by Mario Alfonsi | Published on Jun 24, 2012 | Updated on Jun 24, 2012David Baker has been one of the most successful players at the World Series of Poker never to have won a bracelet. Over the course of his career, he had 27 cashes during the tournament series, but he had never quite gotten to the top of the ladder. Baker had even made a final table earlier in this year’s series, but again came up short, finish 3rd.But the streak ended Friday, as Baker battled into a fourth day of play before finally winning his first ever WSOP bracelet. In heads up play, Baker defeated Canadian professional Greg Mueller, denying Mueller his third WSOP bracelet. Baker won $271,312 for his victory.The tournament, known as Event #37, was a mix of eight different poker formats. Both Limit and No-Limit Hold’em were included, as were two forms of Omaha and two types of Seven Card Stud. Finally, Razz and 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball were also included.Despite the challenging format, the tournament proved to be fairly popular. A total of 477 players paid the $2,500 buy-in to build a prize pool of more than $1 million. The top 48 finishers were able to make the money, a group that included some of poker’s biggest names. Superstars like Jennifer Harman, Freddy Deeb, Barry Greenstein, and Gavin Griffin were just a few of the famous faces dotting the final few tables.When it came down to heads-up play, it seemed as though Mueller was ready to take down his third bracelet. He started with a 4-1 chip lead and even managed to improve on that figure at times before Baker was able to come back from the brink of elimination to win. Mueller won $167,637 for second place.With only two weeks left before the WSOP Main Event begins, time is running out for online poker players to win seats into poker’s most prestigious event. Some sites, such as 888 Poker, still have one or more qualifiers remaining before the $10,000 buy-in spectacular begins, with 888 offering winners a package worth $15,500 that includes hotel accommodations, travel expenses, and a spending allowance.
