Eric Brooks wins 10k Seven-Card Stud

Eric Brooks wins 10k Seven-Card Stud and donates $415k 1st prize to charity

June 13th, 2008

Eric Brooks wins Event 14: 10k Seven-Card Stud and donates $415k 1st prize to charity

The $10k Seven Card Stud World Championship started off with 158 entries. This was the 14th event at the World Series of Poker 2008. In two days, the final table got underway, with Phil Ivey finishing just one place short at 9th place. The eight players who made it were: David Oppenheim, Alex Kostritsyn, Jim Paluszek, Erik Seidel, Vasili Lazarou, Minh Ly, Fu Wong, and Eric Brooks.

Vasili Lazarou Eliminated in Eighth Place ($48,269)
First one to hit the rail would be Lazarou, who went all in with King high ( K 3 7 8 5 Q 10 ) and ran into David Oppenheim’s Trip Deuces ( 2 2 2 A 4 9 6 )

David Oppenheim Eliminated in Seventh Place ($59,408)
Oppenheim, who started the final table as chip leader, would go out next. Oppenheim showed a pair of Queens ( 5 2 9 8 Q Q ), which was no good against Alex Kostrirsyn’s trip fives ( 6 4 5 9 5 2 5 )

Jim Paluszek Eliminated in Sixth Place ($74,260)
Paluszek would finish 6th when his Ace high ( Q 7 A 8 5 3 4 ) could not beat Kostritsyn’s two pair ( 10 8 8 10 J K A)

Erik Seidel Eliminated in Fifth Place ($92,825)
Seidel finds himself committed to a pair of fives ( 5 5 K Q 4 A 7 ) and fails to outdraw Minh Ly’s pair Aces ( A 5 A 10 J 7 Q )

Minh Ly Eliminated in 4th Place ($118,816)
Ly would run a pair of eights ( 8 8 10 3 J Q 7 ) into Kostritsyn’s pair of nines ( 9 9 10 3 6 7 8 ) and be out in 4th place

Alexander Kostritsyn Eliminated in Third Place ($163,372)
Eric Brooks would get his first knockout when he eliminated Kostritsyn. Kostritsyn held two pair, kings and tens, ( K 4 4 K 3 10 10 ), however Brooks hit a higher two pair, Aces and sevens ( A 8 7 A 7 10 K )

Fu Wong was eliminated in second place ($259,910).
The last hand is where Wong was down to his last chips and moved all in. Wong held a flush draw on 3rd street and only improved it into a pair of fours ( 10 4 A 4 2 4 9 ) while Brooks held a pair of fives in the hole and improved to a flush on seventh street ( A 5 5 3 A 7 Q )

Eric Brooks Wins Event No. 14 ($415,856)
Brooks is a 48 year old business owner and father of two from Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. This would be his first WSOP bracelet win and possibly his last since he stated that he would not play any more events. Amazingly, Brooks told the media that he would donate all of his cash prize to a non-profit organization called the Decision Education Foundation. His excitement could not be contained when he made the announcement.