Tom ‘Donkey Bomber’ Schneider Wins 3rd WSOP Bracelet in Event 15
Tom Schneider is an acclaimed, 53-year-old professional poker player from Scottsdale, Arizona, USA. He’s been playing poker, both live and online, for quite some time now. His live tournament prowess speaks for itself, racking up 48 cashes, 4 outright wins and, thanks to yet another success at the 2013 World Series of Poker, 3 WSOP bracelets along the way. Schneider’s first two bracelets came in the 2007 WSOP, earning him the Player of the Year Award. His total live tournament cash winnings now exceed $1.98 million, having taken down the $258,960 prize for winning Event #15 at the 2013 WSOP last weekend, along with his 3rd bracelet.
Schneider, better known to his online poker pals as “Donkey Bomber”, posted the $1,500 buy-in to join a field of 862 players who competed in Event #15 of the 44th Annual World Series of Poker; a H.O.R.S.E. tournament with a collective prize pool of $1,163,700. Over the next three days, Schneider continued to keep his stack at a high level, outplaying some very well-known, high-stakes professionals along the way, including Andy Bloch, Jesse Sylvia and Matt Waxman, who finished the tournament in 87th, 86th and 82nd respectively for $2,595 apiece. Alexander Kravchenko ended in 41st for $4,270, David Chiu in 35th for $4,934, Daniel Kelly in 16th for $8,378, David Bach in 12th for $12,998, David Singer in 11th for another $12,998 and Dan Heimiller in 10th for 16,629.
The final table had its fair share of elite poker players as well. Tom faced off with 2-time WSOP bracelet winners Frankie O’Dell and Ralph “Rep” Porter, and 1-time WOSP bracelet winner Owais ‘The Pakistani Prince of Poker’ Ahmed. Other members of the final table included Scott Bohlman, Viatcheslav Ortynskiy, Mark Klecan and Eddie Blumenthal.
On Monday morning, as the third day of the event’s action resumed, there were only 21 players remaining, with Schneider ranking 5th in chip counts. The final table came soon after, with Mark Klecan taking the first railbird position for an 8th place finish, earning him $21,679. Eddie Blumenthal would hit the rails next, pocketing $28,778 for a 7th place finish. Next, Scott Bolhman made his way from the table, finishing 6th for $38,949. Frankie O’Dell followed soon after, taking a $53,739 payday for his 5th place exit. Ending in 4th was Ralph ‘Rep’ Porter, claiming $75,652 for his efforts.
With three remaining – Ortynskiy, Ahmed and Schneider – the stacks weren’t leaning too heavily in anyone’s favor. The true deciding hand of the tournament was a Stud 8 or Better hand between Owais and Schneider that resulted in Tom holding about 80% of all the chips in play. That crippled Ortynskiy and Ahmed with just a few big blinds to their name, leading to the 3rd place elimination of Viatcheslav, worth $108,701.
Final heads-up action between Owais Ahmed and Tom Schneider ensued. Ahmed fought valiantly, lasting a lot longer than anyone would have anticipated, but in the end, Schneider scooped the remainder of the chips on a hand of Razz. Ahemd took his 2nd place earnings of $159,950 as Schneider’s victory earned him his 3rd WSOP bracelet and a worthy paycheck of $258,960.