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2008 World Series of Poker
Event #33 Final Report
$10,000 World
Championship Seven Card
Stud Hi-Low
Tournament Notes

WSOP GOLD BRACELET WINNER
EVENT #33 – Sebastian Ruthenberg
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The $10,000 buy-in Seven-Card Stud World Championship attracted 261
entries and created a record prize pool totaling $1,226,700.  The top 24
finishers (final three tables) collected prize money.

This was the first million-dollar prize pool ever for a Seven-Card Stud High-
Low Split tournament.  Accordingly, it now stands as the richest Seven-Card
Stud High-Low Split tournament in poker history.

Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split was the first “split” game ever to be played
at the
WSOP, when it was first introduced 32 years ago.  In 1976, Doc Green
became the first Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split World Champion.  
Interestingly, he won $12,750 for first place that year, which is about what
the 15th- and 16th-place finishers earned in this year’s event.

Since 1976, the list of event winners reads like a “Who’s Who” of poker.  Past
winners include – Johnny Moss, Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese, Mickey Appleman,
Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Max Stern, Men “the Master” Nguyen, Mike Sexton,
Artie Cobb, Vince Burgio, Cyndy Violette, and Rich Korbin.

In 1986, this game was inexplicably omitted from the WSOP schedule.  After
some protest by stud high-low enthusiasts, it was reinstituted and has been
included on the poker menu every year.  Since 1995, every WSOP has
included at least two such events.  This year’s WSOP schedule includes two
Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split tournaments – the $10,000 buy-in World
Championship and a $1,500 buy-in event to be played June 26-28.

No player has ever won more than one gold bracelet in this game.

Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split is a game in which the highest and lowest
hands split the pot equally.  However, the lowest hand must first qualify to
be eligible for half the pot.  The qualifying low hand must be an “eight-low” or
better.  For this reason, the game is sometimes called Seven-Card Stud Eight-
or-Better.

Last year’s $3,000 buy-in “world championship” attracted 236 entries.  
Despite the significant leap this year with a $10,000 buy-in, participation still
increased 10.6 percent.

The tournament was played over three consecutive days.  The final table was
played on the secondary final table, as the ESPN feature table on the main
stage was used for the conclusion of the $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em
championship (Event #32).

Last year’s champion, Eli Elezra played in this event.  But he did not cash.  
This brings the current streak to 33 straight non-cashes for defending
champions in their respective events.

Five different nations were represented by players at this final table,
including Canada, Germany, Holland, Italy, and the United States.

The 2008 Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split World Champion is Sebastian
Ruthenberg, from Hamburg, Germany.  He is a 24-year-old poker pro, who
has been playing full-time for about two years.  Prior to playing poker,
Ruthenberg had just completed his studies and as an IT specialist.  

Ruthenberg collected $328,762 for first place.  He also earned his first WSOP
gold bracelet.  This was his second year to play at the WSOP.

Ruthenberg becomes the second German national to win at the WSOP this
year.  He also becomes only the sixth German ever to win a gold bracelet,
following Matthias Rohnacher (1997), Eddy Scharf  (2001 and 2003), Katja
Thater (2007), Michael Keiner (2007), and Jen Voertmann (2008).

Ruthernberg’s best previous finish in a major poker tournament had been 3rd
place in the European Poker Tour’s Dortmund championship.

Following his upset victory over one of poker’s living legends, Ruthenberg
complimented his rival by saying, “(Chris Ferguson) is the better player.  He
really is a better player than me….I have only been playing this game for six
months and he has played so much more than me.”

The second-place finisher was Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, from Pacific Palisades,
CA.

The final table lasted slightly more than nine hours.  The heads-up match
went about four hours.

In an unusual display of crowd support for a final table which includes a
former world champion, Ferguson’s cheering section was actually
outnumbered by those who were backing Ruthenberg.  About two dozen
Germans waving the tricolor flag cheered enthusiastically when their fellow
countryman won a big pot.

With this finish, Ferguson cashed for the 54th time in his career at the World
Series.  He now ranks third on the all-time WSOP list, behind only two players
– Phil Hellmuth (65) and Men “the Master” Nguyen (57).

