Event Headlines –
1. Nick Schulman Wins First WSOP Gold Bracelet
2. Former New York City Pool Pro Trades Cue Stick For Gold Bracelet
3. No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Draw Lowball World Championship Draws Record Field
The Winner --
• The 2009 World Series of Poker $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Shootout champion is Nick Schulman, from New York, NY.
• Schulman is a 24-year old professional poker player. Prior to poker, Schulman concentrated on playing pool and made his living hanging out in Manhattan’s bars and pool halls.
• Schulman grew up on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
• Schulman starting cutting classes as a teenager to play pool.
• Schulman later returned to school and earned his GED. He says he hopes to attend college someday and study philosophy.
• At age 21, Schulman became the youngest winner of a World Poker Tour event in history when he won the World Poker Finals championship in Season Four.
• Schulman’s online screen name is “The Takeover.”
• Schulman collected $279,751 for first place. He was also awarded his first WSOP gold bracelet.
• According to the official records, Schulman now has 1 wins, 2 final table appearances, and 3 in-the-money finishes at the WSOP.
• According to the official records, Schulman now has 1 wins, 2 final table appearances, and 6 in-the-money finishes at the WSOP.
• Schulman currently has $443,826 in WSOP winnings.
Winner Quotes (Nick Schulman)
• On winning his first WSOP gold bracelet: “The prestige of the bracelet is a little overwhelming. This is the term when it comes to winning in poker. They say these tournaments are not about the money and I never used to think like that. But, I know what they mean, now. The bracelet is a little sweeter than the cash.”
• On starting out as a pool player: “When I was about 14 or 15 I started going to a local pool hall with my dad. I started playing and found I was pretty good at it. I stopped going to school, which I have since regretted -- even though it has worked out. In my late teens and when I was 20 I was playing pool professionally. That included some pool tournaments. While I was playing pool, I discovered poker. It was played in many of the back rooms of the pool halls, so I got involved in that.”
• On which is more difficult to master, poker versus pool: “I think poker is easier than pool. But, it’s close. The games are very different. There is a type of pressure in pool that is not quite the same in poker, although No-Limit Deuce kind of matches that pressure because there are so many stare-downs, and reads and whatnot. But in pool you really have to execute athletic motion, which is different. Of course, both games involve a lot of sleepless nights.”
• On dropping out of school and advice to young people considering poker as a full-time profession: “Stay in school. Absolutely. You can still play poker, but stay in school. It’s the best years of your life, being in school. It’s worth riding out. I would say go to school and play poker....but be sure and graduate.”
• On the difficult of this final table: “There wasn’t a weak spot in the field. I feel really fortunate. I feel the cards came my way and I was able to capitalize on that.”
• On the last hand where he made the perfect 2-7 nut hand, when asked what did he draw to: “I can’t tell you. It’s too embarrassing.”
• On the skill component of No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven: “It’s pure poker. It’s a very simple game but the intangibles are what make it. The elements that make up being a good poker player are all required to play this game. It’s a game of very few decisions, but they mean everything.”
• One the runner up, Ville Wahlbeck: “He’s a great player. I am happy for him (doing well as this year’s WSOP. He deserves it. He’s a very tough player.”
The Final Table
• The final table contained four former WSOP gold bracelet winners – David Benyamine (1 win), John Juanda (4 wins), Ville Wahlbeck (1 win), and Steve Sung (1 win).
• The runner up was Ville Wahlbeck, from Helsinki, Finland. He won the Mixed Games World Championship (Event 12), which concluded six days ago. Wahlbeck now holds an astounding record. He has cashed in all four of the $10,000 buy-in World Championship events plays thus far – finishing 3rd, 1st, 13th, and 2nd respectively. He currently leads the 2009 WSOP Player of the Year race.
The third-place finisher was Steve Sung. He won his first WSOP gold bracelet earlier this year in Event 4, the $1,000 buy-in “Stimulus Special,” overcoming more than 6,000 players.
• The fourth-place finisher was four-time WSOP gold bracelet winner John Juanda, from Las Vegas, NV. He is the defending champion from last year’s WSOP-Europe Main Event.
• The fifth-place finisher was Archie “the Greek” Karras, from Las Vegas, NV. Karras is a gambling legend, memorable for his meteoric run during the 1990s when he started with a few dollars and ran his winnings up to a reported $50 million (only to lose it all back). Karras is one of the few players who can claim he defeated late greats Stu Ungar and Chip Reese.
• The sixth-place finisher was Vince Musso, from Birmingham, AL. He is a longtime WSOP veteran who cashed in this event in 1979, finishing third.
• The seventh-place finisher was David Benyamine, from Paris, France. He won his first gold bracelet at last year’s WSOP.
• The eighth-place finisher was Michael Binger, from Las Vegas, NV. Binger is near the top of the list as the player who has the most WSOP cashes over the last three years – with 14.
• The ninth-place finisher was high-stakes poker phenomenon, Justin Smith, from Kissimmee, FL. At age 21, he is already playing in the biggest cash games in the world.
Other In-the-Money Finishers
Other former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included – Max Pescatori (12th).
• The defending champion from 2008 was Jason Young, from Suffern, NY. He did not enter this year’s tournament.
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