2008 World Series of Poker – The Highlight Reel

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Contributed by: Jennifer Newell
Updated: Jul 22, 2008
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The most exciting, prestigious, and massive poker tournament series in the world has come and gone, for the most part. With the exception of the WSOP main event final table scheduled to take place on November 9th and 10th, the bulk of the 2008 World Series of Poker is over.

For players and media, it seemed like a whirlwind and a long haul at the same time. Most spent approximately seven weeks “living” in Las Vegas for the entirety of the WSOP, and though it often felt like a grind in which the tournaments sometimes ran together, it was also somewhat surprising to reach the main event and feel that everything that led up to it had flown by in a jumbled race to the finish.

For fans or part-time players who regularly followed the WSOP updates or recaps on the internet, it may have seemed like a bombardment of information – chip counts, leader boards, and statistics for 55 tournaments, each of which had at least two days of tournament action to track. Instead of sifting through article after article of results, there should be one place to look at the results and the big picture in one place.

Here it is. You’re welcome.

The 39th annual World Series of Poker was held at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas over the course of 47 days. A total of 55 bracelet events were organized and played with the following record-breaking results:

Players – 58,720 players registered for bracelet events (8% increase over 2007)
Prize pool - $180,676,248 in prize money was awarded to players in bracelet events ($20,880,030 increase over 2007)

World participation – 118 different countries and/or territories were represented by players (31 more than in 2007)

Event #2 - $1500 NLHE tournament was largest live tournament field in the history of poker with 3,929 entrants

Main Event – 6,844 players was second largest live tournament field in poker history with the sole exception of the 2006 WSOP main event

Main Event prize - $9,119,517 will be the second largest first prize ever awarded in poker history with the sole exception of the 2006 WSOP main event

The events by the numbers were as follows:

Event 1 $10K World Championship PLHE – 352 players
Winner: Nenad Medic $794,112
Event 2 $1500 NLHE – 3,929 players
Winner: Grant Hinkle $831,462
Event 3 $1500 PLHE – 713 players
Winner: David Singer $214,131
Event 4 $5K Mixed Hold’em – 332 players
Winner: Erick Lindgren $374,505
Event 5 $1K NLHE w/rebuys – 766 players (2258 rebuys)
Winner: Michael Banducci $636,736
Event 6 $1500 Omaha Hi-Lo Split-8 – 833 players
Winner: Thang Luu $243,356
Event 7 $2K NLHE – 1592 players
Winner: Matt Keikoan $550,529
Event 8 $10K World Championship Mixed – 192 players
Winner: Anthony Rivera $483,688
Event 9 $1500 NLHE Six-Handed – 1236 players
Winner: Rep Porter $372,929
Event 10 $2500 Omaha/7-Card Stud Hi-Low-8 – 388 players
Winner: Farzad Rouhani $232,911
Event 11 $5K NLHE Shootout – 360 players
Winner: Phillip Tom $477,990
Event 12 $1500 LHE – 881 players
Winner: Jimmy Shultz $257,936
Event 13 $2500 NLHE – 1397 players
Winner: Duncan Bell $666,777
Event 14 $10K World Championship 7-Card Stud – 158 players
Winner: Eric Brooks $415,856
Event 15 $1K Ladies NLHE – 1190 players
Winner: Svetlana Gromenkova $244,702
Event 16 $2K Omaha Hi-Lo Split-8 – 553 players
Winner: Andrew Brown $225,632
Event 17 $1500 NLHE Shootout – 1000 players
Winner: Jason Young $329,872
Event 18 $5K No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball w/rebuys – 85 players (272 rebuys)
Winner: Mike Matusow $537,862
Event 19 $1500 PLO – 759 players
Winner: Vanessa Selbst $227,933
Event 20 $2K LHE – 480 players
Winner: Daniel Negreanu $204,863
Event 21 $5K NLHE – 731 players
Winner: Scott Seiver $755,891
Event 22 $3K HORSE – 414 players
Winner: Jens Voertmann $298,253
Event 23 $2K NLHE – 1344 players
Winner: Blair Hinkle $507,613
Event 24 $2500 PLHE/PLO – 457 players
Winner: Max Pescatori $246,471
Event 25 $10K World Championship Head-Up NLHE – 256 players
Winner: Kenny Tran $539,056
Event 26 $1500 7-Card Razz – 456 players
Winner: Barry Greenstein $158,659
Event 27 $1500 NLHE – 2706 players
Winner: Vitaly Lunkin $628,417
Event 28 $5K PLO w/rebuys – 152 players (483 rebuys)
Winner: Phil Galfond $817,781
Event 29 $3K NLHE – 716 players
Winner: John Phan $434,789
Event 30 $10K World Championship LHE – 218 players
Winner: Rob Hollink $496,931
Event 31 $2500 NLHE Six-Handed – 1012 players
Winner: Dario Minieri $528,418
Event 32 $1500 NLHE – 2304 players
Winner: Luis Velador $573,374
Event 33 $5K World Championship 7-Card Stud Hi-Lo Split-8 – 261 players
Winner: Sebastian Ruthenberg $328,762
Event 34 $1500 PLO w/rebuys – 320 players (1350 rebuys)
Winner: Layne Flack $577,725
Event 35 $1500 7-Card Stud – 381 players
Winner: Mike Rocco $137,753
Event 36 $1500 NLHE – 2447 players
Winner: Jesper Hougaard $610,304
Event 37 $10K World Championship Omaha Hi-Lo Split-8 – 235 players
Winner: David Benyamine $535,678
Event 38 $2K PLHE – 605 players
Winner: Davidi Kitai $244,583
Event 39 $1500 NLHE – 2720 players
Winner: David Woo $631,656
Event 40 $2500 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball – 238 players
Winner: John Phan $151,911
Event 41 $1500 Mixed Hold’em – 731 players
Winner: Frank Gary $219,562
Event 42 $1K Seniors NLHE – 2218 players
Winner: Dan Lacourse $368,832
Event 43 $1500 PLH Hi-Lo Split-8 – 720 players
Winner: Martin Klaser $216,249
Event 44 $1K NLHE w/rebuys – 879 players (2508 rebuys)
Winner: Max Greenwood $693,444
Event 45 $50K World Championship HORSE – 148 players
Winner: Scotty Nguyen $1,989,120
Event 46 $5K NLHE Six-Handed – 805 players
Winner: Joe Commisso $911,830
Event 47 $1500 7-Card Stud Hi-Lo-8 – 544 players
Winner: Ryan Hughes $183,341
Event 48 $2K NLHE – 2317 players
Winner: Alexandre Gomes $770,540
Event 49 $1500 NLHE – 2718 players
Winner: J.C. Tran $631,170
Event 50 $10K World Championship PLO – 381 players
Winner: Marty Smyth $859,549
Event 51 $1500 HORSE – 803 players
Winner: James Schaaf $256,412
Event 52 $1500 NLHE – 2693 players
Winner: David Daneshgar $625,443
Event 53 $1500 LHE Shootout – 823 players
Winner: Matt Graham $278,180
Event 55 $500 Casino Employees NLHE – 930 players
Winner: Jonathan Kotula $87,929

Last but not least was Event #54, the $10K World Championship NLHE main event. It drew 6,844 players to create a prize pool of $64,333,600. After seven days of play that included four Day 1’s and two Day 2’s, a total of 666 players ended their tournament in the money. And when all was said and done at 3:30am on the morning of July 15th, there were nine players left.

The “November Nine” left the Rio with ninth place money ($900,670) and will return on November 9th, 2008, to play the final table in order to determine the 2008 world champion. As the Rio Convention Center’s Amazon Room cleared out for the last time this year, the standings of the players were as follows:

Dennis Phillips – St. Louis, Missouri 26,295,000
Ivan Demidov – Moscow, Russie 24,400,000
Scott Montgomery – Perth, Ontario, Canada 19,690,000
Peter Eastgate – Odense, Denmark 18,375,000
Ylon Schwartz – Brooklyn, New York 12,525,000
Darus Suharto – Toronto, Ontario, Canada 12,520,000
David Rheem – Los Angeles, California 10,230,000
Craig Marquis – Arlington, Texas 10,210,000
Kelly Kim – Whittier, California 2,620,000

The build-up to the final table now begins with the ESPN broadcasts of the 2008 World Series of Poker preliminary events and a final table preview show that will lead up to the finale to be aired on November 11th, just hours after the winner is determined in Las Vegas. Stay tuned, folks, it is not over yet!