Aussie captures first prize at World Series of Poker

LAS VEGAS — The sun set, the sun rose and still they played, caution trumping bravery, adrenaline fighting off fatigue, rare moments of drama breaking through the tedium, the chip lead shifting for nearly 14 hours at the 36th World Series of Poker — the longest final table in tournament history for the richest prize.

Nine players had started Friday afternoon, the survivors among the 5,619 who entered the $10,000 buy-in No Limit Texas Hold ‘em tournament last week, and only two remained Saturday morning — Australian chiropractor-turned-pro Joseph Hachem and American amateur Steven Dannenmann in the first World Series for both of them.

The big shots of the poker world were long gone, though some sat enviously in the black-draped room at Benny’s Bullpen in Binion’s Gambling Hall & Hotel, watching along with hundreds of frenzied fans as Hachem and Dannenmann faced off one last time.

The $7.5 million first prize lay piled high in everyone’s view, thick $50,000 bundles of $100 bills guarded by security men wielding shotguns.

At 6:44 a.m., on their sixth head-to-head duel and the 232nd hand of the night, Hachem claimed the fortune and the priceless championship bracelet when his seven-high straight beat Dannenmann’s pair of aces with all $56 million in chips pushed into the pot.

He pulled out his cell phone to call his wife in Melbourne and spoke to her briefly, he said, “just before she fainted.”

Dannenmann, a 38-year-old accountant and mortgage banker from Severn, Md., won the $4.5 million second prize and took the defeat cheerfully. He said he couldn’t wait to go fishing with his friends.