The 7 Card Stud hi/lo tournament attracted 544 players, all having plunked down $1,500 to compete in Event #47 of the 2008 World Series of Poker. While there would be money on the line for the final 56 players, no one entered this one thinking the prize pool would be enormous; in fact, it was $744,560, just over a quarter of a million dollars. But most players were in this for the bracelet. Cash would be a bonus, but this was about the title and the gold.
Despite the relatively low turnout for this event, the action was slower than most anticipated. Day 1 of the tournament saw the majority of the field leave the tournament, as only 117 remained at the end of play. But Day 2 would move along even more slowly, and by 3:20am after Hoang Ta went out in 14th place, the staff and players decided to cease play for the night.
The final 13 players returned at 3pm PST on Day 3 to play down to the final table and continue on until a winner was crowned. Jonas Klausen was the chip leader with nearly 350K coming into the final day, but several players had less than 50K and would be forced to move sooner rather than later. When play began, it was anyone’s game until the last hand would be dealt.
The eliminations that took place on the way to the final eight who will comprise the actual final table were:
13th place: Mike Hefer - $8,168
12th place: David Brooker - $11,880
11th place: Daniel Nicewander - $11,880
10th place: Margaret Macre - $15,593
9th place: James Richburg - $15,593
As the final table action ensued, it soon became obvious that it would move quickly. Not long into it, Alessia Isaia took the chip lead from Ryan Hughes. Then the eliminations began.
David Sklansky was down to only 10K in chips and only 2K after the ante, and when Tim D’Alessandro completed to 8K with a 
, Sklanskly called all-in with 
. Hughes reraised it with 
, and D’Alessandro called. The two side pot players checked after fourth street, and D’Alessandro bet and Hughes called after fifth and sixth. D’Alessandro had 
on the table and A-6-9 in the hole, Hughes had 
with 2-4-3 in his hands, and Sklansky was left with 
and 9-7-3 to back it up. Sklansky was gone in 8th place with $19,306.
Next it was a battle between Joshua Feldman and Jonas Klausen, who capped it on third street, then bet until Feldman was all-in on fourth street. In the end, Klausen had 
, and Feldman had 
. Feldman was out in 7th place with $23,019.
On a subsequent hand, action began with Thomas Hunt raising with and D’Alessandro reraising with 
. Hunt reraised, D’Alessandro capped, and Hunt called. Fourth street brought a bet from Hunt with and a raise from D’Alessandro with 
, which was called. Hunt then bet the 
on fifth street, and D’Alessandro called all-in with 
. Hunt’s entire hand was 
, and D’Alessandro showed 
. Hunt’s full house won, and D’Alessandro was out in 6th place with $30,444.
With five players remaining, Hughes had taken over the chip lead again and was more than 2-1 over Klausen. It wasn’t long after that Klausen and Long got involved in a hand that had Klausen all-in on fifth street. In the end, Klausen had 2-[s]-
, and Long showed 
. Long won the hand with two pair, and Klausen went home in 5th place with $39,355.
Hughes tangled again, this time with Isaia, and when all was bet and called, Isaia was all-in on seventh street. The cards held by Hughes were 
, and Isaia showed 
. Hughes’ set of Kings beat the two Aces of his opponent, and Isaia was gone in 4th place with $50,122.
Three-handed action didn’t last long when Hunt only had 85K left. He pushed it all-in on third street, and Ryan Hughes was right there to see what he could do to get it to heads-up. The cards came: 
for Hunt, and 
for Hughes. Thomas Hunt was out of the hunt in 3rd place with $68,686.
Heads-up chip counts were as follows:
Ryan Hughes
1,317,000
Ron Long
315,000
Despite the chip difference, Long made a comeback but couldn’t keep it. Hughes was too determined and aggressive, with a little luck thrown in for good measure, to let Long do much damage. Finally, the hand of the night went down. Hughes brought it in with , and Long called with . Long bet the on fourth street, but Hughes raised with , so Long reraised it, Hughes did it again, and Long capped it. Fifth street brought a for Long and an all-in bet, which Hughes called with a . The entirety of Hughes’ board red 
for a full house, and Long showed 
for the loss. Ron Long finished in 2nd place for a prize of $113,240.
Ryan Hughes won Event #47 of the WSOP and was awarded $183,368 for his victory.