George Alexander has won his first World Series of Poker bracelet in the $10K Razz Championship after 15 years of trying.
The American topped a field of 118 entries that included Phil Ivey, and eventually was forced to navigate an extremely tough final table to seize victory.
Tournament legend Dzmitry Urbanovich pushed Alexander right until the end but it seemed that his rival could do no wrong and his destiny was set.
Final Action
Only 12 players returned for Day 3 and the eliminations came thick and fast.
Five-time bracelet winner Brian Yoon fell at the first hurdle and then Daniel Negreanu soon followed after Phil Ivey’s jack-seven was good enough to beat the Canadian’s jack-eight.
Robert Campbell, former WSOP Player of the Year, was the player to burst the final table bubble after his all-in was called by Ren Lin and John Racner, losing in both spots.
All eyes were now on Brandon Shack-Harris who held double the chips of George Alexander in second place.
But attention soon switched to Phil Ivey as his short stack proved insufficient to fight back and he was out in ninth place.
Jared Bleznick was next to go and then John Racener’s comeback was quickly halted by Shack-Harris who won a huge pot from him to cripple his stack.
Shack-Harris lasted a while longer but Alexander’s challenge was now picking up momentum and he sent him home in fifth before winning another big pot against Ren Lin.
Hal Rotholz and Ren Lin were also dispatched by Alexander who now found himself lining up against one of the game’s true elites with a two-to-one advantage.
Although anticipation was high about this upcoming heads-up match, Alexander finished off his opponent in quick time with no hands of real interest.
In his winner’s interview, Alexander said:
“I like the 10Ks more than the 1,500s. I’ve enjoyed battling the best of the best. I enjoy it a lot more than the random fields.
“It is more meaningful, and also it being like a world championship. Razz is one of my favorite games. A lot of people dismiss it. They say Razz is simple, boring, but I love the nuance in it. I think it has a lot of room for creativity. I’m quite happy that it came in Razz.”
He also revealed that even though he plays these big events, he’s not a professional player any longer.
“I used to play professionally when I was a kid. I played for a few years in my early 20s. Ever since I’ve been a recreational player, but in the back of my head I still have all the work that I put in back in the day.
“It was pre-solver days. I don’t play as much No-Limit. I think it would be quite hard for me to keep up there. But for mixed games, I think I can still match the best evenly.”
Event #50: $10,000 Razz Championship Final Table Results
| Place | Name | Country | Prize (USD) |
| 1 | George Alexander | United States | $282,443 |
| 2 | Dzmitry Urbanovich | Poland | $188,296 |
| 3 | Ren Lin | China | $130,447 |
| 4 | Hal Rotholz | United States | $92,774 |
| 5 | Brandon Shack-Harris | United States | $67,783 |
| 6 | John Racener | United States | $50,915 |
| 7 | Jared Bleznick | United States | $39,350 |
| 8 | Denis Strebkov | Russia | $31,317 |
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