Chris Bell Captures First World Series of Poker Bracelet
.jpg "Chris Bell Captures First World Series of Poker Bracelet")
Chris Bell took care of business at the final table to win the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha H/L event, earning his first ever World Series of Poker Bracelet in the process. The win came just over a day after Bell’s friend Gavin Smith took down his first bracelet.
With a first prize of $327,040, this tournament was lucrative even without taking the bracelet into account. With all that money on the line, it was no surprise to see some big names at the final table, including David Ulliott and Erik Seidel. In fact, Seidel’s participation led to a significant delay in the proceedings; Seidel was playing in the Tournament of Champions, and the final day of play in the event couldn’t start until he was finished with the “All-Star” event.
Play did eventually begin at 4:30 pm, with 22 players looking to add a WSOP bracelet to their resume. It took over six hours to work down to the final table, turning it into a very late night for the final nine.
As the number of players remaining dwindled, the tournament was left with a very strong collection of contenders. With just five players remaining, Seidel, Bell, Ulliott and Dan Shak were all still vying for first.
One by one, the big names dropped. Seidel left in 5th place, and Ulliott bowed out in 3rd, leaving Dan Shak and Chris Bell to battle heads-up for the bracelet. Shak took an early chip lead, but Bell doubled up after hitting a river to bring the chip stacks back to even. From there, it was all Bell, who slowly built a large chip lead. Finally, Shak was done in by a rough hand, in which Shak made the nut flush, only to see Bell holding a full house. Shak won $202,142 for second place.
While Chris Bell may not be a household name to poker fans, he’s been an extremely successful tournament poker player for many years, racking up over $2.3 million in lifetime tournament winnings. Bell had previously made many final table appearances at the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour, including a 3rd place finish at the 2005 WPT Championship.