Champ Scott Seiver (ImageMasters)

Scott Seiver Wins First Bracelet

Scott Seiver went wire to wire as chip leader at the final table, making his presence felt from the moment he sat down. Seiver defeated Dave Seidman heads up to win the bracelet and the enormous $755,856 first prize. Seidman earns $482,372 for second place. This is Seiver's sixth WSOP cash and his third of the 2008 Series. It is Seidman's second WSOP cash and his third career tournament cash.

Seiver sat down at the final table with more than 2.5 million chips, 1.5 million more than his closest competitor. Scott began heads up play with just as dominant a lead and made quick work of Dave Seidman's smaller stack.

In the final hand, Dave Seidman raises to 200k, and Scott Seiver calls to see 9 7 3 flop. Seidman check-raises to 980k, and Seiver moves all in. Seidman calls, showing A-7. Seiver's K-9 gives him the higher pair, which holds up to win the hand, the all-in check mark, and the tournament.

Jacobounced

Jacobo Fernandez was eliminated in fourth place, earning $238,781. Although it appeared he had nine lives in the last hour of play, he couldn't pull out one more double up to stay alive. With pocket Kings, Fernandez was ahead of Scott Seivers A-8, but Seivers flopped an Ace to open one more seat at the final table. This has been an amazing Series for Fernandez. He had two career WSOP cashes before 2008, but has cashed four times in the last two weeks and appeared at two final tables. He placed second in a Pot Limit Hold'em event.

Sprengers Sprung

Ben Sprengers finished in third place for a payday of $292,035. Running hot early in the day, a few short stacks doubled through him to erode his chip stack. Dave Seidman finally ended Sprengers' tournament run to make the final table heads up.

Sprengers raises to 100k, and Seidman calls to see the flop fall J T 8. Seidman check-raises to 450k, and Sprengers moves all in. Seidman calls with 7 6 for a flush and inside straight draw. Sprengers shows pocket Queens. A K on the turn gives Ben a straight draw, but the K on the river is not what he wants. With the rivered flush, Seidman accumulates Sprengers' chips to use in the heads up match against Scott Seivers. Seivers is still the dominant chip leader.

Rajesh Rejected

Rajesh Vohra finished in fifth place, collecting $195,835.  Vorha was crippled after doubling Ben Sprengers and never recovered. He hung on as the short stack for more than an hour but finally succumbed to the bullying of the Seivers-Seidman tag team.

Dave Seidman raises to 100k. Vohra considers his options, then moves all in for 308,000. Seidman calls, showing K-T. Vorha’s pocket 4s are way behind after Dave flops a King, and the rest of the board is no help. Rajesh left the tournament a little dazed. No doubt $195k will help him recover.

Seidman was approaching 2 million in chips after eliminating Vohra, but didn’t hang on to his winnings for long. Ben Sprengers doubled through Seidman on the next hand, pitting his A-Q against Seidman’s A-7. Moments later, Jacobo Fernandez doubled up to further decimated Seidman’s stack. Fernandez paired his Ace on the river defeat Dave’s pocket Tens.

Fernandez survived another all in when he pitted his Q-T against Ben Sprengers’ A-K. A straight on the board meant they chopped the pot, and Jacobo lived to play another hand. Or six, to be exact, before he put his life on the line again. Fernandez shoved with Q-J suited, and Sprengers called with pocket 8s. Jacobo paired his Jack on the flop, and with no 8 on the board, Fernandez doubled again.

Fernandez is running hot, but Scott Seivers and Dave Seidman are still way out in front.

Sklar Chucked

Chuck Sklar was bounced in sixth place, cashing for $154,607.  Sklar doubled through Dave Seidman earlier, but he couldn’t repeat the win against Scott Seiver.

Sklar bets 80,000, and Seiver makes the call to see the flop: J 8 5. It’s check-check to see the 2 on the turn. Seiver bets out 130k, and Sklar shoves. Scott insta-calls with American Airlines, and Seiver’s big slick is in trouble. The Queen on the river sends Sklar to the rail.

With the addition of Sklar’s chips, Scott Seiver is up to 4.1 million, almost 3 million ahead of Dave Seidman, his closest competition. Jacobo Fernandez, Ben Sprengers, and Rajesh Vohra have a combined total of 1.8 million chips. The players are off for a twenty-minute break. When they return, there could be some spectacular bustage.

Six-Handed Scores for Sklar and Sprengers

After three rapid-fire busts, the final table has remained six-handed for more than an hour. Chuck Sklar doubled through David Seidman to chip up to around 600,000. Sklar moved all in with A 7, and Seidman called with A T. The Q 5 2 flop was uneventful, but the 7 on the turn gave Sklar a pair. The A on the river gave Sklar two pair and kept him alive at the final table.

Next, Ben Sprengers doubled through Rajesh Vohra. Sprengers moved all in for 402k over Vohra's 165k raise, and Vohra paced, counted, and paced some more before making the call. Ben showed pocket Aces, and to the crowd's surprise (and his fan club's disapproval), Vohra showed 9 3. The flop fell T 7 2, giving Vohra his flush draw, but it didn't materialize. Sprengers doubled to more than 800,000, and Vohra is in trouble.

Scott Seivers is still far ahead of the rest of the table with more than 3 million in chips.

Geyer Gone

Adam Geyer was eliminated in eight place, earning $94,482.

Geyer is all in UTG, and David Seidman calls with his remaining chips. Geyer flips over two black 9s, putting Seidman and his pair of black Aces far ahead. A 9 on the flop makes Geyer a set. But an Ace on the flop makes the set of 9s just cruel. No quads for Geyer, and his day is done. This is Geyer's fourth WSOP cash. He took second in the SHOE event at the WSOP in 2007.

Adios Anders

Anders Henriksson busted in seventh place, taking home $120,250. This is the Swedish pro's third WSOP cash.

Two hands after Geyer departed, Henriksson raises to 60k pre-flop. Ben Sprengers and BB Chuck Sklar call to see the flop: K 9 8. Sklar bets out 135,000, sending Henriksson into the tank. Eventually he moves in for 285,000. Sprengers moves in over the top for 460,000, and Sklar debates for a bit but decides to fold. Anders is out in front with a set of 9s, but Sprengers' pocket Aces inspire fear. Well deserved fear, it turns out, because an Ace on the river bounces Henriksson from the tournament.

Does this hand look familiar to anyone? Two eliminations in three hands, both of them set of Aces vs. set of 9s. This Friday the 13th stuff is creepy.

Freeroll Over for Freeman

The final table was underway for about three minutes before Scott Freeman moved all his chips across the line. Super-stack Scott Seiver called, and Freeman's A K was off to the races with Seiver's Q Q. The 8 7 6 flop gave Freeman his flush draw, and the 5 on the turn had the crowd talking about a chopped pot. But the 7 on the river didn't cut it, and Scott Freeman was eliminated in ninth place. He earns $69,714 in his third WSOP cash. Freeman took home more than $333k for his 19th place finish in last year's Main Event.

Scott Seiver sat down at the final table with guns blazing. He's already up to 3.3 million in chips and isn't showing signs of slowing down before he finishes the job.

End of Day 2 chip counts and payout information: