WSOP: Eric Brooks Wins Event No. 14

The $10,000 seven-card stud world championship at the 2008 World Series of Poker attracted the best and brightest players in the poker world, as well as one of the most philanthropic. Even the final two tables were a star-studded affair. It was a grueling affair as well, that lasted until 3 a.m. the night before the final table. Among those players who made the final two tables, but just missed a chance for a WSOP final-table appearance were: David Levi (15th), Robert Mizrachi (14th), Alex Kravchenko (13th), Jacobo Fernandez (12th), Daniel Negreanu (11th), and the final-table bubble boy, Phil Ivey (9th). While these players just missed, some big guns remained, including Erik Seidel, who was gunning for his ninth gold bracelet. In the end it was Eric Brooks who emerged with his first piece of golden hardware, and although the first-place prize is worth $415,856, he won't see a penny of it. Brooks decided to donate 100 percent of his winnings to the Decision Education Foundation. Here is a look at the final table when things got started:

Seat 1: David Oppenheim -- 508,000
Seat 2: Alex Kostritsyn -- 495,000
Seat 3: Jim Paluszek -- 413,000
Seat 4: Erik Seidel -- 273,000
Seat 5: Vasili Lazarou -- 259,000
Seat 6: Minh Ly -- 424,000
Seat 7: Fu Wong -- 429,000
Seat 8: Eric Brooks -- 359,000

Here are highlights from all of the action, as featured in CardPlayer.com’s live coverage of the final table:


Oppenheim Falls from Chip Leader to Last Place

David Oppenheim came into the day with a solid chip lead, but he took some early licks from Minh Ly, Eric Brooks, and Jim Paluszek to fall from grace. This set up a hand where he suffered an almost fatal blow.


Oppenheim Crippled

Oppenheim had A Q 5 6 exposed when Alex Kostritsyn turned over (Q J) K J Q 2 (J). Oppenheim mucked after he had committed most of his chips on the hand, and he now held only 45,000. Oppenheim was able to double up shortly after this misfortune with a full house of his own, but he still sat in last place after starting the day with the chip lead.


Vasili Lazarou Eliminated in Eighth Place ($48,269)

Lazarou committed all of his chips on third street against Kostritsyn and Oppenheim. Oppenheim bet on both fourth street and fifth street to chase Kostritsyn out of the pot and the two players revealed their hands on the end.

Oppenheim: (2 2) 2 A 4 9 (6)
Lazarou: (K 3) 7 8 5 Q (10)

Lazarou was eliminated in eighth place, and he took home $48,269 in prize money.


David Oppenheim Eliminated in Seventh Place ($59,408)

David Oppenheim got all of his chips into the midde on fifth street and Alex Kostrirsyn had him covered. The two players turned up their hands:

Oppenheim: (5 2) 9 8 Q Q (mucked)
Kostritsyn: (6 4) 5 9 5 2 (5)

Oppenheim was eliminated in seventh place and he took home $59,408 in prize money.


Jim Paluszek Eliminated in Sixth Place ($74,260)

Jim Paluszek was crippled down to 20,000 when he ran into a nut flush held by Fu Wong. On the very next hand Paluszek put all of his money into the middle of the table before third street and Kostritsyn called him down. Their cards:

Paluszek: (Q 7) A 8 5 3 (4)
Kostritsyn: (10 8) 8 10 J K (A)

Paluszek was eliminated on the hand in sixth place and he took home $74,260 in prize money.


Table Captain: Alexander Kostritsyn

Alexander Kostritsyn emerged as the table captain during the last stretch of play. Minh Ly challenged him for a while, but it proved harmful to his health as you will read below. Eric Brooks had to make kings full against Kostritsyn to eventually slow him down during the period.

Minh Ly's Rollercoaster of Stud

Minh Ly has been all over the place over the last stretch of play. He was crippled down to 120,000 when he lost a pot with nines to Eric Brook's jacks. He quickly recovered from this by tripling up a while later. The triple up came at the courtesy of Fu Wong and Kostritsyn. Ly was all in on fourth street, and Kostritsyn was able to bet Wong off the pot on seventh street. Ly and Kostritsyn then flipped up their hands:

Ly: (9 9) 4 9 J 4 (2)
Kostritsyn: (K Q) Q 10 Q 5 (A)

Ly was back in action and he was sailing smooth until he was crippled again a few minutes later. Once again though, he put together a string if double-ups that was punctuated by quad kings to grow his stack to 200,000.


Erik Seidel Eliminated in Fifth Place ($92,825)

Seidel was low once again during this stretch, and he did manage to double up and prolong his tournament life when he hit aces up against Kostritsyn. He was still low with 400,000 after the hand, and it proved to be not enough to sustain the consummate professional. Seidel called off the last of his chips on sixth street against Ly, and when the dust settled on seventh street Seidel was behind. Their cards:

Seidel: (5 5) K Q 4 A (7)
Ly: (A 5) A 10 J 7 (Q)

Seidel was eliminated in fifth place after the hand, and he took home $92,825 in prize money for his 48th WSOP cash.

Minh Ly Eliminated in 4th Place ($118,816)

Minh Ly got it all in on third street and Alex Kostritsyn called him down. Their cards:

Ly: (8 8) 10 3 J Q (7)
Kostritsyn: (99) 10 3 6 7 (8)

Ly was eliminated on the hand in fourth place, and he took home $118,816 in prize money.


Brooks Was Here

In a pot that saw eight bets and raises of varying values, Eric Brooks had Q 10 K K exposed, while Kostritsyn had 4 9 5 Q exposed. Brooks turned up his hidden cards first and showed down K Q 5 for a full house. Kostritsyn mucked and he was low on chips after the hand with 375,000. Brooks increased his chip stack to 1,450,000.

Alexander Kostritsyn Eliminated in Third Place ($163,372)

Alexander Kostritsyn got all of his chips into the middle against Eric Brooks. Their cards after seventh street:

Kostritsyn: (K 4) 4 K 3 10 (10)
Brooks: (A 8) 7 A 7 10 (K)

Kostritsyn was eliminated on the hand in third place and he took home $163,372 in prize money.

Eric Brooks Wins Event No. 14 ($415,856)

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