David Bach Wins the $50K H.O.R.S.E. Event

After an epic 7-hour battle on the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. final table against a tough John Hanson on July 6th, 2009, David Bach won WSOP H.O.R.S.E. bracelet and the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy. Bach won a total of $1,276,802 in total cash. Bach said that he is very proud and happy with his win. The $50K H.O.R.S.E triumph is a breakthrough for the poker pro, who reached a final table in the last 5 years at the world series of poker but was not able to earn a WSOP bracelet until this year.

Bach appeared to be headed for a 3rd place finish at one point when play was 3-handed and he held a short stack at 670,000 in chips, while Erik Sagstrom held a total chip stack of 6.25 million and Hanson held a total chip stack of 7.36 million. But instead of giving up, Bach went on a terrific run, quickly building his chip stack to 1.7 million in total chips just a few card hands later. Bach said that he keep on reminding himself to never give up and just keep fighting. Bach never looked back, eventually grabbing the lead as Sagstrom's fortune took a sudden drop.

The heads-up showdown between Bach and Hanson materialized after Sagstrom hit the rail in 3rd place, taking home $522,394. Player of the Year (POY) contender Vitaly Lunkin continued his terrific run in the 2009 World Series of Poker but he also came up short of winning his 2nd WSOP bracelet of the year, finishing in 4th place. The Russian poker pro won a total of $368,813 and stays in the race for the POY award and most cash prize won at the 2009 WSOP.

4-time bracelet winner Huck Seed was the audience favorite at the final table, but his chances of winning the bracelet ended four places short. Huck Seed's 5th place finish gives him $276,610. Ville Wahlbeck's continues to chase Jeffrey Lisandro in the Player of Year standings and his 6th place finish in the event places him at 320 points, just behind Jeffrey Lisandro's 355 points. It has been a terrific run for Wahlbeck in poker events with buy-ins of $10,000 or more. The poker pro from Finland won his first WSOP bracelet in the $10K Mixed Event World Championship.

July 20, 2009
Brian Nelson