If you ask anyone covering the World Series of Poker about what the best tournaments are on the schedule, there's no doubt that they'd include the $1 million buy-in One Drop, the $50,000 Poker Players' Championship, the $25,000 mixed-max and of course, the main event. However, in my eyes, one event truly represents the best of the WSOP: the Seniors Championship. The $1,000 buy-in always features a massive field, simply happy to be engaging on the felt, and this year featured a record-setting 4,425 players above the age of 50 competing for WSOP gold and a top prize that would make any retirement a bit easier.
Dan Heimiller is far from retirement. The veteran poker player is found traveling the poker tour often and had 22 cashes in 2014 before the WSOP even began. He finished 17th in Event 14 just days ago, then followed up that run with one he'll never forget. Heimiller defeated the masses to win the $627,462 top prize and capture his second WSOP bracelet.
"Back in 2002 [when he won his first bracelet], it wasn't for as much cash, so that makes this one a lot more important," Heimiller said to the WSOP. "It was also a smaller field and wasn't as prestigious back then. It was a great feeling, but this one feels extra spectacular because it was for such a big prize."
The victory pushed Heimiller over the $2 million mark in career WSOP earnings. He is also a two-time WSOP Circuit champion.
Heimiller defeated 58-year-old Don Maas heads-up for the title. This was Maas' first WSOP cash who day to day is the captain of the Cedar Rapids Fire Department. 2008 November Niner Dennis Phillips also made the final table and finished fifth. He finished second in the Seniors event in 2012.
Below are the complete results of Event 17 at the 2014 World Series of Poker:
Event 17: Seniors Championship
Buy-in: $1,000
Entries: 4,425
Prize pool: $3,982,500
Players in the money: 468
1. Dan Heimiller ($627,462)
2. Donald Maas ($388,054)
3. David Smith ($279,412)
4. Anthony Wise ($206,492)
5. Dennis Phillips ($153,883)
6. David Tran ($115,651)
7. Doc Barry ($87,615)
8. David Vida ($66,945)
9. Jim Cter ($51,573)
10. Michael Frederick ($40,024)
11. Kevin Detienne ($40,024)
12. Mitchell Lehman ($40,024)
13. Robert Cramer ($31,302)
14. Carl Torelli ($31,302)
15. Richard Munro ($31,302)
16. Robert Cutshall ($24,691)
17. Deborah Phillips ($24,691)
18. Stephen Wood ($24,691)
19. Craig Carrillo ($19,633)
20. James Miller ($19,633)
21. Walter Davis ($19,633)
22. Michael Wilson ($19,633)
23. Alan Gillespie ($19,633)
24. Milwood Motley ($19,633)
25. Lenard Sepke ($19,633)
26. James Mallen ($19,633)
27. Kurt Chenchick ($19,633)
28. Arthur Hatcher ($15,730)
29. Richard Lysinger ($15,730)
30. John Macnaughton ($15,730)
31. Thomas Bochynski ($15,730)
32. Peter Costa ($15,730)
33. Jerry Probst ($15,730)
34. Timothy Roberts ($15,730)
35. Shawn Byrnes ($15,730)
36. Roger Stewart ($15,730)
37. Ronald Lemco ($12,704)
38. Sean Byrne ($12,704)
39. Theresa Hatcher ($12,704)
40. Tanya Gawarecki ($12,704)
