Tom Schneider Wins WSOP Event #5

High buy-in mixed tournaments generally attract higher-profile players and the final table of the Omaha/seven-card stud eight-or-better event did not disappoint. It started off with some of the best in the world, but in the end only one player, Tom Schneider, outlasted the rest to win his first WSOP bracelet. Schneider defeated well-known professionals Annie Duke, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, David Benyamine, John "The Razor" Phan, and Chris Bell to take home a first prize of $214,347. It was Schneider's third World Series of Poker and he proved the old adage correct. The third time was the charm.

Schneider needed just an hour to eliminate his final opponent, Ed Tonnellier. Tonnellier's second-place finish was good for $118,456. Hailing from Windsor, Ontario, Tonnellier is a limit hold'em and Omaha specialist. He has multiple cashes in limit hold'em and Omaha eight-or-better tournaments. The two finalists couldn't have taken more diverse paths to reach heads-up play. Schneider entered the final table as the chip leader, while Tonnellier began as the short stack at the table.

When play got down to three-handed, Tonnellier doubled up through Duke and used that momentum to challenge for the bracelet. Schneider and his dominant stack were too much to handle, though. He took a massive pot from Tonnellier on the first hand of heads-up play and never looked back. Schneider wore Tonnellier down to just three $1,000 chips, which forced him all in on every hand. Tonnellier then hit a run of lucky cards, and ran his stack back up to $25,000.

On the final hand both players were all in when Schneider completed. He was dealt A Q 4 and Tonnellier K K 2. Fourth street brought Schneider the A and Tonnellier the 9. With the rail calling for an ace, sixth street complied and gave Schneider the A. Schneider took the lead in the hand with that card. It also brought Tonnellier the 3 and he picked up two pair with a flush draw to boot. Tonnellier's seventh street card didn't matter however, when Schneider filled up with the 4. Schneider won the hand and took down his first WSOP bracelet.