Michael Chow, a professional poker player out of Honolulu, Hawaii, earned his first gold World Series of Poker bracelet early this morning, after finally eliminating fellow pro Dan Heimiller during heads-up play; and he did it on his birthday!

Heimiller, was the last of 817 other players that Chow had to surpass in order to give himself what turned out to be a $237,140 present, a feat made more difficult by the high number of skilled competitors sitting among that group.

Some of the well known players to cash in Event #4, the $1,500 buy-in Omaha Eight-or-Better tournament, included Huck Seed (18th), Chau Giang (27th), David Bach (24th), Tom Schneider (32nd), Todd Brunson (52nd) and PokerRoad’s own Jeff Madsen, who just missed the final table busting in 12th place for $14,046.

Some of the recognizable pros that made it even farther than Madsen, all the way to the final table in fact, included Scott Epstein, Fred Koubi and 2008 “November Niner” Ylon Schwartz, who took his chips all the way to third place for $94,561.

The final table finish positions for Event #4 of the 2010 WSOP were as follows:

1st.  Michael Chow- $237,140

2nd.  Dan Heimiller- $146,505

3rd.  Ylon Schwartz- $94,561

4th.  Fred Koubi- $69,272

5th.  Scott Epstein- $51,493

6th.  Michael Cipolla- $38,794

7th.  Sasha Rosewood- $29,584

8th.  Joe Leibman- $22,825

9th.  Todd Barlow- $17,801

For more information on Event #4, the $1,500 buy-in, Omaha Eight-or-Better, visit www.wsop.com.