WSOP report: Event #14, Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split, June 18

"Everybody tells me I look like a conservative poker player. But that's not really true. What I love about high-low games is how creative you can be. You can play a board a different way than might be expected. You can read your opponents better. I like to play games where I have more control."
-- Steve Hohn (2005 WSOP Seven-Card Stud High-Low Champion)

It was the longest Seven-Card Stud High-Low event in poker tournament history. Clocking in at just over 36 total hours, Event #14 at this year's World Series of Poker was just as much a test of stamina as poker skill. Day One lasted 14 hours. Day Two lasted 11 hours. And Day Three lasted 11 hours.

The final heads-up marathon lasted a grueling 193 hands. Sore necks, stooped backs, and bloodshot eyes were finally relieved when 56-year-old poker pro Steve Hohn won his first gold bracelet. For Hohn, the win was more than gratifying. It was long overdue and marked the crowning achievement of ten years of professional play.

Hohn had previously finished second and third in this event. His runner-up finish was 10 years ago. His third-place showing came in 2000. When Hohn got down to a heads-up confrontation against mighty Mike Wattel, he watched as his lone opponent built up a mountain of chips. Down by a seemingly insurmountable 9 to 1 disadvantage, Hohn staged a dramatic comeback, seized the chip lead, and eventually closed with a victory.

Seven-card stud is known for being an East Coast game. Until a few years ago, stud (and its variations such as High-Low Split) was the most popular game in Atlantic City and Connecticut, the hotbeds of poker action in the northeast. Of the eight finalists, three players were from the East Coast. But it was the man from Kansas who took the championship.

The total prize pool amounted to $541,985. Due to the large number of entries and length of the event, a third day was added. On Day Three the final table included two former gold bracelet winners - Men "the Master" Nguyen (with 6 wins) and Mike Wattel (with one win). When play began, it was a two-player race between Mike Wattel and Jonathan Paul contending for the chip lead. Players were eliminated as follows:

8th Place: Giacomo D'Agostino, $14,080
The 76-year-old retiree from Rhode Island arrived with the lowest stack, and managed to survive a few all-in situations before the odds finally dictated elimination. On his final hand, D'Agostino made two pair -- kings and jacks -- but lost to Jonathan Paul's trip fives.
7th Place: Men "the Master" Nguyen, $20,035
Men "the Master" was shooting for his seventh gold bracelet, and, given the results of recent tournaments in which so many big names have won, his confidence was justified. Unfortunately, the cards didn't cooperate. The Corona-slugging poker pro arrived with too few chips and wasn't able to recover from a cold early run. On his final hand, Men "the Master" had a 7-low draw with a pair of fours. He bricked on the final card (no low, no improvement) and lost to Steve Hohn's two pair -- queens and jacks.
6th Place: Sheila Marie St. Michael, $25,450
Sheila Marie St. Michael, also known as "the Kissing Bandit," was down to her last 15,000, which was barely enough to play one hand with limits at 6,000-12,000. St. Michael, the fifth female player to make it to a final table so far this year, is best known at the WSOP for her 4th-place finish in the women's event in 1999.
5th Place: Peter Phillips, $32,485
Peter Phillips struggled to stay alive during his final hour. The 70-year-old Atlantic City retiree was dealt (9-4) 4=7=6 on his last hand, then caught two bricks which failed to improve the hand. Phillips, who has made final table appearances at major tournaments in the East Coast, ended in 5th place.
4th Place: Jonathan Paul, $39,525
Down to four players, it was still anyone's tournament to win - although Mike Wattel and Steve Hohn were neck-and-neck in chips. As play entered the fourth hour, Jonathan Paul was all-in with high cards against Al Ruck. But Ruck was sitting on trip fours, which effectively killed Paul's chances to scoop the high. Jonathan Paul, a 21-year-old poker player from Pennsylvania (he already has two final table appearances this year at majors held in New York and Australia), ended in 4th place.by Steven Zoine, who was starting to become the table bully.
3rd Place: Al Ruck, $51,440
German poker player Al Ruck went out next. The 63-year-old retiree said "auf wiedersehen" when he lost two tough hands in a row to Mike Wattel. On the first hand, Wattel made a full-house to Ruck's two pair. Then, Ruck's small pair failed to improve and lost to Wattel's measly pair of sevens.

Runner up: Mike Wattel, $88,800
When heads-up play began, Mike Wattel enjoyed a 2-to-1 chip lead over Steve Hohn - 404,000 to 200,000. The finalists battled for more than four hours. During the first hour of play, Wattel started to distance himself from his rival. He built up an 8-to-1 chip lead. Just when it appeared Wattel might finish off the night, Hohn went on a monster rush and won 8 of 9 pots. That put both players into a virtual dead heat as midnight was crossed and the fourth day of the tournament began. "I always thought I could come back," Hohn said later.

Players battled back and forth, until Hohn was the beneficiary of a favorable stream of cards. He grabbed the chip lead and it became obvious that Wattel was discontented with the turn of events. When he started with a promising hand, bricks would be dealt and Wattel would be forced to fold the hand. Finally, on the 193rd hand of heads-up play, Wattel moved his final chips into the pot on fifth-street showing (7-6) 9=10=7. His opponent had a pair of jacks, and nothing more. Hohn failed to improve, which meant Wattel had an excellent chance to scoop a big pot when he peeled to look at his final card. With 18 outs, Hohn missed all of them (a four came on the final card), and Hohn was declared the winner.

Mike Wattel, the winner of the 1999 WSOP Omaha High-Low championship, was visibly disappointed with the second-place showing in this event.

1st Place: Steve Hohn, $156,985
Steve Hohn is a former stockbroker who was born in St. Louis. He attended the University of Kansas and settled down in Overland Park, a suburb of Kansas City. In 1995, Hohn quit his job trading stocks to play poker full-time. That turned out to be a wise decision, as Hohn has made a living at the game ever since. He prefers to play in cash games (about 75 percent of the time, he says). But coming to the World Series has special meaning.

"This gold bracelet means so much to me," Hohn said afterward. "Back when I finished second and third, I had a chance to win both times, but didn't. I feel like I am a much better player now than I was then, so it's really wonderful to win."

Hohn also talked about making the transition from working a job to playing poker professionally. "Playing poker to me is less stressful than working [a regular job]," Hohn said. "Aside from the luck factor, I feel like I have more control when I'm playing. I feel very comfortable playing the game. With stocks, you never know what's going on. There are all kinds of things that can blindside you. The only thing that can blindside you in poker is the randomness of the cards. If you can manage that, you can be a winner."

View final results.

Tournament reporting by Nolan Dalla / worldseriesofpoker.com