Baltimore's Brookshire takes home first WSOP bracelet

Name: David Brookshire
Nationality: American
Birthplace: Baltimore, MD
Current Residence: Baltimore, MD
Age: 35
Profession: Poker pro
Number of WSOP Cashes: 6
Number of WSOP Final Table Appearances: 1
Number of WSOP Gold Bracelet Victories (with this tournament): 1
Best Previous WSOP Finish: 1st, 2017/18 WSOP Circuit - THE BICYCLE CASINO (Los Angeles) / Event #5: $365 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better ($8,285)
Total WSOP Earnings: $234,133
Personal Facts: Though a resident of Maryland, Brookshire also spends considerable time
in the Los Angeles, California area.

Baltimore, MD's David Brookshire has earned the first coveted gold bracelet of his career by winning Event #46 of the 2018 World Series of Poker, $2,500 Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better.

Brookshire, 35, outlasted a 402-player field in this fixed-limit, mixed-games event to collect a $214,291 winner's payday. The cash is the largest of his WSOP career, exceeding by more than ten times the $19,842 he'd earned in five previous WSOP and WSOP Circuit cashes, including an $8,285 payday Brookshire earned for winning a Circuit Omaha hi-lo event in Los Angeles last December.

Brookshire staved off near-elimination in his heads-up duel against Henderson, NV's Brendan Taylor, who dominated most of this event's final table. Yet Taylor, who won a bracelet in 2010, was unable to close the deal here, as Brookshire scooped a major stud hi-lo pot to stay alive, then surged to the win. Taylor, 38, settled for a runner-up payday of $132,443.

Third place in Event #46 went to another prior bracelet winner in Columbia's Daniel Ospina. Ospina, originally from Canada, arrived at the final table in severe short-stacked mode but battled all the way through to a third-place cash of $89,968.

Fourth place and a $62,331 payout went to Mexico's Ian Shaw, a music journalist and former international cricket player now living and working in Mexico City. Las Vegas poker pro Tyler Groth, who owns both a WSOP bracelet and a Circuit ring, collected $44,059 for fifth.

Brookshire's triumph was against the odds as he fell behind by an 8:1 margin to Taylor early in heads-up play. Brookshire then scored a huge scoop while all in on seventh street in a stud hi-lo hand.

From there, Brookshire rolled. The end came in a hand of Omaha hi-lo, with most of the chips going in after the flop. Brookshire had already made a straight, while Taylor opened for two pair and a handful of outs to a full house or a higher straight. The turn and river were no good, though, meaning Brookshire's win was sealed.

“This is a great event,” said Brookshire. “I love all the mixed-games events and now I'm going to have a bankroll to be able to play all of them for the next few years, hopefully. I've got to run it up. There's a lot of events I've missed because I can't afford to play them, and that's going to change right now.”

What's at the top of Brookshire's list? “The $10K PLO [hi-lo] event for sure. It's my first $10K ever. I've never played one, and I'm going to peel $10K off of this to play it.”

The tale of the final, of course, was Brookshire's huge comeback from the brink. “It feels so good to win after [Taylor] had the eight-to-one lead on me. It kind of felt like he had it in the bag. I was praying real hard while I was playing and I felt really blessed to be able to come back and pull out the win.”

Just surviving the middle stages of this final, when Taylor owned half the chips in play and bullied the short stacks, was also a must-do for Brookshire. “He had the chip lead and he was very good at leaning on the shorter stacks. He was making a lot of raises, regardless of what his cards were, and he was playing really well. There were a lot of hands that I wanted to play tonight that I had to fold because I wanted to hold my chip position. The pay bump was so different between fifth and second. Me being second in chips, there were numerous times I had to lay down amazing hands that I really wanted to play.”

Taylor's aggression indeed sent several of the other players to the rail, and that was almost Brookshire's fate as well . . . but not quite.

Fifteen players returned for Sunday's Day 3 in this event, with some work to do before reaching the official eight-player final. Paul-François Tedeschi's exit in ninth set the final table, well over four hours into the day's play. Prior Circuit ring winner David Brookshire and bracelet holders Hani Awad and Eric Rodawig were closely grouped at the top of the chip counts as the final table began, well ahead of the other five players.

Omaha, NE's Rodawig, though, took several hits over the next hour and was the first to be bounced from this final. Rodawig busted in a hand of stud hi-lo against Taylor, with Ian Shaw also in the hand for part of the ride. Rodawig was all in by fifth, when a Taylor raise chased Shaw out. Rodawig's eight-place run was worth $17,628.

Gilbert, AZ's William Shelton was soon to follow, busting in seventh in a hand of Omaha hi-lo. Shelton was almost all in before the flop, tossing in his last few chips after the flop. Hani Awad, though, wasn't going anywhere in a hi-only pot. The turn and river completed the hand and locked in Shelton's $23,429 payout.

Awad moved over a million in chips with that pot, but his cards turned sour from there. The Palestine native and Las Vegas resident evaded elimination for some time, but finally busted in a stud hi-lo hand against Ospina. Awad was all in on third street, and he finished with just a pair of threes. Ospina's completed hand showed for tens up and the knockout, giving Awad sixth-place money of $31,789.

Another prior bracelet winner, Las Vegas pro Tyler Groth, was eliminated next. Groth hit the rail in a hand of Omaha hi-lo where his draws didn't connect against Taylor. Taylor bet the flop and Groth check-called. Groth then bet the turn with Taylor calling. Groth tossed in his last 15,000 on the river, and Taylor thought it over before calling, and found his pair of nines was best. Groth collected a fifth-place payday of $44,059.

A severely short-stacked Shaw busted just a few hands later. Taylor notched this bustout as well, in a hand of stud hi-lo. Shaw completed on third street, Taylor raised , and Shaw called all-in. The cards were turned up and the rest of the streets dealt; Taylor finished with a full house. The not-good-enough two pair ended Shaw's night and sent him off to collect $62,331 for fourth.

That left Ospina and Brookshire parrying as the short stacks to see who would survive to square off against Taylor. In the end, they squared off in an Omaha hi-lo hand with all but a few of Ospina's remaining chips going in on a four-bet flop. The last few chips went in on the turn, and the cards were turned up. Brookshire needed help and he got it with the river, making a full house and sending Ospina off in third for $89,968.

Event #46, $2,500 Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better, drew 402 entrants and created a prize pool of $904,500. 61 players made the money, with a min-cash worth $3,736.

Other notables
Among those making the money in Event #46 were Cyndy Violette (13th, $8,586), Perry Friedman (19th, $5,969), David Prociak (20th, $5,969), Ron Ware (21st, $5,969), Paul Sokoloff (29th, $5,162), Scott Clements (33rd, $4,577), and Ian Johns (38th, $4,577).

Final table payouts (POY points in parentheses)
1st: David Brookshire, $214,291 (987.53)
2nd: Brendan Taylor, $132,443 (493.77)
3rd: Daniel Ospina, $89,968 (444.39)
4th: Ian Shaw, $62,331 (395.01)
5th: Tyler Groth, $44,059 (370.32)
6th: Hani Awad, $31,789 (345.64)
7th: William Shelton, $23,429 (296.26)
8th: Eric Rodawig, $17,628 (271.57)

(Article courtesy of World Series of Poker)