41. Gregory Genge ($12,704)
42. Michael Fisher ($12,704)
43. Ronald Bradway ($12,704)
44. Paul Pavlides ($12,704)
45. Peter Alson ($12,704)
46. Young Ji ($10,354)
47. Kevin Brown ($10,354)
48. Edward Schoenberg ($10,354)
49. Darrell Cain ($10,354)
50. Marcia Topp ($10,354)
51. Sam Barnhart ($10,354)
52. Edward Brogdon ($10,354)
53. Pierre Jean Muller ($10,354)
54. Bruce Rosen ($10,354)
55. Steven Plymale ($8,482)
56. David Phillips ($8,482)
57. Walter S Shew ($8,482)
58. Herbert Bennett ($8,482)
59. Douglas Rowley ($8,482)
60. Imad Hermez ($8,482)
61. Dennis Schneider ($8,482)
62. Hamid Feiz ($8,482)
63. Donald Lawrence ($8,482)
64. Paul Hubbard ($7,009)
65. Donald Wawrzyniak ($7,009)
66. John Laudon ($7,009)
67. David Plastik ($7,009)
68. Richard Aiple ($7,009)
69. Mike Gilbert ($7,009)
70. Todd Thompson ($7,009)
71. Frederick Wolf ($7,009)
72. Barbara Enright ($7,009)
73. Carl Mcgill ($5,814)
74. Everett Carlton ($5,814)
75. Lonnie Smith ($5,814)
76. David James ($5,814)
77. Peter Lipton ($5,814)
78. David Koland ($5,814)
79. Mark Ellis ($5,814)
80. Thane Lyons ($5,814)
81. Mary Walker ($5,814)
82. Frank Presley ($4,858)
83. Steven Dubin ($4,858)
84. Breyer Calvert ($4,858)
85. Joseph Antoine ($4,858)
86. James Cargill ($4,858)
87. Aleksandr Andreev ($4,858)
88. Daniel Heit ($4,858)
89. Ronald Blount ($4,858)
90. David Jones ($4,858)
91. Randy Winn ($4,101)
92. James Traber ($4,101)
93. Peter Davis ($4,101)
94. John Mattingly ($4,101)
95. Steven Baker ($4,101)
96. James Schulte ($4,101)
97. Alexandr Orlov ($4,101)
98. Gary Braufman ($4,101)
99. John Thornton ($4,101)
100. Laurie Morgan ($3,504)
101. Phillip Berres ($3,504)
102. Pok Kim ($3,504)
103. Kenna James ($3,504)
104. Vincent Palma ($3,504)
105. Steven Nichols ($3,504)
106. George Nino ($3,504)
107. Scott Malone ($3,504)
108. Alex Huynh ($3,504)
109. Robert Mcmillan ($3,504)
110. Allen Baker ($3,504)
111. Ramana Epparla ($3,504)
112. James Pronger ($3,504)
113. Dong Tao ($3,504)
114. Gary La Duca ($3,504)
115. Wistar Holt ($3,504)
116. Micheal Rudy ($3,504)
117. Alan Emerson ($3,504)
118. John Tavss ($3,504)
119. Ronald Hutchinson ($3,504)
120. Brent Bixby ($3,504)
121. Ealey Harris ($3,504)
122. Rick Cooper ($3,504)
123. Chris Barton ($3,504)
124. David Price ($3,504)
125. Jerry Illoulian ($3,504)
126. Debbie Vorndran ($3,504)
127. Allen Dimmlich ($3,504)
128. Curtis Cressy ($3,504)
129. Thomas Tucker ($3,504)
130. Barny Boatman ($3,504)
131. David Stirling ($3,504)
132. Daniel Perry ($3,504)
133. David Hollenberg ($3,504)
134. Solomon Rousso ($3,504)
135. Alfred Bailey ($3,504)
136. Randall Hempling ($3,504)
137. Nathan Schleifer ($3,504)
138. Simon Trumper ($3,504)
139. Thomas Matacale ($3,504)
140. Johnnie Craig ($3,504)
141. David Lavin ($3,504)
142. Steven Lafleche ($3,504)
143. Joseph Goldwasser ($3,504)
144. Donald Phillips ($3,504)
145. David Solomon ($3,504)
146. Keith Green ($3,504)
147. Lora Stewart ($3,504)
148. Phongthep Thiptinnakon ($3,504)
149. Robert Constable ($3,504)
