Scott Seiver Claims Victory at WSOP $10k Limit Hold’em Championship

Scott Seiver has one of the most enviable resumes in the whole of poker, with the 33 year-old Las Vegas based pro having stamped his authority on tournament and cash games across both the live and online arenas.

Up until this week, Seiver also had one WSOP bracelet to his name after taking down the 2008 WSOP $5,000 No Limit Hold’em event for $755,891. On Wednesday, however, he managed to double his tally following victory at Event #52: $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship, and when asked what the achievement meant to him, Seiver replied:

“I’ll be honest. It matters a lot to me. It really does. I feel that I’ve really accomplished most things that I’ve set out to do in poker so far and honestly, even more than that. I feel I like to be judged by what my peers think of me more than my actual results. But, the World Series still has a certain panache that you don’t find in other situations. So, this is very special to get this bracelet and I hope to get many more in the future.”

Scott Seiver

According to his Hendon Mob page, Seiver is currently ranked at number 7 on poker’s ‘All Time Money List’, having amased $23,502,073 in winnings since his first cash back in 2006. A total of $426,343 of that amount comes via four cashes at this year’s WSOP, of which $296,222 was accounted for by his recent bracelet take down.

Seiver also came close to capturing a bracelet at Event #8: $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball earlier this month, but after navigating his way past a field of 321 players was ultimately defeated heads-up by German player Johannes Becker, with his runner-up finish worth $111,516.

“I was so upset that I didn’t get a bracelet,”commented Seiver. “If I either won that tournament or didn’t cash, I probably wouldn’t have played another tournament all summer.”

$10k Limit Hold’em Championship

The $10k Limit Hold’em Championship drew 114 players to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, resulting in a prize pool worth $1,071,600. Amongst the pros then finishing in the money was John Hennigan in 16th ($14,615), John Brock Parker in 14th ($17,000), Maria Ho in 12th ($20,253), and Nick Schulman in 11th ($20,253).

Following Matthew Szymaszek’s (10-10) elimination of UK’s Benny Glaser (9-9) in 10th ($20,253), a tough final table was set that included such players as Phillip Cordano, Matt Glantz, Scott Seiver, Michael Moore and Anthony Zinno.

Seiver subsequently started the final table as chip leader, and scored his first elimination after raising preflop holding Jd-10d and calling an all-in reraise from Matt Glantz (Ah-Qd). The 10s-8d-7d-2c-8h board that ensued sealed the deal for Seiver, while Glantz had to settle for a 5th place finish worth $68,352.

Next, Matt Szymaszek (Kc-Qs) took care of Christopher Chung (5s-5c) in 4th, and after Seiver sent Anthony Zinno to the rail in 3rd, the stage was set for Seiver and Szymaszek to battle it out for the coveted gold bracelet.

Seiver vs Szymaszek

Seiver started the heads-up phase of the competition at a six big bet disadvantage, but managed to soar to an 8-1 lead before Szymaszek made a comeback to forge ahead once more. Eventually, however, Seiver (Kc-9h) bet all three streets on a 3c-Qc-6c-4h-2c board to hit a flush and reduce his opponent to crumbs, after which Szymaszek got his remaining chips all-in holding 8h-7c on a 6s-Jc-9d flop. Seiver (Kc-Qh) made the call, and after a Qd and Ad were dealt on turn and river, Szymaszek finished the runner-up, with his $183,081 payout increasing his career winnings to $459,247.

It has become increasingly more difficult to find Limit Hold’em poker tournaments outside of mixed games, such as HORSE. Nevertheless, the format still enjoys many fans, and as Seiver commented after his bracelet win:

“I like the feel of a limit table better. It’s more friendly, it’s more camaraderie. There’s a lot of laughing and joking throughout the day. I really just enjoy limit more and I’ve done well and I’m happy with that.”

Final Table Results

1: Scott $296,222
2: Matthew Szymaszek $183,081
3: Anthony Zinno $129,186
4: Christopher Chung $93,009
5: Matt Glantz $68,352
6: Philip Cordano $51,296
7: Daniel Zack $39,329
8: Michael Moore $30,821
9: Ken Deng $24,700