71-year-old wins WSOP bracelet, $264K

Herbert Tapscott won the largest live Omaha High-Low Split poker tournament ever held on Sunday, topping a record 967-player field to claim his first World Series of Poker bracelet. The 71-year-old financier from Hartselle, Ala., collected $264,400 for his first career cash at the WSOP, proving once again that it's never too late to triumph on poker's grandest stage.

"This 71-year-old man has a thing or two to prove," said Tapscott. "Some of us old folks can flip it up on the young folks, too."

Tapscott’s previous career results include two cashes on the WSOP Circuit a few years ago. He won a gold ring in the $550 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event played at Harrah’s Tunica in January 2010. But nothing came close to the thrill of victory experienced by Tapscott as he scooped the final pot of the tournament in front of what remained of a packed gallery of spectators.

The record-smashing tournament that took three full days to complete -- plus a three-hour run over into an unscheduled fourth day. The previous attendance record had been set last year in an identical Omaha High-Low Split tournament that was held during opening weekend. The previous record was 925 entries.

Gavin Griffin, a poker pro from Ladera Beach, Calif., was the runner-up. He barely missed what would have been his second WSOP gold bracelet victory, eight (seemingly endless) years after his first win, when, at 22, he became the youngest winner in WSOP history (at the time). Instead, Griffin had to settle for $163,625 as a consolation prize.

The tournament also gave Phil Hellmuth yet another opportunity to pad his record as the all-time career cashes leader in WSOP history. The 11-time gold bracelet winner cashed for the second time this year, and 88th time overall – which now adds even more distance from his many challengers. However, Men “the Master” Nguyen also cashed in this tournament, which was his 74th time in-the-money. Nguyen continues to rank second to Hellmuth in that category.

The top 117 finishers collected prize money. In addition to Griffin, other former WSOP bracelet winners to cash included: Allen Bari (15th), Dutch Boyd (18th), Daniel Negreanu (45th), Hellmuth (52nd), Todd Brunson (61st), David Bakes Baker (63rd), Matt Hawrilenko (65th), Jeff Madsen (80th), Nguyen (99th), and Robert Mizrachi (115th).

Ryan Lenaghan, who finished 16th in last year’s Main Event Championship, took 24th place in this tournament.

Modified from notes provided by WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla.