At 8:00pm ET on Tuesday, August 12th, Event 5 of the 2008 World Series of Poker will debut on ESPN. A pair of one hour episodes will air, highlighting the final table of the $1,000 rebuy tournament. Tournaments where players are permitted to rebuy are typically among the most eventful in poker – in fact, Suk Sung, one of the contestants who played in this event, rebought 23 times. There were 766 entrants into Event 5 and the field recorded 2,258 rebuys, creating a healthy $2.9 million prize pool. The tournament’s champion will pocket $636,000. This preview of the tournament does not contain any spoilers.
Here are the chip stacks of the nine players who will duke it out on Tuesday night on the Worldwide Leader in Sports:
Michael Banducci – 1,655,000
Alan Jaffray – 1,222,000
Gould Peter – 702,000
Jeff Williams – 683,000
Lyric Duveyoung – 659,000
Jamie Rosen – 475,000
Jonathan Aguiar – 361,000
Michael Binger – 186,000
Steve Gross – 112,000
One of the fiercest competitors at this final table is Jeff “yellowsub” Williams. He emerged victorious in the 2006 European Poker Tour’s Monte Carlo Grand Final, winning $1 million for first place and defeating the UK’s own Arshad Hussain heads up. He recorded his first three WSOP cashes during the 2008 tournament series. Williams is one of the top online players around and has successfully translated his prowess into the live poker world.
Binger is the most recognizable name at Event 5’s final table. He’s best known for finishing third in the 2006 WSOP Main Event. He cashed for over $4 million in that tournament, the largest WSOP event ever held which was famously won by Jamie Gold, who defeated Paul Wasicka heads up. Binger also has a pair of third place cashes in WSOP play. He’s the proud owner of a Ph.D. in Theoretical Particle Physics from Stanford University.
Banducci, the chip leader entering final table play, recorded his first WSOP cash back in 2006. He made a final table of a $2,000 No Limit event in 2007 and also final tabled the Main Event of a WSOP Circuit Event in Harvey’s Tahoe. He recorded his lone World Poker Tour cash in the Season IV PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, finishing 26th and pocketing $16,900. He’s also reached the final six of the largest weekly online poker tournament offered, the PokerStars Sunday Million, which boasts a $1.5 million guarantee every weekend.
Finally, Steve Gross enters the televised portion of Event 5 as the short stack at the table. He notched three cashes at the 2008 WSOP and, like Banducci, is predominantly an internet poker player.
After the broadcast of Event 5, the most popular events in the World Series of Poker will hit the airwaves. Here’s a look at the remaining schedule:
Aug. 19 — 8-10 p.m.
$50,000 HORSE
Aug. 26 — 8-10 p.m.
$10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha
Sept. 2 to Sept. 30 — 8-10 p.m.
$10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event
Oct. 7 to Oct. 28 — 9-11 p.m.
$10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event
Nov. 11 — 9-11 p.m.
WSOP Main Event final table
In lieu of going head to head against the general elections in the United States, ESPN will air a WSOP Main Event final table preview show on Tuesday, November 4th.
