Every poker variant is a skill game. But seven-card Stud, with dead cards to keep track of and more betting streets than other games, has long been considered one of the most demanding of its players. That often means smaller crowds playing Stud than other, faster-paced games like hold'em, but for those who master Stud's intricacies there are just as many rewards.

When it comes to tournament play, those smaller crowds translate to a mathematically easier path to a title than your typical no-limit hold'em behemoth. That makes them attractive for players looking to pick up Player of the Series points and build on earlier successes to make a run at the title and all the prizes that come with it. Two such players ended up heads-up for the title in Event #29, the $700 Seven-Card Stud Championship, and in the end it was TIETYMM, a past Sunday Million and WCOOP chopper, who emerged with the bracelet.

A small and unimpeachably elite field of 138 players showed up for this year's WCOOP Seven-Card Stud Championship, putting up $700 each to build a $91,770 prize pool. The two-day event paid just the top 24 players, only nine of whom would collect their payouts before the end of the first day of play. Besides Event #6 winner Matt "plattsburgh" Vengrin (19th place, $1,147.12), Bryn Kenney (17th, $1,147.12), and Shaun Deeb ($1,605.97), two Red Spades cashed. ElkY bowed out early in 21st place and Eugene Katchalov finished in 15th, the last player to cash out before play paused overnight.

Randy "RolldUpTrips" Ohel, a past WCOOP finalist in no-limit hold'em and badugi, held the chip lead with 189,266 chips when Day 2 kicked off at 5:00 p.m. ET. Kiryl "angrymoron" Radzivonau, a 2012 Sunday Million champion, was five big bets back with 157,041 chips. And sitting in third with 153,438 chips was Fresh_oO_D, a past WCOOP and SCOOP finalist already holding 100 Player of the Series points thanks to three deep runs and two other cashes since the start of WCOOP 2015.

All three would remain in the field when the final table began 73 minutes later, though angrymoron coasted in on fumes:

Seat 1: ilushan (103,317 in chips)
Seat 2: Multifox (135,784 in chips)
Seat 3: TIETYMM (217,821 in chips)
Seat 4: osten (85,420 in chips)
Seat 5: angrymoron (29,688 in chips)
Seat 6: RolldUpTrips (348,966 in chips)
Seat 7: lennart (203,823 in chips)
Seat 8: Fresh_oO_D (255,181 in chips)

Joining those three in this final were five other players with notable past accomplishments. Russia's ilushan was a 2013 SCOOP Stud hi/lo finalist. Austria's multifox was appearing at a WCOOP Stud final table for the second straight year. Two-time WSOP bracelet winner Thor "osten" Hansen was seeking a second WCOOP Stud bracelet to go with the one he won in 2012. TIETYMM had taken fifth place in Event #18, the Stud Hi/Lo Championship, just three days prior. And Christer "lennart" Johansson, winner of the $109 heads-up limit hold'em event during the very first WCOOP back in 2002, was a four-time SCOOP 2014 finalist, all in different games - Stud, PLO, Triple Draw, and Badugi.

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Coming in with just three big bets forced angrymoron into action early, but it didn't bring a knockout. He took the first two pots without a fight and then stacked up to 100K with a split pair of kings against RolldUpTrips's split pair of eights. Instead, ilushan would end up busting first.

The Russian player made a ten-high straight by fifth street in a hand against Fresh_oO_D but lost out on the 109K-chip pot when Fresh_oO_D, who had a pair of tens and a jack-high flush draw at that same point, picked up a fifth club on the river. That left ilushan with 36K, which had been cut in half by the time the Russian was able to get all-in nine hands later with a split pair of sixes. That turned into jacks and sixes on seventh street, but multifox had already made a king-high heart flush to win the 112K-chip pot, so ilushan bowed out in 8th place ($2,523.67).

Short-stacked Stud veteran Thor Hansen survived his first all-in hand in style, turning a split pair of eights into trips on fourth street to move ahead of RolldUpTrips's split pair of kings, then rivering the case eight for four of a kind and the 87K-chip pot. Another 80K-chip pot two orbits later, won uncontested from Multifox on seventh street with (x-x) [Kc] [6s] [3c] [5h] (x), kept Hansen off the bubble for the time being.

angrymoron took his place after losing a pot to RolldUpTrips, who had limped into the pot after angrymoron posted the bring-in. angrymoron checked with the [2d] up and then check-called bets on fourth, fifth, and sixth before leading out on seventh with a board of (x-x) [2d] [Jd] [6s] [4h] (x). angrymoron called RolldUpTrips's raise but mucked when he showed a ten-high straight made by fifth street.

angrymoron got his last 38K in the middle two hands later after starting with a split pair of queens and raising after TIETYMM completed to 6K with the [Ad] showing and Thor Hansen called with the [7s] up. TIETYMM re-raised to 18K to drive Hansen out and then called angrymoron's fourth bet, showing ([Qc] [4d]) [Ad] [Th] when angrymoron finally got all-in on fourth street. The queens stayed ahead through sixth street, but TIETYMM made a pair of aces with the [Ah] on seventh and angrymoron left in 7th place ($3,211.95).

Thor Hansen's earlier reprieve hit its expiration date on the next level. With just 58K in chips and the table playing 8K/16K stakes, Hansen raised with the [Kc] showing and a pair of eights in the hole after Multifox opened with the [Tc] up. Multifox called the raise and then check-called Hansen's bets all the way to the river, showing down an unimproved split pair of tens. Hansen's own board had run out with out improvement as well, so his quest for another WCOOP Stud title ended in 6th place ($4,129.65).