With this finish, Ferguson just missed his opportunity to win a sixth gold
bracelet.  He remains with five, just shy of three players – Jay Heimowitz,
Men “the Master” Nguyen, and T.J. Cloutier – who each have six.

Determined to play in as many events as possible, Ferguson registered for
the $10,000 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split World Championship, which started
as this final table was being played.  During occasional breaks while most
players would freshen up, Ferguson instead rushed over to play in the other
tournament.  When the final table went past midnight, Ferguson sat down
just in time to double up his dwindling stack, which gave him an additional
number of rounds in the conflicting tournament.

Bob Lauria, from West Haven, CT nearly made the comeback of the year.  He
arrived at the final table with just enough chips to post an ante.  In fact,
Laurie expected to make a quick exit from the final table.  But Laurie
managed to catapult himself right back into contention on his very first hand
with a pair of nines against two players, which miraculously scooped the full
pot.  Then, he survived for nearly six hours before finally busting out in third
place.  “I was on a total freeroll from the very first hand,” Laurie joked
afterward.  Winning that first hand managed to earn Laurie an extra $88,936
– the difference between eighth and third place.  

Marcel Luske’s bid to become the second Dutch player to win a gold bracelet
in just two days came up short.  He busted out in fourth place, which marked
his second time to make it to a final table (he finished third previously).

Poker pro, activist, and former WSOP gold bracelet winner Annie Duke cashed
for the 35th time in her illustrious WSOP career.  She took fifth place in this
event.

Two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Howard Lederer, a.k.a. “the Professor”
of poker, cashed out in ninth place.  This marked his 37th career WSOP cash.  
An interesting side note is that Lederer just missed making it to the final
table along with his sister Annie Duke.  This would have marked the third
occasion where that has happened.

Three-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Chau Giang finished in 11th place.

Farzad “Freddy” Rouhani, who won his first WSOP victory in the $1,500 buy-
in Omaha High-Low championship (Event #10) earlier, recorded his fourth
cash at this year’s WSOP by finishing 12th.

Five-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Allen Cunningham finished 13th.

Three-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Barry Greenstein finished 14th.  
Greenstein won the Razz championship just a few days earlier.

Other former WSOP winners who cashed in this tournament included Cyndy
Violette (23rd) and Hasan Habib (24th).

Through the conclusion of Event #33, only one player has cashed six times –
Nikolay Evdakov, from Moscow, Russia.  He is best positioned to challenge
the record set for “Most WSOP Cashes in a Single Year,” shared by four
players -- Michael Binger (2007), Chad Brown (2007), Phil Hellmuth, Jr.
(2006), and Humberto Brenes (2006), with eight in-the-money strikes.

The current Milwaukee’s Best Light “Player of the Year” standings shows Erick
Lindgren on top of the points list, with one gold bracelet win and four
cashes.  However, Daniel Negreanu and Barry Greenstein are now close
behind.

Through Event #33, the player who has entered the most WSOP events is
Tom McCormick, a.k.a. “The Shamrock Kid” – with 23 entries.

Through Event #33, fifteen players have made two WSOP final table
appearances this year.  This list includes – Chris Bjorin, Andy Bloch, David
Benyamine, Alex Bolotin, Scott Clements, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Barry
Greenstein, Jacobo Fernandez, Fu Wong, Erick Lindgren, Minh Ly, Daniel
Negreanu, David Singer, J.C. Tran, and Theo Tran.

Through the conclusion of Event #33 at this year’s
World Series of Poker, the
gold bracelet count by nations and states reads as follows:

8 – Nevada
6 – California
4 – New York
2 – Canada
2 – Germany
2 – Italy
2 – Missouri
1 – Holland
1 – Maryland
1 – Michigan
1 – Pennsylvania
1 – Russia
1 – South Carolina
1 – Wisconsin

So far, this WSOP has been deemed “The Year of the Pro.”  Professional
poker players have reasserted their dominance in tournament play by
winning a vast majority of gold bracelets (79 percent), especially over the
first half of the schedule.  However, it is important to note that amateur
poker players have dominated WSOP tournaments since 2005.  Here is the
Pro-Am Scoreboard each year since 2000 (Note:  The Casino Employees
Event is not counted):