150. Nabih Zaczac ($3,504)
151. Randall Rapp ($3,504)
152. Jeffrey Forsyth ($3,504)
153. Colin Birkbeck ($3,504)
154. Stephen Izzi ($2,986)
155. William Mark Davis ($2,986)
156. Daniel Violette ($2,986)
157. Daniel Genachte ($2,986)
158. Shirley Williams ($2,986)
159. Alice Jean Sutey ($2,986)
160. Lamar Hayward ($2,986)
161. Jon Kassel ($2,986)
162. Cezar Borba ($2,986)
163. John Carter ($2,986)
164. Valdis Vavere ($2,986)
165. Charles Gassner ($2,986)
166. Ted Cohen ($2,986)
167. Gregory Gates ($2,986)
168. Daniel Goldman ($2,986)
169. Daniel Yu ($2,986)
170. Gerald Stanley ($2,986)
171. Terry Timmins ($2,986)
172. John Gilbert ($2,986)
173. Walter Shawne Browne ($2,986)
174. Randy Oaks ($2,986)
175. Stephen Barbella ($2,986)
176. Carl Mckelvey ($2,986)
177. Richard Barry ($2,986)
178. Micahel Smith ($2,986)
179. Daniel Davies ($2,986)
180. Gary Schwartz ($2,986)
181. Milton Jaffee ($2,986)
182. Ivan Crnogorac ($2,986)
183. William Davis ($2,986)
184. Dumitru Gazetovici ($2,986)
185. Phillip Fusilier ($2,986)
186. Joseph Warlen ($2,986)
187. John Herrick ($2,986)
188. Dewayne Phillips ($2,986)
189. James Orr ($2,986)
190. Douglas Gibson ($2,986)
191. Jack Rosenfeldt ($2,986)
192. Brian Bord ($2,986)
193. Ray Rumler ($2,986)
194. Cash Carpenter ($2,986)
195. Brian Livie ($2,986)
196. Alan Tarnowski ($2,986)
197. Arthur Leger ($2,986)
198. Cheryl Kaufman ($2,986)
199. William Misener ($2,986)
200. Andrew Fish ($2,986)
201. Sammy Farha ($2,986)
202. Navid Nazem ($2,986)
203. Bruce Kinseth ($2,986)
204. Nicola Maiorana ($2,986)
205. Morgan Most ($2,986)
206. John Leathart ($2,986)
207. Richard Hodgkins ($2,986)
208. Michele Limongi ($2,986)
209. Steve Trivelpiece ($2,986)
210. Joseph Trezzo ($2,986)
211. Randy Allen ($2,986)
212. Michael Stonehill ($2,986)
213. Glenn Galfond ($2,986)
214. David Bromberg ($2,986)
215. John White ($2,986)
216. Sal Catanese ($2,986)
217. John Coleman ($2,588)
218. James Forbes ($2,588)
219. Jeffrey Cook ($2,588)
220. John Rogers ($2,588)
221. Nemesio Alegado ($2,588)
222. Ronald Schiffman ($2,588)
223. Timothy Mieczkowski ($2,588)
224. Stephen Baldwin ($2,588)
225. Timothy Hallinan ($2,588)
226. Cheryl Billings ($2,588)
227. Nasser Shirazi ($2,588)
228. Guy Cicconi ($2,588)
229. Bradford Weiss ($2,588)
230. James Leinenbach ($2,588)
231. Kenneth Wells ($2,588)
232. Dimitry Agrachov ($2,588)
233. Jeffrey Schwartzmann ($2,588)
234. Bob Jarman ($2,588)
235. William Yeager ($2,588)
236. Walter Bell ($2,588)
237. Donald Cobby ($2,588)
238. Marino Thomas ($2,588)
239. Robert Mairley ($2,588)
240. Elliott Zaydman ($2,588)
241. Thomas Jones ($2,588)
242. Bruce Anderson ($2,588)
243. Mark Goodson ($2,588)
244. Kevin McCarthy ($2,588)
245. David Russell ($2,588)
246. Martin Davidson ($2,588)
247. Kirk Menne ($2,588)
248. Michael Moelter ($2,588)
249. Frank Hutfless ($2,588)
250. Gerald Johonnot ($2,588)
251. Robert Bryan ($2,588)
252. Tony Snyder ($2,588)
253. David Bye ($2,588)
254. Gasem Haldy ($2,588)
255. Elizabeth Lynch ($2,588)