Davids and Goliath

With 230K more than anybody else and the next three biggest stacks all clustered together, Fresh_oO_D was able to step up the aggression at the table five-handed table. First a 136K-chip pot came the German player's way in a pot against TIETYMM after what appeared to be a steal attempt with ([3h] [Qh]) [Tc] became a full house thanks to a runner-runner-runner-runner combo of three jacks and a queen. With all four other players holding onto stacks worth 232K or less, Fresh_oO_D was able to steal the bring-ins and antes liberally.

That left the others to dance around the leader and take each other on. The beneficiary of that was TIETYMM, who closed out the 8K/16K level by winning seven out of eight pots. Two of those came at Fresh_oO_D's expense, but the others were against the other shorter stacks, including one worth 160K against RolldUpTrips with after being stuck with the bring-in, calling with a split pair of deuces, and making fives and deuces on fifth street. Three hands later, when the stakes rolled over to 10K/20K with 2K antes, TIETYMM closed out the run with a 113K-chip pot won from lennart, who folded on sixth street with four clubs showing on TIETYMM's board. Those eight wins in the span of 11 hands left TIETYMM with 550,097 chips, less than 400 chips behind Fresh_oO_D.

Multifox was the short stack at that point with 37K, which had shrunk to just 27K five hands later when the Austrian player was dealt a split pair of queens and raised after Fresh_oO_D opened with the [Qh] showing. TIETYMM called behind with the [3c] showing and two more treys beneath it for rolled-up trips, and then called again when Fresh_oO_D raised to 30K and Multifox called all-in. TIETYMM got one value raise out of Fresh_oO_D on fourth street before checking fifth and driving the German player off with a bet on sixth. By the point the trips had become treys full of tens, good enough to take the 137K-chip side and main pots and eliminate Multifox in 5th place ($5,047.35).

Four orbits later it was lennart's time to go. The Swede completed with a split pair of jacks and called when TIETYMM raised to 20K, then check-raised to 20K on fourth street with [Js] [3s] showing against TIETYMM's [6s] [Th]. lennart check-raised fifth and the two players got four bets in apiece, the last 22K going in on sixth with those jacks still unimproved. They were up against a similarly unimproved, but better, pair of queens that had been buried below TIETYMM's [6s] door card. Both players made two pair on seventh street, leaving the situation the same, and that knocked lennart out in 4th place ($7,800.45).

RolldUpTrips's six-big-bet stack would shrink to just 49K over the next 35 hands amid the constant assault of his opponents and the antes. Those remaining chips went in the middle after completing to 12K with ([Kc] [9h]) [Th]. TIETYMM, who had the bring-in with the [6d] up, held another six below for a pair and raised. RolldUpTrips was all-in two bets later, and when neither player improved, the sixes took the pot and RolldUpTrips finished in 3rd place ($11,012.40).

An all-Germany final

With the stakes at 12K/24K/2.4K, two accomplished players from Germany faced off for the 2015 WCOOP Seven-Card Stud Championship:

Seat 3: TIETYMM (802,319 in chips)
Seat 8: Fresh_oO_D (577,681 in chips)

After TIETYMM won the first hand with a queen-high straight to take down a 244K-chip pot, the two discussed a deal for close to 10 minutes before calling them off to keep playing. With TIETYMM holding better than a 2-to-1 advantage, they would continue to play for the next 35 minutes and come up against the 8:55 ET break. Though Fresh_oO_D did manage briefly to take a lead of about 80K during that stretch, TIETYMM won back-to-back pots worth just over 290K apiece to close out the hour.

Fresh_oO_D came out of the break with two straight wins, the first worth 102K and taken down on sixth street with a pair of eights showing on-board. The second saw Fresh_oO_D bring it in with a split pair of treys and have them hold up through seventh street against a king-high flush draw for 262K. That left Fresh_oO_D within two big pots of retaking the lead, but those pots would never come around.

Instead a turning point came six hands later when Fresh_oO_D had the bring-in with the [8h], defended, and picked up a pair of jacks with the [Jc] on fourth and [Js] on fifth. TIETYMM had opened with the [Kd] showing and improved to a pair of kings on fifth with the [Ks], and then to kings and sevens with the [7d] on sixth street. Fresh_oO_D called down but mucked (x-x) [8h] [Jc] [Js] [6h] (x) and slid back to a stack of 236K.

Defending another bring-in three hands later, only to muck when TIETYMM had [9s] [8s] [6s] showing by fifth street, left Fresh_oO_D with 153K. All but 11K of that disappeared five hands later as Fresh_oO_D called down TIETYMM's bets only to fold on seventh with a (x-x) [9s] [Td] [6h] [Ah] board, and TIETYMM made a pair of fours on the following hand to beat Fresh_oO_D's pair of treys and end the tournament.

With no deal in place, Fresh_oO_D settled for $14,224.35 as the runner-up. TIETYMM collected $19,960.35, the bracelet, and the title of 2015 WCOOP Seven-Card Stud Champion. Congratulations to both players!

WCOOP 2015: Event #29, $700 Seven-Card Stud Championship
Entrants: 138
Prize pool: $91,770
Places paid: 24
1. TIETYMM (Germany) $19,960.06
2. Fresh_oO_D (Germany) $14,224.35
3. Randy "RolldUpTrips" Ohel (Mexico) $11,012.40
4. Christer "lennart" Johansson (Sweden) $7,800.45
5. Multifox (Austria) $5,047.35
6. Thor "osten" Hansen (Norway) $4,129.65
7. Kiryl "angry moron" Radzivonau (Belarus) $3,211.95
8. ilushan (Russia) $2,523.67

Jason Kirk is a freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.