reporters after it was all over.

“I’ve had a lot of marathon matches heads-up. You just learn through experience to take it one hand at a time and do your best.”

This was the second-largest live tournament payday of Zack’s career, behind the $440,757 he secured in the $10,000 limit Omaha eight-or-better championship he won earlier this month. He now has more than $2.4 million in career earnings to his name.

With two wins at the WSOP this year, Zack kept alive a 23-year streak of at least one player earning multiple bracelets in a single year. Chris Ferguson kicked off this run by taking down both a $2,500 seven-card stud event and the WSOP main event in 2000. In 2021, four separate players achieved the feat (Kevin Gerhart, Georgios
Sotiropoulos, Josh Arieh, and Scott Ball).

Zack also scored 660 Card Player Player of the Year points with this title run. This was his second victory and third final-table finish of the year, all coming at the WSOP. With 1,900 total points and nearly $900,000 in year-to-date POY earnings, Zack now sits in 40th place in the overall standings, which are sponsored by Global Poker. The 324 PokerGO Tour points he earned in this high-stakes event were enough to move him inside the top 60 on that leaderboard, as well.

With 137 entries, the prize pool for the event grew to $1,277,525. The top 21 finishers made the money, with plenty of big names among those who cashed including two-time bracelet winner Brandon Shack-Harris (18th – $16,358), two-time bracelet winner Yuval Bronshtein (16th – $17,892), four-time bracelet winner John Monnette (14th – $17,892), six-time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu (12th – $25,010), and Poker Hall of Famer Todd Brunson (11th – $25,010).

This event was originally slated to run over the course of three days, from June 18-20, but play was extended onto a bonus fourth day when a winner had not yet been decided by 3:45 local time on day 3.

Bracelet winner Steve Loube ( 8th – $38,947), six-time bracelet winner Brian Hastings (7th – $49,571), recent first-time bracelet winner Chad Eveslage (6th – $63,914), five-time bracelet winner Shaun Deeb (5th – $83,465), and Eric Kurtzman (4th – $110,379) all were knocked out at the final table before day 3 concluded.

Zack was the shortest of the final three, with David Funkhouser leading and Ziya Rahim in second place when action was paused. Players returned at 3:00 p.m. on June 21. After about an hour and fifteen minutes of three-handed play, Rahim was scooped by the straight and 6-5 low of Funkhouser to finish third for $147,800. This was by far the largest live tournament score of his career.

The long heads-up battle began at roughly 4:20 PM with Funkhouser holding more than a 2:1 chip leader over Zack. He quickly extended that advantage to more than 6:1, but Zack soon fought back and was in the lead less than an hour after the showdown began. Over the course of the roughly eight-hour match, each player eventually spent multiple hours with the advantage. Towards the end of the showdown, the betting limits had grown to the point that any one hand could dramatically shift the balance of power. At just after midnight, Zack scooped a huge pot with an eight-high straight and a 7-6 low that gave him a 9:1 lead.

Not long after that, Funkhouser got the last of his chips in on third street and was at risk. The boards ran out as follows:

Funkhouser: (103)A9A5(8)
Zack: (AK)272A3

Zack made aces up on sixth street to take the high, and neither player made a qualifying low. With that, Funkhouser was eliminated as the runner-up, earning $200,35y6 for his strong showing in this event. This was the largest tournament score ever for the Las Vegas resident.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:

Winner photo credit: WSOP / Spenser Sembrat.

You can follow the 2022 World Series of Poker on Card Player’s series landing page, sponsored by Global Poker, the fastest growing online poker room in the world. Check out the series schedule, as well as event recaps, news, and player interviews.

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