Hawaiian poker pro wins $237,463 at WSOP on birthday

Michael Chow, a poker pro from Honolulu, Hawaii, won $237,463 and his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet in the $1,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split tournament (Event #4) on the day of his 33rd birthday early on Wednesday morning.

Chow is believed to be only the second Hawaiian in WSOP history to win a gold bracelet. Lisa Hamilton, who won the Ladies World Championship in 2009, is believed to be the first.

"There are a lot of very good players who come out of Hawaii," said Chow. "There are a lot of games back home. Many people come to Las Vegas from Hawaii. Maybe more people will come and play poker now (after I won)."

Chow, who previously worked in real estate before playing poker full-time, now concentrates mostly on high-stakes cash games in his native Hawaii and in casinos in both Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Chow previously had about $300,000 in live tournament winnings. He is now up over half a million in earnings.

Chow defeated longtime tournament veteran Dan Heimiller in heads-up play. Chow dominated most of play on Day Three, but lost his chip lead late against Heimiller, a Las Vegas pro who won a WSOP bracelet in 2002 in a Seven Card Stud event. When heads-up play began, Heimiller enjoyed a 2-to-1 chip advantage over Chow. He increased his lead to about 5-to-1 at one point. But Chow stormed back during the last 90 minutes for the victory.

"At one point I felt it slipping away," said Chow. "(Heimiller) was the one player I did not want to play heads up with."

Chow has not concentrated much on tournament play, choosing instead to focus his energy on cash games. He is a regular in the mid- to high-stakes cash games played at the Commerce Casino (Los Angeles) and elsewhere. Chow commonly plays $200-400 limit and $300-600 limit. Chow first attended the WSOP in 2003 when it was held at Binion's Horseshoe.

This was the third-biggest field in the history of WSOP Omaha High-Low events, with 818 players.

It was an all-American final table. Only a few events last year did not include an international mix, and they are becoming rarer as the WSOP continues to attract a wider diversity of competitors from many different nations.

The third-place finisher was Ylon Schwartz, from Austin, Texas. A former chess master originally from New York City, he is best known for finishing fourth in the 2008 WSOP Main Event. This marked Schwartz's 14th cash in a WSOP event. He now has in excess of $4 million in career WSOP earnings.

The fourth-place finisher was Fred Koubi, from Van Nuys, Calif, while Scott Epstein, of Las Vegas, Nev., was fifth. Michael Cipolla, from Fresno, Calif., was sixth, Sasha Rosewood, from Santa Cruz, Calif., was seventh, Joe Liebman, from Ft. Atkinson, Wis., was eighth, and Todd Barlow, from Scottsdale, Ariz., was ninth.

Aside from those who made the final table, former WSOP bracelet winners who cashed in this event included – Jeff Madsen (12th), Huck Seed (18th), Anthony Reategui (22nd), David Bach (24th), Chau Giang (27th), Lonnie Heimowitz (31st), Tom Schneider (32nd), John Brock Parker (35th), Todd Brunson (52nd), Walter Smiley (71st), and Berry Johnston (73rd). Smiley, who won his gold bracelet in 1975, was the first African-American to win a WSOP event.

(Modified from original notes by Nolan Dalla for www.wsop.com)