2008 WSOP Event 26 Seven Card Razz

Individual Event Reports

Event 26 Seven Card Razz Day 1

A 456 field of players took to the tables for a chance at a bracelet from one of the most frustrating styles of poker there is...Razz. The $1,500 entry fee helped to build a $622,440 prize pool with $158,659 going to the new champion. Cash will go to the top 48 in the tournament.

At the end of the day there were 48 places remaining.

1. Barry Greenstein 31,600
2. David Levi 30,200
3. Mark Gerencher 29,700
4. Allie Prescott 29,200
5. Anthony Viganola 28,600
6. Vanessa Rousso 28,200
7. Mike Wattel 27,000
8. Frank Kassela 26,200
9. Martin Stilling 23,100

Event 26 Seven Card Razz Day 2

Payouts for the final table:

1. $157,643
2. $97,389
3. $58,742
4. $43,284
5. $33,081
6. $25,661
7. $19,477
8. $16,386

1. Chris Viox 359,500
2. Barry Greenstein 243,000
3. Brandon Leeds 206,500
4. Joseph Michael 155,000
5. Anargyros Karabourniotis 113,000
6. Mark Tenner 108,500
7. Chris Klodnicki 105,000
8. Mike Wattel 74,000

Event 26 Seven Card Razz Final Table

Excerpts from the event summary by the WSOP:

Razz is a variant of lowball. It is dealt out in a Seven-Card Stud format. The objective is to make the lowest five-card poker hand. Ace-to-five is the best possible hand in Razz. The 2008 Razz champion is Barry Greenstein, a 53-year-old professional poker player. Greenstein collected $158,659 for first place. He also earned his third WSOP gold bracelet. This was his 34th WSOP career cash. His previous victories came in 2004 for No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Draw Lowball, and 2005 for Pot-Limit Omaha.

Legendary gambler Archie Karas (real name � Anargyros Karabourniotis) finished in seventh place. Karas is best known for coming to Las Vegas almost penniless nearly twenty years ago and running gambling wins up to a reported $40 million at one point � only to lose the entire fortune back. He also beat many of poker's best players in heads-up play out of six-figure sums in 1993 � a list which includes the likes of the late Stu Ungar, Johnny Chan, and Chip Reese. This marked Karas' highest tournament finish ever in a WSOP tournament. "I'm here today to make my comeback again," Karas remarked before the tournament began. "I'll parlay the money I won in this tournament up to the $40 million that I used to have."

Last year's champion, Katja Thater played in this event. But she did not cash. This brings the current streak to 26 straight non-cashes for defending champions in their respective events.

Now regarding player Archie Karas, if you really want to learn about Las Vegas gambling history, you should research his background on the Internet. The winning hand for Barry Greenstein went as follows. After a tough heads up which put Chris Klodnicki on life support, Chris went all-in on 3rd street with a 3 and was called by Barry with an Ace card. Both turned over their cards with Chris having A K 3 K 8 6 3 and Barry with 4 9 A J 4 9 7. So Chris was "razzed" with a loss after making a two pair that was higher than the one Barry held. And this is how Barry received gold bracelet number 3.

1. Barry Greenstein $157,643
2. Chris Klodnicki $97,389
3. Chris Viox $58,742
4. Mark Tenner $43,284
5. Brandon Leeds $33,081
6. Joseph Michael $25,661
7. Anargyros Karabourniotis $19,477
8. Mike Wattel $16,386
9. Frank Kassela $13,294