Chris Brewer outlasts competition for second WSOP bracelet

It took an extra day but the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw Lowball Championship has come to an end and Chris Brewer has won his second bracelet of the 2023 World Series of Poker at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

Brewer outlasted 154 entries to and defeated Alex Livingston in heads-up play to win his second career bracelet and $367,599 from a total prize pool of $1,432,200.

David "ODB" Baker rounded out the three players that returned to finish today and his third-place finish was just short of his second WSOP title of the summer.

The three remaining players made their way through a stacked final table that included WSOP Main Event champion Ryan Riess, Young Ko, Chris Vitch, Yuri Dzivielevski, and Daniel Negreanu, who fell just short of his seventh bracelet with a fifth-place finish.

Brewer has had a lot of success in high roller tournaments around the world and he won his first bracelet in the $250,000 Super High Roller earlier in the 2023 WSOP. The win removed Brewer from the "best without a bracelet list" and put him in the hunt for the 2023 Player of the Year race.

"The other one was a $250,000 tournament with $5 million on top," said Brewer about the difference in pressure between the two wins. "I wanted to win the bracelet and it still means a lot, but the stakes were very different and it definitely was a lot less intense."

Brewer came back for a Day 4 second in chips behind three-time bracelet winner Baker. The two battled it out early and Brewer scored a double with nine-seven when Baker called his shove. The hand put Brewer on top of the counts and one level later Baker got it in with an eight-seven draw against Brewer's pat ten-nine. Baker peeled a pair and Brewer took over a commanding chip lead for heads-up play.

"I coolered [Baker] and probably shoved a hand that was too strong to shove, but he happened to have a hand to call,” said Brewer. “There wasn't much that I did. The deck just said 'Hey, Chris, you get to win the tournament today."

Brewer's a regular no-limit player in high rollers throughout poker, but he's shown aptitude in other variations with deep runs in mixed-game events, including a fifth-place finish at the 2021 PPC. Brewer, like many pros, relies on a network of friends to learn the finer points of the game.

"I have played a little bit online,” said Brewer. “I've played some big bet mix. I'm super lucky and I have a supportive group of friends. I had Johannes Becker, Scott Seiver, and Dan Zack responding to my questions. Chris Vitch, who was at this final table, talked to me this morning. It means so much to me because I think mixed games are kept secret a lot more. It's more valuable information. I would help them in return but the information I have to give isn't as valuable so it's so kind that they help me in these spots."

Brewer's big moment came early in heads-up play when Livingston got the last of his shrinking stack in with a pat jack-seven. Brewer turned over a ten-eight draw and hit the right card to win his second bracelet.

The win puts Brewer firmly in the hunt for WSOP Player of the Year – an unofficial second place behind Ian Matakis.

"It's going to be really close,” said Brewer. “I would guess I am still a dog because I will not skip the Wynn $100,000 tournament at the end of the summer and there's also a $10,000 at the Wynn that I'm not going to skip. I would guess Deeb is going to skip that stuff, so I probably need to get one more big, final table and hope for the best."

Final table results:
Rank Player Country Prize
1 Chris Brewer United States $367,599
2 Alex Livingston Canada $227,193
3 David "ODB" Baker United States $158,057
4 Chris Vitch United States $112,402
5 Daniel Negreanu Canada $81,751
6 Yuri Dzivielevski Brazil $60,840
7 Young Ko United States $46,356
8 Ryan Riess United States $36,181