For the first time since Jeff Lisandro did it in 2009, a player has won three World Series of Poker bracelets in the same summer. That individual’s name is Scott Seiver, who called his shot at winning Player of the Year before the Series began.
The now seven-time bracelet winner took down Event #72: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship for $411,041, defeating Canada’s Jonathan Krela heads up, with the latter taking home the consolation prize of $274,217.
Seaver bested a field of 186 entrants, who had created a prize pool of $1,729,800. In doing so, he may have secured induction into the Poker Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible next year at age 40. And, perhaps, is now a heavy favorite in the 2024Â WSOPÂ Player of the Year race.
Seiver, one of the all-time greats before the summer began, is having a Series for the ages. He predicted doing so back in May, but even he likely couldn’t have expected such incredible results.
“I feel very satisfied right now,” Seiver told PokerNews after the win. “I can’t really describe it. I’m like on Cloud Nine right now. This just means so much to me, and it also is a step in a personal journey I’ve made for myself where I’ve had a pie-in-the-sky dream where I want to win one bracelet in every single discipline there is.”
Seiver would like to win a bracelet in nine poker variants during his career, and he’s already achieved five before turning 40. The champ’s three bracelets in a single series puts him in elite company with Lisandro (2009), Phil Ivey (2002), Ted Forrest (1993), Phil Hellmuth (1993), and Puggy Pearson (1973).
The tournament’s final day started with nine hopefuls taking their seats at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. Jason Mercier started the day in the middle of the pack but was left with 12 big blinds not long after the day had begun, which he lost against then chip leader Mike Watson. The eight remaining players moved to the feature table to begin the unofficial final table, where Robert Mizrachi was the first to go after roughly 45 minutes of play.
Mizrachi’s draw to an eight failed to hit against Krela’s pat nine, and the final table of seven players was set. Aaron Kupin started the day as the shortest stack but managed to make two pay jumps before falling in seventh more than an hour after Mizrachi had left when Jeremy Ausmus’ eight-draw hit against his pat ten.
Another lengthy stalemate then took place before Watson departed in sixth. Watson looked poised to capture his first bracelet and, with that, an elusive Triple Crown at one point, but a string of losses culminated in him losing with a pat jack against David Lin’s eight-draw. Hall of Famer Jen Harman had sat down at the final table in search of her first bracelet in nearly 20 years, but after two hours without an elimination, the blinds and antes saw the players get short-stacked.
Eventually, a three-way all-in against Seiver and Krela saw her eliminated in fifth place, while Seiver won the pot to triple up. Seiver’s Player of the Year rival Ausmus was the next to go, as just five minutes later, he got his final eight blinds in with a ten-nine against the nine of Krela. Another five minutes, start-of-day chip leader Lin was left with six big blinds, which he got in against Seiver. Each player drew one card, but Seiver drew the best and took down the pot to get heads-up.
With the shorter stacks out of the way, the heads-up promised to be lengthy. Seiver and Krela were almost dead even and had stacks of roughly 50 big blinds. However, after around 15 minutes of playtime, Krela made a huge over-bet after both players had drawn one card. Krela had made a ten-eight and sent Seiver in the tank with a nine-seven.
Ultimately, Seiver made the correct call, barely covering his opponent and ending the tournament with his third win of the summer. Krela took a lengthy look at the bracelet he had just missed out on but eventually left the tournament area to let Seiver bask in the glory of another victory.
Final Table Results
1 Scott Seiver United States $411,041
2 Jonathan Krela Canada $274,217
3 David Lin United States $187,177
4 Jeremy Ausmus United States $130,794
5 Jen Harman United States $93,615
6 Mike Watson Canada $68,672
7 Aaron Kupin United States $51,661
