Brown’s WSOP Award, Deadman Claims HPO Title

Brown Honoured with Special Bracelet

Chad Brown was recently admitted to a hospice in New York, but thanks to the admiration and respect of the poker community he’s been awarded a special title courtesy of the WSOP.

During an emotional speech inside the Rio on Saturday Jack Effel announced that Brown would be receiving an honorary bracelet for his services to the game.

After calling for players’ attention and recounting some of Chad’s poker highlights, Jack told the crowd that Chad’s illness means he will no longer be playing at the WSOP or any live poker tournaments.

However, he went on to say that with “a third and two second place finishes on the résumé, it was only going to be a matter of time” before Chad would have won a bracelet. S0, as a tribute, he will now be given an honorary trinket courtesy of the event’s organisers.

The ceremony was arguably one of the most emotional in recent memory and both the community and the GPI now wish Chad all the best in his battle with cancer.

Deadman Breathes Life into his Poker Résumé

The UK’s perennial tournament runner-up, Simon Deadman, defied the odds and added a Hollywood Poker Open title to his résumé earlier today after a hard-fought final table.

The record setting event saw 692 players whittle themselves down over the course of three days and by the time just two players remained today it was Deadman in the lead.

Known on the British and European circuit as one of the most consistent players in the game, Deadman often comes up just short when it comes to clinching a title but that wasn’t the case this time around.

Before the HPO Main Event his career earnings stood at $1,089,912 with the majority of that haul coming courtesy of a handful of wins and a plethora of second place finishes in major events.

Indeed, since the start of 2014 he’s racked up six runner-up finishes, but after his Ac 3d overcame the pocket fives of Michael Wang he etched his name on the poker Wall of Fame as the second ever HPO champion.

After beating Wang to the $351,097 top prize a relieved Deadman joked that was “painful not getting a trophy” this year, but admitted he “wanted to win [the HPO title] real bad“.

HPO Championship Result:

1.Simon Deadman – $351,097

2. Michael Wang – $216,904

3. Kitty Kuo – $141,158

4. Martin Godsk – $98,777

5. Elliott Zaydman – $71,781

6. Robbie Bakker – $55,708

7. Bradley Yazici – $46,814

8. Damian Salas – $39,012

9. Mike Sowers – $31,209