2007 WSOP Event #20 – Ryan Hughes Wins $2,000 Seven Card Stud High-Low

Ryan Hughes is just one of many examples of how internet poker is not the evil thing that many in our government make it out to be.  The 26-year-old from Phoenix attended Arizona State University and became good enough at the online game that he opted to leave school and pursue a career as a professional poker player.  For the last five years, he has been able to make a very nice living at the game, a career that has now come to a head with his first World Series of Poker bracelet in the $2,000 seven card stud high-low event. 

He was one of three very large stacks at the start of the final table, along with Steve Graboski and 2004 Main Event champ, Greg “Fossilman” Raymer.  The rest of the field sat behind a variety of short stacks.   

It was Raymer and Hughes that dominated the table almost throughout, although only one of them would make it into the final two. 

During the middle portion of the final table, Raymer took on all-comers, building his stack into the largest one in the field.  He seemed to have an excellent shot at his first bracelet since winning the big one, this in his second final table of the 2007 Series.  After all, when they were down to four players, he had more chips than the other three men combined. But then it all fell apart.   

First, he lost about $100,000 on two pots combined.  Then, he lost almost $200,000 to Hughes, dropping him out of the chip lead.  After another couple losses, Hughes put Raymer on life support when he rivered two-pair.  Raymer never showed what he had, but the pot was so big that he was left with only $8,000.  Shortly thereafter, he was out in 4^th place. 

Douglas Carli was eliminated not long afterward, allowing Hughes to go into heads-up play against Min Lee with a $973,000 to $388,000 lead. 

Over the course of a dozen hands, it was all Hughes, as he won three-quarters of the hands in the one-on-one contest.  He finished the match off in style, rivering quad Tens, which was overkill considering his set of Tens was already good enough.  And once again, the WSOP had a first-time bracelet winner. 

Final Table Standings 

1. Ryan Hughes -- $176,358
2. Min Lee -- $97,461
3. Douglas Carli -- $61,880
4. Greg Raymer -- $41,460
5. Stephen Graboski -- $32,178
6. James Weir -- $24,443
7. Ron Ware -- $18,873
8. Adam Spiegelberg -- $13,923