256. Randall Sandretto ($2,588)
257. Walter Weiss ($2,588)
258. Ron Mcmillen ($2,588)
259. Stuart Kerridge ($2,588)
260. Edward Harris ($2,588)
261. Dennis Pfau ($2,588)
262. Richard Butler ($2,588)
263. Christopher Bibb ($2,588)
264. Robert Connolly ($2,588)
265. Bradley Coldiron ($2,588)
266. Steven Snyder ($2,588)
267. Mitchell Baldwin ($2,588)
268. Robert Dorini ($2,588)
269. Charles Kneff ($2,588)
270. Steven Elie ($2,588)
271. Joseph Carbotti ($2,588)
272. Hendrik Stasik ($2,588)
273. John Murray ($2,588)
274. Michel Pomaret ($2,588)
275. Steve Grant ($2,588)
276. Clarke Hill ($2,588)
277. Jeremy Gold ($2,588)
278. Yossi Krispin ($2,588)
279. Richard Smith ($2,588)
280. Jonathan Bramson ($2,270)
281. Richard Mombourquette ($2,270)
282. James Hansen ($2,270)
283. Marvin Bastow ($2,270)
284. Lee Amberg ($2,270)
285. Jean Gobeil ($2,270)
286. Dean Hoffman ($2,270)
287. Ross Novak ($2,270)
288. Rodney Levingston ($2,270)
289. Louis Werman ($2,270)
290. Richard Vest ($2,270)
291. George Merchant ($2,270)
292. Bill Croft ($2,270)
293. Edward Sebesta ($2,270)
294. James Gibson ($2,270)
295. Thomas Bell ($2,270)
296. John Kelly ($2,270)
297. Robert Decker ($2,270)
298. Sergey Pevzner ($2,270)
299. Micky Mccloskey ($2,270)
300. Paul Niemela ($2,270)
301. Hal Marcus ($2,270)
302. Phil Wade ($2,270)
303. Richard Stearns ($2,270)
304. Peter Lambiris ($2,270)
305. Jeanluc Moraly ($2,270)
306. Patrick Walton ($2,270)
307. Michael Dagen ($2,270)
308. Dennis Palmer ($2,270)
309. Kenneth Hood ($2,270)
310. Robert Fournier ($2,270)
311. Derek Miller ($2,270)
312. Philip Belshaw ($2,270)
313. Jon Guidry ($2,270)
314. John Short ($2,270)
315. Richard Harris ($2,270)
316. Kanajett Hathaitham ($2,270)
317. Charles Standridge ($2,270)
318. Steven Knox ($2,270)
319. Robert Mckown ($2,270)
320. Troy Fleming ($2,270)
321. John Duffy ($2,270)
322. Stephen Waggoner ($2,270)
323. Allen Figeley ($2,270)
324. Mark Mcgaffin ($2,270)
325. Jim Shaw ($2,270)
326. Eugene Lang ($2,270)
327. Salvatore Spada ($2,270)
328. Donna Rosenthal ($2,270)
329. Salvadore Mortillaro ($2,270)
330. William Speer ($2,270)
331. Lorin Haagenson ($2,270)
332. Norman Cummings ($2,270)
333. David Berenson ($2,270)
334. Steven Rosebro ($2,270)
335. Andre Hamilton ($2,270)
336. Stuart Spear ($2,270)
337. Thomas Lutjens ($2,270)
338. Michael Cowart ($2,270)
339. John Pace ($2,270)
340. Moshe Bouskila ($2,270)
341. William Kingston ($2,270)
342. Robert Wachtel ($2,270)
343. Glen Biddle ($1,991)
344. Victor Campana ($1,991)
345. Paulette Faucher ($1,991)
346. Jeffrey Beckett ($1,991)
347. Mark Abrahams ($1,991)
348. Paul Lui ($1,991)
349. Stephen Dennis ($1,991)
350. Joseph Mcmenamy ($1,991)
351. Michael Schmidt ($1,991)
352. Thomas Mayer ($1,991)
353. Stephen Bennette ($1,991)
354. George Alex ($1,991)
355. David Gutfreund ($1,991)
356. Herb Montalbano ($1,991)
357. Joel Scott ($1,991)
358. Bruce Angeski ($1,991)
359. George Bellon ($1,991)
360. Salvatore Todero ($1,991)
361. Philip Ford ($1,991)
