Germany’s Sebastian Ruthenberg Claims WSOP Bracelet
June 20th, 2008
Sebastian Ruthenberg has won his first WSOP title following a heads-up defeat of renowned poker pro Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson in the $5,000 World Championship Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split 8 or Better Event #33.
A late finish on Day 2 saw the eliminations of David Benyamine and Howard Lederer leave just eight players left in the event. Sebastian Ruthenberg held the chip lead ahead of strong field of poker pro’s going into the final table:
Seat 1 - Robert Lauria - 44,000
Seat 2 - Marcel Luske - 308,000
Seat 3 - Steve Sung - 207,000
Seat 4 - Annie Duke - 277,000
Seat 5 - Alessio Isaia - 398,000
Seat 6 - Sebastian Ruthenberg - 663,000
Seat 7 - Chris Ferguson - 434,000
Seat 8 - Robert Beveridge - 280,000
Marcel Luske, who also made the final table in an earlier WSOP H.O.R.S.E event, soon found himself all-in three times in the first hour of play but somehow managed to stay alive to eliminate Robert Beveridge. Steve Sung soon followed after getting involved with Annie Duke, before Alessio Isaia was eliminated by Sebastian Ruthenberg.
Next to go was one-time WSOP bracelet winner Annie Duke, unable to compete against 2000 WSOP main event champion Chris Ferguson’s two pair of kings and jacks. Marcel Luske’s luck finally ran out going all-in for the seventh time. This time Robert Lauria had him covered and sent Luske out in 4th place. Lauria was then bested by Ferguson’s full house to leave heads-up between himself and Ruthenberg.
Ferguson was going for his sixth WSOP bracelet and held a slight chip lead over Ruthenberg. At one stage Ruthenberg was facing elimination with a seriously low chip stack but fought back to regain the chip lead and eventually put Ferguson all-in. His two pair of seven and fours was enough to give him the victory and the first place prize of $328,756.
Final Standings:
Sebastian Ruthenberg - $328,756
Chris Ferguson - $202,406
Robert Lauria - $125,737
Marcel Luske - $95,069
Annie Duke - $73,602
Alessio Isaia - $58,268
Steve Sung - $46,001
Robert Beveridge - $36,801
