Zachary Fischer has had a lot going on lately. The New Yorker recently got married and is about to become a father. With all that excitement on the home front, Fischer also found time for an exciting run at the poker tables.
He took down the latest World Series of Poker Circuit main event at Harrah’s Cherokee on Aug. 18, earning his first major tournament title and $324,135 in prize money. This was his largest score yet, growing his career haul to nearly $1.3 million.
“It really means a lot to me honestly; I’ve been playing for a really long time… This is my first major win, and I’m just really happy. I just got married, and I’m having a kid soon. Baby rungood is real. Obviously, it got stressful throughout the way, but I never really got worried. Even when I got down to six big blinds, I still stayed composed, and I felt like I was gonna win, “said Fischer in a video interview with PokerOrg after the victory.
This win also came with 960 Card Player Player of the Year points. It was Fischer’s 11th final-table finish and second title of the year. He now sits in 44th place in the overall standings presented by CoinPoker with 3,233 total points.
This $1,700 buy-in no-limit hold’em event had two starting flights. The field of 1,437 contenders resulted in a $2,177,055 prize pool, well over the $1.5 million guarantee. The top 146 players all cashed for at least $4,132.
Strong Finish For Fischer
Fischer had the second-largest stack when the final table began, and the first bustout went to Eduardo Paz for ninth. He was followed to the rail by Marc Lacroix in eighth place, and J.B. Wells then got in on the action by sending Leo Taffe out of the tournament in seventh place.
A series of doubles ups then prolonged action until Matt Yanowksi was eliminated in sixth place by Andrew Smith, and ironically enough it was Smith who fell next in fifth as Wells scored another knockout at the final table. Shane Lea was out after that in fourth a short time later.
That was when the final three players took a dinner break, and when they came back, Wells took out another opponent when he sent Warren Sheaves packing in third place. Other than a couple of double-ups, Fischer had remained quiet as far as the showdowns were concerned until then. But he had picked up enough pots throughout the final stages to hold the lead when heads-up play began. His stack was just over 31.5 million, with Wells trailing at 26 million to start.
The two battled back and forth for quite a while, but Fischer managed to regain the lead in time for the tournament’s final hand.
Fischer moved all in with Q♥10♥ from the button, and Wells called all in for 10 million holding J♥5♥. The A♥8♣7♦6♦K♣ saw Wells eliminated in second place. He took home $216,089 for his efforts.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Zachary Fischer | $324,135 | 960 |
| 2 | J.B. Wells | $216,089 | 800 |
| 3 | Warren Sheaves | $153,035 | 640 |
| 4 | Shane Lea | $109,942 | 480 |
| 5 | Andrew Smith | $80,140 | 400 |
| 6 | Matthew Yankowski | $59,284 | 320 |
| 7 | Leo Taffe | $44,516 | 240 |
| 8 | Marc Lacroix | $33,939 | 160 |
| 9 | Eduardo Paz | $26,277 | 80 |
Photo Credit: WSOP and Poker.Org
