New Orleans’ David Halpern  took down his first World Series of Poker bracelet in the $1,500 Seven-card Stud 8-or-Better (Event 53) tournament Tuesday night.

“We had fun the whole time. What’s funny about this game is you look around and it’s mostly old-timers. All the young guys are playing No Limit Hold ‘em, since I’ve got grey hair and I’m over 50 maybe this is more my game,” Halpern said.

The attorney, restaurant owner and father of four beat Cincinnati’s William Kohler heads-up and 465 other players over three days to take home the 53rd bracelet of the 2009 WSOP and top prize of $159,048.

“The money is great, but being able to win it, it is just so exciting,” Halpern said.

Kohler was all-in on seventhstreet with [10c] 4 9 6 (J) ([10s]) (Q) and Halpernmade the call and ended the tournament with 9 2 4 7 (K) (K) (4). Kholer won $98,550 for his efforts.

Halpern was not registered for the tournament until the last minute, he only did so when he was put on a waiting list for a cash game of Pot Limit Omaha. “It was full so I thought ‘well what am I going to do, I’ll go play this one,”” he said.

After losing half of his stack in a single hour Allie Prescottwas the first to be sent to the rail. Prescott was all-in on fifthstreet with 3 2 J 4 (A) (3) (J) against Matt Savageand Kohler. Kohler bet and savage folded on sixth street. Kohler flipped over 5 6 9 9 (A) (A) (2) and Prescott was sent to the cash cage to collect $16,682.

Brian Swinford followed Prescott to the cage to collect $19,901 after he was all-in against Mr. Vanessa Rousso Chad Brown with 4 3 5 8 (2) (2) (2). His cards were no match for Brown’s 2 6 4 6 (7) (3) (Kc]). Swinfordleft without his first WSOP bracelet but did walk away with his third WSOP career cash.

Reno, Nevada resident Zak Gilbertwas eliminated from his first WSOP final table in sixth place when his 2 3 4 5 (K) ([10s]) (Q) failed to hold up against Halpern’s K 5 6 3 (K) (A) (4). After a string of repeated profanities Gilbert left to collect $24,828, but not before he attempted to give his payout slip to a PokerNews blogger.

Commerce Casino Tournament Director Savage was busted in fifthplace after being short stacked for quite some time. Savage was short stacked during Day 2 as well but was able to regain enough chips to secure a spot at the final table. He suffered a big loss early on and was unable to regain his stack and was all-in on third street with A. Halpernmade the call with 5 [10s] [10d] 8 (2) (A) ([10h]) beating Savage’s A 2 9 3 ([10c]) (J) ([x]). Savage made his second WSOP cash of the year for $32,465.

Brown was eliminated in fourth and made his 28th career WSOP cash for $44,589 when he shoved his short stack into the middle with 4 Q 8 K (3) (4) (A). The Costa Rican Doctor at the table Max Stern made the call and had Rousso’sbetter half beat with 4 9 9 2 ([x]) ([x]) ([x]).

After losing most of his stack to Halpern, Stern moved his remaining 10,000 chips into the middle on the very next hand. Stern was sitting on 7 [10s] 2 7 and was called by Halpern and Kohler. Stern mucked his cards just two places shy of his fourthWSOP bracelet and made his way to the rail with $64,484.

Related posts:

1. WSOP: Ellis, 74, Outlasts Field for Seven-card Stud Championship It’s an old school game with an old school World...
2. WSOP: Chad Brown in Driver’s Seat, Looking for First Bracelet Could Tuesday be the day Chad Brown captures that...
3. WSOP: David Bach Wins Marathon Duel for $50,000 HORSE World Championship David Bach outlasted John Hanson in a seven hour...
4. WSOP: David Oppenheim Leading World Championship Stud Event David Oppenheim was all smiles as Day 1 of...
5. WSOP: Tony Veckey Wins Final $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Bracelet The winner of the final$1,500 No Limit Hold ‘em...