Freddy Deeb

Freddy Deeb is known primarily as a cash game player. He plays quite a bit in the Los Angeles area and was a regular traveling companion of Barry Greenstein. He doesn’t like tournaments as well as cash games due to the luck factor involved. While Deeb may not be a big fan of tournaments, he went down in history in 2006 as the second ever $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event champion.

The final table of the 2007 World Series of Poker $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event was not the same powerhouse final table that 2006 boasted, but the 8 players that assembled were still among the greatest in the world. Thor Hansen, Freddie Deeb, Bruno Fitousi, John Hanson, Amnon Filippi, Kenny Tran, and Barry Greenstein rose to the top of a 148 player field and took their shot at poker history.

Thor Hansen was the first player to be eliminated when his two pair in Stud 8 ran into a better two pair from John Hanson. Barry Greenstein was eliminated in 7th place and proceeded to donate a portion of his win to charity. David Singer was knocked out next in 6th place. Singer finished 6th in both the 2006 and 2007 H.O.R.S.E. event and also mentioned that he finished in 6th PokerStars WCOOP that same year. Kenny Tran finished 5th, followed by Amnon Filippi in 4th place.

Play between Deeb, Fitousi, and Hanson last for a few hours, but finally at hand 315 in the match, Hanson was eliminated in a razz round when Deeb made a 6-5 low. Deeb went into heads up play with over a 2 to 1 chip advantage. Heads up play only lasted 26 hands before Deeb had Fitousi all-in during a stud 8 round. Deeb caught a pair with a eight-low and Fitousi could only produce ace high. A pair with low was good enough to seal the win. At one point at the final table, Deeb was down to only 300,000 in chips, but he was able to make a strong comeback and win the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship.

Deeb emerged as the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Champion, winning the gold bracelet and the top prize of $2,276,832. This was the second bracelet for Deeb. In 1996, he won the $5,000 Deuce to Seven Lowball event for $146,250. He mentioned that he did not fully appreciate his first bracelet. He then said, “But this one – it means everything to me. These are the toughest players in the world. It has the highest buy-in. Except for the $10,000 buy-in (Main Event); this is the bracelet that means the most of any of them.”