Event 7's $2,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Limit Freezout saw renowned pro Daniel Negreanu make his first final table appearance of this year's World Series.
However, although he started the day comfortably in 3rd place with a stack of 166k, the favourite to take top honours never really got going, and could only manage a 7th place finish for $48,766.
In fact, 1st prize went to the lesser known Jack Zwerner, whose $341,426 1st prize scoop was the first big win of his career, his highest cash previously being a paltry $3,015 way back in 2000 for an L.A Poker Classic Event.
It wasn't easy though. Zwerner began the day in second position, constantly struggling for the chip lead with big stacker Jeff Madsen. Zwerner, from Las Vegas, Nevada, eventually overtook Madsen as chip leader after a succession of exits. Following Negreanu, whose two pair were outdone by a straight draw, were Robert Collins in 6th and Bob Mangino in 5th, both of whom departed within minutes of one another.
As expected, the first exit of the day was that of Steve 'Shooter' Lustig, who held a measly 33k when the dude on the mic announced 'shuffle up and deal'. With A-5-3-2 in his hand and 9-8-7-7 on the board, Lustig held just the nut low draw, which never arrived, thereby allowing Zwerner's A-A-T-5 to scoop the lot when a 7 on the river filled him up.
Considering the hysteria surrounding No Limit Hold 'Em, a 670 turnout and $1,340,000 prize pool for this Event should be deemed a success.
The Event wasn't shy of stars either. Former WSOP Champion Huck Seed and recent WPT event winner Joe Tehan both narrowly missed out on the final table, whilst Andrew Bloch, John Juanda, Shahram Sheikhan, and Brett Jungblud also cashed, although none of the latter could manage much more than 6k.
When Madsen was eliminated in 3rd for just shy of 100k, we were left with Zwerner (left) and the impressively named Florante Mandap. However, it was the former who would eventually reign supreme when his A-8-7-4 (two hearts) emphatically outdrew Mandap's A-A-T-3 on a board of 6-5-3-7-2 (three hearts).
The dust settled and the smoke cleared, and we had our winner - Jack Zwerner.
Another Event down, but another just around the corner.
[Ed Note: To see the final result of this comp, please click here]