362. Clay Smith ($1,991)
363. Randal Ryckebosch ($1,991)
364. Donald Baker ($1,991)
365. Galen Peiskee ($1,991)
366. Lawrence Gesner ($1,991)
367. Glynn Price ($1,991)
368. Shaun Tobin ($1,991)
369. Gil George ($1,991)
370. Douglas Best ($1,991)
371. William Fric ($1,991)
372. Thomas Coan ($1,991)
373. Nathan Ucuzoglu ($1,991)
374. Kenneth Breaux ($1,991)
375. Dale Eberle ($1,991)
376. Ernest Meier ($1,991)
377. Debra Bain ($1,991)
378. Nikolaus Teichert ($1,991)
379. Mary Totzke ($1,991)
380. Robert Perillo ($1,991)
381. Berry Johnston ($1,991)
382. Ronald Mcmillan ($1,991)
383. Catherine Crowte ($1,991)
384. William Cotter ($1,991)
385. Patrick Bohannon ($1,991)
386. David Toneman ($1,991)
387. David Kanealii ($1,991)
388. Daniel Grant ($1,991)
389. Jeffrey Russell ($1,991)
390. Michael Terrell ($1,991)
391. Richard Laufer ($1,991)
392. Robert Kim ($1,991)
393. David Poces ($1,991)
394. Robert Stevanovski ($1,991)
395. James Kirvin ($1,991)
396. Danny Jensen ($1,991)
397. Edmond Ikuma ($1,991)
398. Albert Eskenazi ($1,991)
399. Nicholas Collins ($1,991)
400. George Hunt ($1,991)
401. Mark Caswell ($1,991)
402. Marvin Wood ($1,991)
403. Richard Seward ($1,991)
404. Yacht You ($1,991)
405. Joseph Glazier ($1,991)
406. Mike Jaunais ($1,752)
407. James Hert ($1,752)
408. Kevin Deibert ($1,752)
409. Rajiv Khanna ($1,752)
410. Mark Smith ($1,752)
411. Neil Roberts ($1,752)
412. Seyed Edalat ($1,752)
413. Chris Westergard ($1,752)
414. Simon Hawksworth ($1,752)
415. John Freemon ($1,752)
416. Clyde Shiroma ($1,752)
417. James Tarabochia ($1,752)
418. Tony Hoskins ($1,752)
419. Alan Barefoot ($1,752)
420. Jensen Cheng ($1,752)
421. Neil Zimmet ($1,752)
422. George Krasowsky ($1,752)
423. David Preston ($1,752)
424. John Brown ($1,752)
425. Elias Hourani ($1,752)
426. Douglas Lafave ($1,752)
427. Thomas Ohara ($1,752)
428. Gregory Montague ($1,752)
429. Robert Mullinax ($1,752)
430. Joel Marcus ($1,752)
431. Melville Loewen ($1,752)
432. Craig Oliver ($1,752)
433. James Dillon ($1,752)
434. Said Elsanafiri ($1,752)
435. Alvin Schachner ($1,752)
436. John Sandberg ($1,752)
437. Steven Spate ($1,752)
438. Andrew Callahan ($1,752)
439. Ken Aldridge ($1,752)
440. Gordon Tessman ($1,752)
441. Miguel Balderas ($1,752)
442. Kenneth Brower ($1,752)
443. John Moore ($1,752)
444. Glen Cates ($1,752)
445. Mark Rubin ($1,752)
446. Scott Day ($1,752)
447. Dennis Owen ($1,752)
448. Terry Nother ($1,752)
449. Ronald Kirsh ($1,752)
450. Christopher Corriere ($1,752)
451. Theodore Fitzgerald ($1,752)
452. Richard White ($1,752)
453. Jeffery Bond ($1,752)
454. Nicholas Thomas ($1,752)
455. Michael Lawrence ($1,752)
456. Harry Bolger ($1,752)
457. Randall Katzmark ($1,752)
458. Edward Walker ($1,752)
459. Earl Gallegos ($1,752)
460. Jeffrey Hudson ($1,752)
461. David Wortham ($1,752)
462. Mark Daly ($1,752)
463. Bret Ohlson ($1,752)
464. Richard Liotta ($1,752)
465. Mohammad Berenji-Nata ($1,752)
466. Robert Geier ($1,752)
467. Robert Schulze ($1,752)
468. Michael Souchak ($1,752)