2000 – Pros 14 to Amateurs 8
2001 – Pros 18 to Amateurs 7
2002 – Pros 18 to Amateurs 16
2003 – Pros 24 to Amateurs 12
2004 – Pros 21 to Amateurs 11
2005 – Amateurs 26 to Pros 18
2006 – Amateurs 27 to Pros 17
2007 – Amateurs 34 to Pros 20
2008 (through Event #33) Pros 26 to Amateurs 7

Since 2000, pros currently lead amateurs in the Pro-Am gold bracelet race by
a margin of 176 to 148.  

It should be noted that the largest influx of new poker players to the WSOP
took place during the period when amateurs won a majority of events.  There
are contrasting interpretations of what this data means.  Some suggest the
larger number of amateurs playing at the WSOP inflates their winning
percentages by sheer volume.  Others (most pros) point out that the WSOP
has the best tournament structures of any poker event in the world and that
professionals have a much greater opportunity to prove their superior skill
under this format.

One additional factor which has bolstered the performance of pros this year
is the inclusion of two events on most days.  The daily 12 noon events tend
to attract a greater concentration of amateur players, whereas the higher-
buy-in 5:00 pm events attract smaller, but more highly-accomplished fields,
with more professionals.

The Event #33 winner Sebastian Ruthenberg is to be classified as a
professional, since he has been playing for a living for about two years.  
Accordingly, through the conclusion of Event #33 at this year’s World Series
of Poker, the “Pro-Am” gold bracelet scoreboard reads:

Professionals – 26 wins
Amateurs -- 5 wins
Semi-Pros --        2 wins

Through Event #33, the End of Day One chip leaders have gone on to cash
77 percent of the time -- 24 of 31 occasions (the chip leader was not
applicable on two events).  Eight of these same 31 chip leaders (26 percent)
made it to the final table.  Only one chip leader went on to win the event (3
percent).  That lone wire-to-wire winner was Vanessa Selbst in Event #19.

Through Event #33, thirteen of 30 chip leaders at the start of the final table
(43 percent) went on to win the event.  Nineteen of 30 chip leaders (65
percent) went on to finish in the top three spots.  Two events did not have a
chip leader (Heads-Up and the Shootout).  

While all 55 WSOP tournaments on the 2008 schedule are “gold bracelet”
events, this is also known as a “world championship” event.  This means the
winner of this event is the Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split world champion.  
Beginning this year, all $10,000+ buy-in tournaments are designated as
official world championships.  This means a total of ten WSOP tournaments
are world championships.  This includes eight gold bracelet tournaments with
$10,000 buy-ins, the $50,000 buy-in HORSE event, and the Main Event.

CORRECTION:  This will address a previous tournament report, specifically
Barry Greenstein’s victory in the Razz championship, which was Event #26.  
Greenstein’s background has been widely misreported for quite some time
and some confusion may continue due to the contents of that report.  It
should be noted that Greenstein has been a professional poker player for
several decades.  Many writers, reporters, and interviewers have latched on
to a widely-misreported notion that Greenstein first worked in the high-tech
industry, and then retired from that field to play poker.  This is simply not
true.  Greenstein has been playing poker professionally for many, many
years.  While he was playing poker as a pro, he took a position with a high-
tech company for various reasons while he maintained his status as a
professional poker player.  The WSOP Media Relations Team kindly asks that
all media correct written verbiage that makes any reference to Greenstein
leaving the high-tech field to play poker.  As is the case with many multi-
talented poker pros, he has excelled at more than one occupation.




World Series of Poker Commissioner – Jeffrey Pollack

Director of Sponsorship and Licensing -- Ty Stewart

Director of Broadcasting and New Media – Craig Abrahams

Director of Communications – Seth Palansky

Regional Vice President of Specialty Gaming -- Howard Greenbaum

Tournament Director – Jack Effel
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Sebastian Ruthenberg 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Gold Bracelet Winner