Chidwick and Schwartz Win Their First WSOP Bracelets

Stephen Chidwick and Luke Schwartz, both hailing from the United Kingdom, have both secured their first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and done so in big buy-in events.

Chidwick was often referred to as the best poker player not to have won a WSOP bracelet. Now he has rid himself of that unwanted moniker by triumphing in the Event 45: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller.

A field of 278 players created a $6,602,500 prize pool in the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller and this princely sum was shared among the top 42 finishers. Toby Lewis was the first player to cash, banking $37,635. Several notable players reached the money places, as you would expect from such a prestigious tournament. They included Joe Hachem (39th for $37,635), Justin Bonomo (31st for $43,270), online poker superstars Niklas Astedt (26th for $43,270) and Ben Tollerene (11th for $92,102).

Day 4 Starts With Only Seven Players In The Mix

The final day’s action began with seven players in the hunt for the $1,618,417 top prize and, of course, a gold WSOP bracelet. Wasim Korkis was the first casualty of the day and he was joined on the rail by the man in the top five all-time biggest poker tournament winners Erik Seidel. Alex Epstein, Robert Mizrachi and Matthew Gonzales all crashed out to leave Chidwick to lock horns heads-up with James Chen of Taiwan.

It only took 30 minutes for Chidwick to get the job done. The final hand saw all the chips go into the middle on a Kh-7h-6d flop, Chen holding Ad-Qs-8h-8d for a pair of eights and a flush draw, Chidwick holding Kc-Qd-7d-7s for two pair. The turn and river were no help to Chen who busted in second-place for $1,000,253, leaving Chidwick to claim his first bracelet from 53 WSOP cashes.

Victory was made all the more sweeter by the fact this was Chidwick’s first event of the 2019 WSOP. Having only recently become a father, Chidwick only headed to Las Vegas a couple of days ago and this was the first tournament he bought into. Usually, Chidwick fires into every available tournament, so to win his only event so far is quite ironic.

Schwartz Relieved To Win His First WSOP Bracelet

Schwartz won his first WSOP bracelet in the $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship, banking $273,336 in the process to take his lifetime live poker tournament winnings to $1,730,579. The Londoner is has matured a lot since first making waves on the poker scene, his brash, course table talk making him a character that divides opinion, although you cannot argue that Schwartz has fantastic ability.

Known as “_fullflush1_” in online poker circles, Schwartz only had four WSOP cashes to his name before this result, his best finish being fourth-place in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, won by Michael Mizrachi, at the 2012 WSOP for $406,736. While this victory was less financially rewarding at $273,336, the fact Schwartz locked up a WSOP bracelet will mean the world to him.

After defeating American George Wolff heads-up, Schwartz spoke to the WSOP who asked him what it felt like to win a WSOP bracelet. “It feels pretty good, pretty relieving. It’s a nice thing to have as a poker player. I don’t think I looked at the payouts at all, I just wanted the bracelet. I just wanted to win it.”

Win it he did and he and Chidwick will be gunning for their second WSOP bracelet in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship that shuffles up and deals on June 24th.

Recently Crowned 2019 WSOP Champions

Event	Champion	Prize
$1,000 Double Stack NLHE	Joseph Cheong	$687,782
$10,000 Dealer’s Choice Championship	Adam Friedman	$312,417
$3,000 NLHE Shootout	David Lambard	$207,93
$800 NLHE Deepstack	Robert Micthell	$297,537
$600 Online NLHE KO Bounty	Upeshka De Dilva	$98,263
$1,000 Super Seniors NLHE	Michael Blake	$359,863
$1,500 Pot Limit Omaha	Ismael Bojang	$298,507
$10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship	John Hennigan	$245,451
$600 Mixed NLHE / PLO Deepstack	Aristeidis Moschonas	$194,759
$2,500 Mixed Big Bet	Loren Klein	$127,808
$1,500 NLHE Bounty	Asi Moshe	$253,933
$25,000 PLO High Roller	Stephen Chidwick	$1,618,417
$500 Online NLHE Turbo Deepstack	Dan Lupo	$145,274
$2,500 NLHE	Ari Engel	$427,399
$10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship	Luke Schwartz	$273,336

Matthew Pitt

If it’s something you can play online for real money, chances are Matthew knows a bit about it. He’s been writing about slots, craps and poker for the better part of the last decade. He’s written for PokerNews, PartyPoker and many other respected online gambling websites during the last nine years.

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