The $10,000 H.O.R.S.E Championship, one of poker's most prestigious tournaments, attracted a star-studded field of 204 entries this time, which generated a prize pool of $1,917,000.
Among the top 10 finishers were six gold bracelet winners (and 8 bracelet winners in the top 12), but at the end of it all it was a newcomer who stood tall as the champion, Andrew Barber.
Barber, a 32-year-old PhD student from Springfield, Illinois, collected $517,766 in prize money and his first coveted gold bracelet!
"This game has a lot of swings," Barber said. "Unless you play it long enough, you don't realize how much variance there is, so to finally get the win is great."
"This was a tough lineup, there's no doubt about that," Barber said. "But I knew I could compete. I wasn't star-struck, or anything. I had played with most of these guys before, so it wasn't new to me. I knew that with a break or two I could get here and win it."
Final table results:
OTHER IN-THE-MONEY FINISHERS:
Aside from the final table finishers, other gold bracelet winning players who cashed included - Eli Elezra (10th), Phillip Hui (11th), Barry Greenstein (12th), Brock Parker (16th), Brandon Shack-Harris (17th), and Randy Ohel (19th).
This marked the 70th career cash for Poker Hall of Fame inductee Barry Greenstein, who ranks in the top 15 all time.
FUN FACTS:
There were 205 males and 6 females in this event.
There were 154 American players and 50 players from other nations in this event. Out of 16 total countries who had participants, Russia was the nation with the second-most players - at 15.
Winner info:
Name: Andrew Barber
Birthplace: Springfield, IL
Age: 32
Current Residence: Sacramento, CA
Marital Status: Single (in relationship)
Children: None
Profession: PhD Student
Number of WSOP Cashes: 16
Number of WSOP Final Table Appearances: 1
Number of WSOP Gold Bracelet Victories: 1
Best Previous WSOP Finish: 16th (2015)
Total WSOP Earnings: $593,502
Personal Facts: Barber plans to teach and work in academia
