2007 WSOP Event #16 – James Richburg Wins $2,500 H.O.R.S.E.

Apparently, James Richburg is a fan of Razz.  This year’s winner of the inaugural $2,500 H.O.R.S.E. event at the World Series of Poker, which of course includes Razz as one of its games, was also the winner of the Razz bracelet at last year’s WSOP.  It was one heck of a road to victory, as he had to wade through what the WSOP says was the largest field for a H.O.R.S.E. tournament ever, plus survive the longest event so far (it went thirteen hours on the final day), and then defeat two other bracelet winners at the final table.  In coming out on top after a seven hour final table, Richburg won his second WSOP bracelet and $238,881. 

Richburg was in great shape going into the eight-handed final table, as he sat in second place with $487,000 in chips.  The chip leader was Ali Eslami with $507,000 and Tom Schneider, who had already won a bracelet at the 2007 WSOP, was in deep trouble with only $20,500. 

Nobody was eliminated for almost an hour (no, not even short stacked Tom Schneider).  Harry Kazazian had been crippled a few minutes earlier, and now, in a hold’em round, found himself all-in pre-flop against Robert Mizrachi and Schneider, who also went all-in.  Technically, Schneider was all-in on the flop, but he had raised enough pre-flop to the point where he had less than one bet left after the flop.  Kazazian had J-10, Schneider had 9-9, and Mizrachi had K-9.  The board of 7-5-3-9-7 gave Schneider both the main and side pots, tripling him up, while Kazazian went out in 8^th place. 

About ten minutes later, Herb Van Dyke went out in 7^th.  All-in on the turn with K-10, he had flopped a King, but he was way behind Richburg’s K-Q and never caught up.  Richburg had the lead after that hand. 

It seemed like an eternity before the next elimination, which didn’t occur until near the end of the third hour of play.  In a stud round, Mizrachi only had $18,000 remaining, almost the price of one big bet, so he decided to just run with a hand with an Ace as his door card.  Chris Bjorin was up for the challenge and hit a flush on sixth street to take down the pot and take out Mizrachi in 6^th place.  That elimination signaled the dinner break.  Bjorin and Richburg were tied at that point, each with $527,000.  Schneider had built his stack up from the brink of elimination all the way to over $300,000. 

Fifty minutes after dinner, Eslami, the final table’s original chip leader, was eliminated in 5^th place.  In a hold’em round, his 4-5 improved when a 5 hit on the turn, but Richburg had Q-10, which had connected with the A-10-3 flop.  That gave Richburg a commanding lead, with more than twice as many chips as his closest competitor. 

The game remained four-handed for over an hour and a half, when Tom Schneider’s run for a second bracelet this year finally came to an end.  In a stud hand, both he and Richburg made relatively weak hands for that game, but Richburg’s pair of Kings trumped Schneider’s pair of 8’s.   

It was another hour before the tournament got to heads-up.  Richburg again was the man to do the damage, eliminating Bjorin with A-2 versus J-10. 

Going into heads-up, Richburg had about a 2-to-1 chip lead on Walter Browne. 

Browne held strong during the one hour battle with Richburg, making a big move every time his stack got whittled away.  He was never really able to make the jump, though, and finally succumbed in, fittingly, a razz round.  James Richburg definitely likes razz. 

Final Table Standings 

1. James Richburg -- $238,881
2. Walter Browne -- $131,445
3. Chris Bjorin -- $83,249
4. Tom Schneider -- $54,769
5. Ali Eslami -- $42,501
6. Robert Mizrachi -- $31,985
7. Herb Van Dyke -- $24,536
8. Harry Kazazian -- $17,964