Tom Schneider won two gold bracelets en route to earning Player of the Year honors back at the 2007 World Series of Poker. In the time since he’s recorded a formidable 24 WSOP-related cashes, but his highest finish is a mere 5th place, well short of the bar he set for himself just six years ago.
It’s 2013 now, and Schneider is back to his winning ways. The 53-year-old pro from Scottsdale, Ariz. broke through for gold bracelet victory number three in Event 15, a $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. tournament, early Monday morning. He outlasted some of the game’s best and earned $258,960 for his efforts.
In addition to the eventual champion, the tournament attracted poker’s top brass — a fact never more evident than at the final table. The eight participants accounted for an impressive $5 million in career earnings at the WSOP as well as 37 final table appearances and seven gold bracelet victories.
The start-studded finale included WSOP champions Frankie O’Dell (5th), Rep Porter (4th) and Owais Ahmed (2nd) as well as a handful of sure-to-be future champions.
A total of 862 players comprised the field in the $1,500 buy-in event. The top 96 earned a cash of at least $2,595. Notables to finish in the money include Andy Bloch (87th), Jesse Sylvia (86th), Matthew Waxman (82nd), Alexander Kravchenko (41st), David Chiu (35th), Dan Kelly (16th), David Bach (12th), David Singer (11th) and Dan Heimiller (10th).
Event 15 was played out over a five-game mix of Limit Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better, Razz, Seven Card Stud and Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better. It was the first of two H.O.R.S.E. events on the schedule. The next begins June 15 and boasts a $5,000 buy-in.
Final table results:
1st: Tom Schneider – $258,960
2nd: Owais Ahmed – $159,950
3rd: Viatcheslav Ortynskiy – $108,701
4th: Rep Porter – $75,652
5th: Frankie O’Dell- $53,739
6th: Scott Bohlman – $38,949
7th: Eddie Blumenthal – $28,778
8th: Mark Klecan – $21,679
