Cory Zeidman stops Bjorin, Mizrachi

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Comments0
• Email
• Print

Only a few events may be completed at the 2012 World Series of Poker, but the final tables have been consistently filled with some of the best talent in the world. Event 4 was no exception and Cory Zeidman emerged with his first bracelet as he defeated a final table that included previous bracelet winners Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, Chris Bjorin and Todd Brunson. Zeidman earned $201,559 for his victory over the 622-player field in the $1,500 buy-in seven-card stud high-low split Event 4.

[+] Enlarge

WSOP.comCory Zeidman has one WSOP bracelet and eight WSOP cashes worth $328,864.

Each of Zeidman's previous three WSOP final table appearances had come in stud variations. Zeidman finished sixth in this exact event a year ago and was mentally ready to turn the page and earn his first bracelet.

"I just kept saying, 'this is your bracelet, this is yours,'" Zeidman told the WSOP. "I really felt so strongly about winning this thing. It's weird. It's not that everyone thinks that they are going to win, but I really felt that strongly about it. This can't be right, because Chris (Bjorin) had me down a couple of times, where, he had the momentum, and there's like, no way that's my bracelet."

Bjorin did have Zeidman in rough shape a few times, but after a three-hour heads-up battle, it was the Florida resident who denied the British poker legend his third WSOP title. Zeidman had nothing but praise for Bjorin, who notched his 62nd career WSOP cash with his runner-up performance.

"You know Chris doesn't budge. He's got great instincts," he said. "I can't tell you how many times before the turn, he laid down hands, you know, where so many guys would have just tried to bully me, where I just happened to have huge hands. I'm just like, 'wow.' … Chris is a great guy. Who's tougher than Chris? It doesn't come any tougher than that."

Zeidman, 51, is a sports marketing professional and semi-professional poker player. It took him 8 1/2 hours to navigate through the final table that included not only some of the toughest pros in the game, but also two women who hoped to break the streak of 223 consecutive male champions on open WSOP felt. Xuan Liu, who entered Day 3 with the chip lead, fell short in sixth and Bonnie Rossi, who made her first WSOP cash after a seven-year hiatus, finished in eighth.

Already the owner of two WSOP bracelets, Mizrachi finished fifth and has finished fifth or better in each of his past four WSOP cashes. He earned $41,441 for the three-day effort, giving him a $5.2 million in career WSOP earnings. Brunson, probably one of the best players in the world in this variation, captured his first bracelet in an Omaha high-low split event in 2005, but settled for seventh in this event. This was his first WSOP final table since 2009.

The field of 622 players for the event was an increase from 606 in 2011.

Other notable finishers include Chris Tryba (10th), Linda Johnson (13th), Frank Kassela (14th), Mike Sexton (15th) and Owais Ahmed (17th).

Below are the complete results of Event 4 at the 2012 World Series of Poker:

Event 4: Seven-card stud high-low split eight-or-better
Buy-in: $1,500
Entries: 622
Prize pool: $839,700
Players in the money: 64

1 Cory Zeidman ($201,559)
2. Chris Bjorin ($124,838)
3. Brandon Shack-Harris ($84,415)
4. Yarron Bendor ($58,518)
5. Michael Mizrachi ($41,447)
6. Xuan Liu ($29,985)
7. Todd Brunson ($22,142)
8. Bonnie Rossi ($16,684)
9. Marsha Waggoner ($12,822)
10. Chris Tryba ($12,822)
11. Sanjay Pandya ($10,051)
12. John Monnette ($10,051)
13. Linda Johnson ($8,027)
14. Frank Kassela ($8,027)
15. Mike Sexton ($6,532)
16. David Singer ($6,532)
17. Owais Ahmed ($5,416)
18. Jerrod Ankenman ($5,416)
19. Jimmy Fricke ($5,416)
20. Frankie O'Dell ($5,416)
21. Adam Roberts ($5,416)
22. Kevin Chance ($5,416)
23. Brian Nadell ($5,416)
24. Steve Sobel ($5,416)
25. Erik Gorman ($4,567)
26. David Steicke ($4,567)
27. Daniel Idema ($4,567)
28. Timothy Frazin ($4,567)
29. Gregory Jamison ($4,567)
30. Holger Marx ($4,567)
31. Robert Mizrachi ($4,567)
32. Joseph Brandenburg ($4,567)
33. William Carroll ($3,921)
34. Lauchlin McKinnon ($3,921)
35. Daniel Colpoys ($3,921)
36. Jeff Madsen ($3,921)
37. Dan Shak ($3,921)
38. Jordan Siegel ($3,921)
39. Walter Smiley ($3,921)
40. Chris Bell ($3,921)
41. Jonas Mackoff ($3,425)
42. Paul Hickok ($3,425)
43. Devin Hanneman ($3,425)
44. Yuebin Guo ($3,425)
45. Zimnan Ziyard ($3,425)
46. Benjamin Powell ($3,425)
47. Don Zewin ($3,425)
48. Bryan Devonshire ($3,425)
49. John Womack ($3,073)
50. David Bagheri ($3,073)
51. Mickey Appleman ($3,073)
52. Steve Billirakis ($3,073)
53. Michael Chow ($3,073)
54. Charles Barker ($3,073)
55. Tom Schneider ($3,073)
56. Sharad Mehta ($3,073)
57. Thomas Bessoir ($2,754)
58. Vladimir Shchemelev ($2,754)
59. Joe Tehan ($2,754)
60. Matthew Waxman ($2,754)
61. Richard Korbin ($2,754)
62. Amnon Filippi ($2,754)
63. Andrey Pateychuk ($2,754)
64. John Kim ($2,754)

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Comments0
• Email
• Print
• Subscribe

Andrew Feldman

ESPN.com

• Follow
• Archive

Andrew Feldman is ESPN.com's Poker Editor. He is the host of the Poker Edge Podcast and co-host of ESPN Inside Deal. Andrew has covered the poker industry for ESPN since 2004.