BREAKING NEWS: JUST ANNOUNCED!
After more than 14-hours of nonstop play the $2-million winner of the second annual $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. World Championship was Las Vegas resident Freddy Deeb. It was Deeb’s second World Series of Poker victory—he previously won a gold bracelet back in 1996.
Born in Lebanon, he fled his homeland during the 1970’s civil war there. He was unable to secure legal residency or obtain a work permit inside America so he turned to gambling to make a living. For more than 30-years Freddy has been playing poker successfully.
Married with four children, Freddy owns two WSOP gold bracelets and has cashed in at the event 22 times. His first win was for Deuce-to-Seven Lowball. The H.O.R.S.E. championship , however, is his biggest career win by far. “When I won my first bracelet, I was mostly a cash game player so it didn’t really matter that much to me,” said Freddy “But this one—it means everything to me. They are the toughest players in the world. It has the highest buy-in except for the $10,000 main event buy-in this is the bracelet that means the most of any of them.”
One of the most popular players on the poker tournament trail, with other players and fans alike Freddy is often humorous while he is playing and often wears vibrant colored shirts, including at this final table when he wore what he calls his “lucky shirt.”
When play was at four-handed, Deeb was all-in on a critical Omaha High-Low hand. He managed to scoop the pot and survive to propel him back into the match. Despite having the shortest stack during much of play in the finale, he still managed to outlast his final opponents in the end.
The final table lasted 14.5 hours and ranked as the fourth-longest recorded final table in WSOP history. Freddy won $2,276,832 and was presented with his gold and diamond bracelet in addition to a custom-designed wristwatch made by luxury watchmaker Corum, with WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack doing the honors. “I have a very loose reputation as a poker player,” said Freddy right after the grueling game ended. “When I bet out, I know I am going to get called. So, I adjust my play and it works in my favor. When I sit down to play, I do not ask anyone—what is the game because of the mix of poker games in H.O.R.S.E. I just play whatever the game is dealt… You see what level they are at, and you go a level higher. That’s how you win.”
This event is generally regarded as the ultimate test of all-around poker skill with Freddy now being regarded as the world’s best poker player. Five poker games are played in rotation—Hold’em, Omaha High-Low, Razz, Seven-Card Stud, and Stud Eight-or-Better over a five-day period. This year’s H.O.R.S.E. World Championship attracted 148 entries, just up slightly from last year’s inaugural number of 143. The World Series of Poker continues onward at the Rio with Don Cheadle and Annie Duke’s big Hollywood celebrity poker tournament starting next Thursday and the overall ultimate big game finale expected to wind up about July 17.