We Want the Funk! David Funkhouser Wins First Bracelet in $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball

Event #63: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw has come to a close here at the 2024 World Series of Poker hosted at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. The event attracted 453 total entrants to generate a prize pool of $604,755. Only six players remained at the start of the third and final day, all of whom were guaranteed at least $19,087.

David Funkhouser already came close to a bracelet earlier this series when he made the final table of the $1,500 Double Board Bomb Pot Mix, ultimately finishing in fourth place in that event for $91,891.

Today, Funkhouser topped that accomplishment, last defeating Michel Leibgorin in heads-up play to take home his first WSOP gold bracelet and the top prize of $123,314.

Event #63: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Final Table Results

Winner’s Reaction

“It means a lot,” Funkhouser told PokerNews/ “(I’ve come) close this year and close for many years. Played dozens, if not hundreds of these. They’re hard to win. We had a tough final table and Michel is a fantastically tough opponent. They all gave me tough spots the whole way. It’s great to win and it ain’t easy”

Funkhouser is no stranger to success in mixed game formats with four WSOP final tables to his name before this event and three of those four coming in formats other than No-Limit Hold’em. Funkhouser mentioned recently shifting his focus from fixed-limit games to big bet games.

“Played dozens, if not hundreds of these. They’re hard to win.”

“I have found myself gravitating more towards big bet and away from fixed limit, whereas I was more fixed limit for a number of years. Limit is fun and casual but I’ve been kind of embracing the more high-intensity situations (that come with big bet games). And single draw is kind of the best marriage of the two, it’s a lowball game but then it’s no-limit. Anybody who has not tried it should absolutely try it. Especially if you like pot-limit omaha or no-limit hold’em. It’s a fantastically beautiful game, as long as humans are on this earth we will be playing no-limit single draw lowball”.

Final Day Action

Owais Ahmed began the final day as the shortest stack but found two double ups early on to go from the bottom to the top of the counts in the first level of the day. Meanwhile, Tzu Peng Wang started the day in the middle of the pack but couldn’t get any momentum and became the first casualty of the day after getting his pat-ten cracked by Charles Tucker who drew into a seven-low.

Funkhouser also started the day with a middling stack but quickly found himself short after the first few orbits. Funkhouser kept himself in contention with a series of back-to-back shoves where he was able to win plenty without showdown from stealing the antes and blinds. It took more than two hours for another player to be eliminated following Wang’s elimination earlier and several players took their turn as chip leader during this period. Ali Eslami was chip lead at one point during the final five but was eventually next to fall after first doubling up Funkhouser before losing the rest of it to Tucker who had drawn an eight-low to score the knockout.

Leibgorin had started the day with a commanding chip lead over the rest of the field and although he had gone through a few swings during the final five he once again had a big lead over his opponents following the elimination of Eslami in fifth. He extended his lead further after Ahmed moved in with a draw to a ten-low only to find out that he was drawing dead against Leibgorin who had started with a pat-eight to eliminate the last bracelet winner left in the field in fourth place.

Leibgorin continued to pressure his opponents during the final three and at one point had over half the chips in play while Funkhouser was again short-stacked. A shift in momentum began when Funkhouser made a stand with a pat-ten and picked off a big bluff from Funkhouser to close the gap between the two players while Tucker became the definitive short stack. Tucker couldn’t find a comeback from that point and was knocked out by Funkhouser a few hands later, giving Funkhouser a modest lead over Leibgorin going into heads-up play.

Leibgorin’s aggressive playing style saw him close the gap early between himself and Funkhouser but the lightning-fast heads-up duel was over shortly after it had begun. Leibgorin called a shove from Funkhouser with a draw to an eight-six and bricked while Funkhouser held with a pat-nine to take home the final pot of the night.