David Halpern Wins his First WSOP Bracelet at Event 53

Poker News - July 1, 2009 - Written by Bonnie

What a turn of events its has been for poker player David Halpern. After attempting to buy in to an event that ended being full, Halpern turned his sites on event 53, the Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better tournament. This event had a $1500 buy in , which brought out 467 players, Halpern being one of them. Day 3 of this tournament started with 14 players remaining, all with the determination to make it to the final table and hopefully far enough to capture the last stud bracelet of the series. Off to a good start was chip leader Brian Swinford. Not to far behind him was opponenet Chad Brown, followed by Allie Prescott, Matt Savage, Vince Burgio, and Dr. Max Stern, who currently holds three WSOP bracelets.

With the final table set, players were ready to begin hours of grueling play all with the same goal in mind, be the last man standing. Richard Skal was the first player to be eliminated at the final table. Skal will walk away with a payday of $12,149, which just so happens to be enough to clear the $10,000 buy in at the main event. The longer the final table continued, the quicker the players began to fall. The final match up would take place between David Halpern and Dr. Max Stern. Stern has made several appearances at final tables and has managed to earn himself 3 WSOP bracelets in his career. His experience is obvious as he is one of the most patient and controlled players in the entire tournament. Unfortunate for Halpern, his is experience was not enough to take down Halpern in the final head to head match up. Halpern earned himself a cash prize of $159,390 and his first WSOP bracelet.