Shawn Daniels overcomes to odds to pick up WSOP victory

Tears and emotion. That was the feeling of Shawn Daniels when he called on the river to win Event #77: $777 Lucky 7's No-Limit Hold'em of the World Series of Poker in Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

With his first WSOP bracelet, he claimed the first-place prize of $777,777. This win today surpasses his lifetime WSOP cashes which totaled $734,611 until now, which includes two WSOP Circuit ring wins on WSOP.com.

Finishing in second place, Julien Montois also exceeds his previous largest prize and even his total live earnings as he returns home with $400,777.

Sadly, for Daniels, in the seconds after he secured his win, his mind was far from the poker table.

"I recently lost my fiancé, so it's been a tough summer," said Daniels. "I just wish she was here to celebrate it also. But it is what it is, it's nice to get it done."

Even with this feeling, Daniels "enjoyed it and played well" saying that the moment felt "pretty unreal."

"I ran really well," said Daniels. "On Day 1, I bagged almost the chip lead [second with 2,945,000 chips] so I was pretty comfortable. I got short on Day 2, and back to the chip lead, so it was swinging. I had a couple of three-outers on the river, so no complaints.”

He arrived at the final table with 47,000,000 chips, the third-largest stack among the five remaining players.

"But there weren't many chips in play at the final table, around 100 big blinds in total," said Daniels. "So, all the hands had a significant impact."

In the end, he was the one who collected all the chips and won the tournament.

There were only 5 players remaining on Day 3 of the Lucky 7's. At the start of the final table, Anthony Scarborough was in the lead with twice the stack of Julien Montois, who was second in chips. However, in the first few hands, Scarborough experienced a descent into hell as he lost almost all of his hands.

Istvan Briski doubled through him, as did Charles La Boissonniere. But it wasn't enough for La Boissonniere, who was the first player to be eliminated (finishing in fifth place for $125,777).

After La Boissonniere's elimination, it was Shawn Daniels' turn to double up against Scarborough, leaving him short-stacked. Then, from being the chip leader at the start of the day, Scarborough finished in fourth place ($168,777), eliminated by Briski.

Conversely, Briski had an amazing start as he took the lead and further increased it in the first level. With three players remaining, he held 50% of the chips in play. However, like Scarborough before him, Briski couldn't maintain his chip lead, as Daniels closed the gap. Eventually, it was Daniels who eliminated Briski with two pair against Briski's single pair and the ace-kicker. Briski finished in third place, winning $226,777.

In heads-up play, Daniels had twice the stack of Montois. Just before the break, the French player made a comeback and took the lead. After the restart, Daniels won a few big pots to regain the top spot, but this time, he kept the lead until the end, calling Montois' all-in bet on the river.

Final table results:
Place Player Country Prize
1 Shawn Daniels United States $777,777
2 Julien Montois France $400,777
3 Istvan Briski Hungary $226,777
4 Anthony Scarborough United States $168,777
5 Charles La Boissonniere Canada $125,777
6 Alexander Cole-Gardner United States $95,777
7 Yizhou Huang United States $72,777