Mike Rocco Earns Seven Card Stud Bracelet at 2008 World Series of Poker
Mike Rocco has won most of his tournament earnings in seven-card stud, including one at the 2003 WPT Five Diamond. Going into the final table of the $3,500 Seven Card Stud Tournament at the 2008 WSOP, the 48 year old poker pro had a very slight chip lead with 255k in chips. Trailing him by just 3,000 clay pieces was New Jersey resident Al Barbieri.
Barbieri and Rocco made it all the way to heads-up play. Barbieri, who goes by the nickname “Sugar Bear” dominated the final table, is a protégé of WSOP bracelet winner John Bonetti. At one point, Sugar Bear had 75% of all the chips at the table. However, Rocco chipped away at Barbieri's significant lead and overtook the chip lead, never looking back.
The heads up match lasted well over two hours, but on the final hand, Mike Rocco finally had what most poker players can only dream of – his first World Series of Poker bracelet.
These are the final results:
1) Mike Rocco - $135,753 2) Al Barbieri - $83,210 3) Levon Torosyan - $50,186 4) Maxwell Troy - $37,184 5) Giacomo D'Agostino - $28,083 6) Dan Kalpakis - $21,842 7) Andre Boyer - $16,642 8) Jeffrey Siegal - $14,041 9) Charles Moore - $11,441
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