Event No. 12 - Sam Farha Wins
$5,000 Omaha Eight-or-Better Bracelet
By Alex Henriquez

The second final table on day 12 of the World Series of Poker belonged to the $5,000 Omaha eight-or-better event. The tournament began with 265 players and featured a $1,245,500 total prize pool.

The nine players who emerged for final-table action were Jim Ferrel, Jeff King, Mike Wattel, Phil Ivey, Sam Farha, Kirill Gerasimov, Brian Nadell, Ryan Hughes, and Mike Henrich.

Less than 10 minutes into final-table play, Henrich scooped a pot with a wheel and eliminated Hughes in ninth place ($24,910).

The next elimination featured a flush-over-flush situation. Ferrel exited the tournament in eighth place ($37,365) after going all in on a queen-high flush, only to have Wattel call him with the ace-high flush.

A short stack all final table, King followed Ferrel to the rail an hour later. He failed to make a low against Henrich's set of jacks and went home in the seven spot ($49,820).

Ivey, who survived on a short stack leading up to final-table action, doubled up twice following King's departure. The dangerous poker star then took the chip lead after making quad kings against Farha.

At the same time that Ivey saw success, Nadell saw his stack dwindle. Sitting on $15,000 in chips, he went all in, only to have Gerasimov flop a queen-high straight. Nadell was eliminated in sixth place ($62,275).

A severely crippled Wattel became the next casualty. He failed to make a low when the 3 river card paired his all-in hand against Farha, and his tournament run ended with a fifth-place finish ($74,730).

Henrich's fourth-place finish ($87,185) set up a three-way matchup between Ivey, Farha, and Gerasimov. Ivey entered at a serious chip disadvantage (nearly 6-to-1 against Gerasimov), but again doubled up two times.

Ivey raked a good number of pots from Gerasimov, and the former tennis pro soon found himself at the bottom of the chip board. A few hands later, Gerasimov tangled with Farha, who eventually put him all in on an A J 10 5 2 board. Farha, holding the 8 8 3 3, scooped the pot with a flush and the low, eliminating Gerasimov in third place ($112,095).

With Gerasimov gone, two popular poker pros squared off for the $398,560 first-place prize money and WSOP gold bracelet.

Heads-up play lasted one hour, and saw Farha take a commanding chip lead after catching a series of big hands. He scooped pots with a full house, a counterfeited Ivey low, and an A-Q-7-5 hand that gave him two pair and the low.

At 3:51 a.m. PDT, Farha eliminated Ivey from the tournament with jacks and sevens.

Ivey, denied his sixth WSOP title, took home $219,208 for his second-place finish.

Farha became a two-time bracelet winner and received $398,560.