Freddie Ellis, the oldest player to win a bracelet in his first WSOP, has passed away

Freddie Ellis was an east coast real estate broker who played high stakes Seven Card Stud in Atlantic City.

In 2009, he took a shot at his first-ever WSOP event, the $10k Seven Card Stud, and won it.

He was 74 years old at the time. ESPN described him as "visibly fatigued" by the end -- a problem which plagues many elderly poker players who can no longer handle the long hours of tournament play.

Here's the ESPN article about his win: http://www.espn.com/espn/poker/news/story?id=4230546

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Despite his unexpected rookie victory in a very tough field, Ellis revealed that he was somewhat sad, because his longtime wife had frequently watched him play poker, and she had passed away two years prior.

Despite his advanced age at the time, Ellis survived almost another decade. He did return to play a few more WSOP events, the last one (to my knowledge) being in 2014.

In 2013, he almost won another bracelet in Stud, finishing 3rd in the $2500 event.

Here's an interview he did in 2009:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_oBpEkyMqc