WSOP Updates – Event #31, $5,000 Heads-Up NLHE — Dan 'rekrul' Schreiber Storms to Victory

June 22, 2007

Laurene DeBord-Foulk

WSOP Updates – Event #31, $5,000 Heads-Up NLHE — Dan 'rekrul' Schreiber Storms to Victory 0001

Dan 'rekrul' Schreiber took home his first WSOP bracelet and $425,594 after defeating Mark Muchnik 2-0 in a best of three series for the title in Event #31, $5,000 Heads-Up No Limit Hold 'Em.

Schreiber and Muchnik advanced to the championship after two rounds that reduced the field from eight to two. Round 8 match-ups were:

Toto Leonidas vs Daniel Schreiber

Shannon Shorr vs Vanessa Selbst

Steve Sarrafzadeh vs Keith Block

Mark Muchnik vs Jared Davis

Schreiber sent Toto Leonidas to the rail first. Although Leonidas took the first pot, he took a hit several hands later. The board came J♣10♣5♠Q♣6♠, with Leonidas holding J♦9♦ and moving all in after the flop. Schreiber held A♥A♣, however, which held up for the knockout. Leonidas, as with all the Round Seven departures, collected $46,060.

Vanessa Selbst sent Shannon Shorr out next. Selbst chipped away at Shorr's stack through early play, but Shorr managed to pull even when his A♥5♥ made a flush on a 9♥7♥{3dK♥5♥ board against Selbst's A♦Q♠. Selbst, however, surged again, finishing Shorr off for his last chips when her A♣10♠ dominated his A♠2♠ and a ten sealed it on the turn.

Mark Muchnik took several hits from an aggressive Jared Davis, who won the first eight pots in their matchup. Muchnik waited patiently and caught the cards he needed to increase his stack to 770,000 over Davis' 510,000. This one see-sawed, with David moving back into the lead before Muchnik pulled ahead to stay. Muchnik finally took the match when a short stacked Davis shoved all in pre-flop, which Muchnik called. Davis held Q♣7♣ and Muchnik A♣2♥. The flop came A♠8♣3♣ and Muchnik moved well ahead, with the turn 3♥ and river 3♦ finishing the action

Steve Sarrafzadeh and Keith Block played more conservatively than the others in Round Seven, with their stacks fluctuating near even most of the round. Block looked vulnerable when his stack fell to 450,000 and Sarrafzadeh's built to 830,000, but Block doubled through on the next hand, and finally pushed Sarrafzadeh out when Block's pocket kings held up over Sarrafzadeh's pocket jacks.

The eighth round paired up Vanessa Selbst against Dan Schreiber and Keith Block versus Mark Muchnik for the final four.

Selbst exited quickly in a fast-paced match. Schreiber played aggressively, taking the first two pots to increase his stack to 1,780,000 with Selbst trimmed to 780,000. On Hand #15, after the turn with a board of 10♠5♠4♣8♠, Schreiber bet 400,000 and Selbst moved all in. Selbst held 10♥9♥ for top pair, but Schreiber showed J♠3♠ for the turned flush, leaving Selbst drawing dead. The river K♥ was meaningless, with Schreiber moving on to the final. Selbst was the official fourth-place finisher with $128,968.

In the other semifinal, Keith Block again played small-ball against Mark Muchnik, with very few hands seeing the river in the first hour of play. Finally, Muchnik scored a 700,000 pot when he bet out a board of K♥Q♦J♠Q♥5♦ and Block mucked, increasing his stack to 1,605,000 and trimming Block's count to 955,000. A second big pot a few hands later made Muchnik's lead 2.280,000 and reducing Block to 350K. Block departed shortly after, when he went all in from the button on A♥10♥, and Muchnik called with K♣8♦. The K♥J♥6♣ flop gave Muchnik the lead but gave Block the flush draw, but the turn (3♦) and river (7♦) blanked out, and Mcuhnik moved on to the final.

The championship round, taped by ESPN, was a best-of-three series between Muchnik and Schreiber. The first match was slow, going 79 hands with a lot of small pots. Schreiber dominated from the start, however, winning 16 in a row early on. After 56 hands, Schreiber held 4,620,000 in chips to Muchnik's 500,000. Muchnik endured several more hands before busting in the 79th hand. After a 9♥4♦2♦ flop and the 7♠ turn, Muchnik pot-committed himself with a 375,000 reraise, which Schreiber called. Schreiber bet another 30,000 after the 10♣, pulling Muchnik all-in, then showed K♣7♣ for the pair and the 1-0 lead.

The second match progressed much more quickly, with Muchnik taking the first pot. On the tenth hand, though, Muchnik was crippled when he missed a flush draw. He went all in on the next hand with Q♥8♠ against Schreiber's K♣2♠. The board came A♠K♥6♥10♥10♦, giving Schreiber kings-up two pair and the title.