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Tournament Recap for WSOP Main Event Day 1D

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By Jessica Welman - July 14th

Over 40 hours of poker were played before Day 1 of the World Series of Poker officially came to a close. When all was said and done 6,844 players registered to play in this year's Main Event. While it does not exceed the record set in 2006, it does beat last year's field of 6,358. Players were crammed in every corner of the Rio in order to accommodate what was the largest of the Day 1 fields. Over 2,000 players filled up three rooms in the Rio Convention Center, tables set up in front of the Buzios seafood restaurant, and even ten tables in the Rio Poker Room, which is a good 15 minute walk away from the Amazon Room. Read more »

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WSOP $10,000 Main Event Kicks Off

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By Jessica Welman - July 11th

What better way to kick one of the most notorious events in Las Vegas than with Wayne Newton? The singer was on hand yesterday to kick off the festivities at the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event. On hand with him was the Universiy of Nevada at Las Vegas marching band, who roused the field of 1,297 players as they settled in for a day of exciting poker. Read more »

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WSOP Ante Up For Africa Event

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By Jessica Welman - July 11th

While the Brasilia Room in the Rio Convention Center is far from a glamorous setting it served as the stage for yesterday's 2nd Annual Ante Up For Africa charity poker tournament. The event, co-hosted by Annie Duke and actor Don Cheadle drew a number of famous faces from both the poker world and Hollywood. Notable pros in attendance included Phil Hellmuth, Greg Raymer, Erik Seidel, and Howard Lederer and some of the non-poker celebrities included Ray Romano, Adam Sandler, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Charles Barkley, and Jason Alexander. Read more »

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The 2008 WSOP: By the Numbers

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By Dan Cypra - July 11th

The 2008 WSOP: By the Numbers In poker, it's all about the numbers. What percentage of the time do my opponents raise? How often will I flop a set with pocket sixes? What are the odds that the big blind will call if I put him all in? What are the odds that my opponent makes her flush on the turn? How often will the board pair on the river? Questions like these go through a poker player's head constantly. It's the key to winning and the key to losing. The 2008 World Series of Poker has been a winning endeavor for Harrah's and for the players involved. Let's take a look at some of the key stats from one of the most successful tournament series in history. Read more »

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WSOP Main Event Day 1c

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By Brett Collson - July 11th

Henning Granstad finished a frenzied Main Event Day 1c as the chip leader with 249,950 as play concluded Saturday night. Granstad surpassed Day 1a chip leader Mark Garner's 194,900 to become the overall leader going into Day 2. Read more »

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WSOP Main Event Day 1b

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By Brett Collson - July 11th

2007 Main Event Champion Jerry Yang got Day 1b underway with a speech along with the customary "Shuffle up and deal!" as 1,158 players began play on Friday. The field was smaller than day 1a, as was expected with it being July 4th. Americans, along with players from countries all over the world, wore flags in their caps provided by the staff to celebrate the holiday. Read more »

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Erick Lindgren Wins WSOP Player of the Year

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By Dan Cypra - July 7th

As if millions of dollars on the line weren't enough, the WSOP also offers a Milwaukee's Best Light Player of the Year award to one person during each World Series of Poker. This is typically someone who has dominated play throughout the entire tournament schedule. In hold'em, points are awarded based on a person's finish, with 100 points going to the first place finisher, 75 to the second place finisher, 60 to the third place finisher, and continuing down to five points just for cashing. Different point structures exist for different types of poker. Play is only tracked during the Las Vegas WSOP (the WSOP Europe and Circuit Events do not count). The Main Event, Seniors Event, Ladies Event, and the Casino Employees tournament do not count. With that in mind, let's take a look at the top finishers in the 2008 Player of the Year standings. Read more »

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Matt Graham Wins Marathon WSOP Limit Shootout

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By Dan Cypra - July 3rd

One of the staples of World Series of Poker tournaments are marathon matches. I remember covering the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event (the year that Jamie Gold won). Play would start every day around noon and wrap up 16-17 hours later. The next day, everyone would stumble back to the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino to start all over again. In shootout events, advancing through the tournaments works slightly differently. Instead of collapsing tables, each step in the process becomes the equivalent of a sit and go tournament. If you win your table, you move on. If you don't, you're knocked out of the tournament. There were 823 entrants into Event 53 of the 2008 WSOP, a $1,500 Limit Shootout tournament. In the end, Matt Graham defeated Jean-Robert Bellande to take home his first WSOP bracelet. Read more »

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Records Set at the 2008 WSOP

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By Dan Cypra - July 2nd

The 2008 World Series of Poker has been the focus of the poker universe for the past six weeks. There have been 53 tournaments completed and the 54th, the $10,000 buy-in Main Event, is in full swing from Las Vegas. Given that online poker in the United States has become complicated with the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006 as well as the recent failure of HR 5767, it's refreshing to see that poker continues to remain popular. Let's take a look at some of the superlatives reached at the 2008 WSOP just days into the Main Event. Read more »

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Marty Smyth Wins $10,000 PLO Event

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By Brett Collson - July 2nd

Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi was unable to make history Monday evening. Mizrachi was attempting to claim victory in the same event that his brother Rob won last year, the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship, but his goal fell short as took home third place for $331, 279. Read more »

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Scotty Nguyen Wins $50K HORSE Championship

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By Dan Cypra - June 30th

Besides the Main Event, all eyes at the World Series of Poker gaze with fascination towards the $50,000 buy-in HORSE Championship. This five-day event has become a staple of the WSOP since its introduction in 2006. With a buy-in that is five times the size of the Main Event's price tag, the $50K HORSE event at the 2008 World Series of Poker attracted a field of 148 players. Making the eight-man final table was a lineup of elite poker players. In the end, Scotty Nguyen took down his fifth World Series of Poker bracelet, emerging victorious in one of the most heralded events in WSOP history. Read more »

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Scotty Nguyen Wins $50,000 H.O.R.S.E and More

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By Jessica Welman - June 30th

After five grueling days of play, the $50,000 HORSE has finally crowned a champion who will be the inaugural recipient of the David "Chip" Reese Memorial trophy. The final table kicked off at 3pm and, fifteen hours later, only one man, Scotty Nguyen, was left standing. Nguyen began the day second in chips and remained towards the top of the leader board all day. Along the way to his victory, Nguyen knocked out Barry Greenstein in 6th place, Matt Glantz in 4th place, and Erick Lindgren in 3rd place. Read more »

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WSOP $50,000 H.O.R.S.E Day 3 and More

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By Brett Collson - June 28th

The $50,000 H.O.R.S.E event reached its final 24 players and stopped play late Friday evening during Level 17. Action will pick back up at 3:00 PT Saturday and won't end until the final table of eight is decided. Michael DiMichelle (1.35 million), Barry Greenstein (1.31 million), Daniel Negreanu (1.22 million), Ralph Perry (1.04 million) and Scotty Nguyen (1.03 million) will enter Day 3 as the chip leaders and the rest of the field will be playing catch up. Read more »

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The Seniors Are Coming! WSOP Event #42

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By Dan Cypra - June 26th

They came out in droves to Event #42 of the 2008 World Series of Poker. June 25th marked the stirring conclusion of the $1,000 buy-in Seniors World Championship. A tournament designed with the over-50 crowd in mind, the Seniors World Championship is always one of the highlights of the WSOP. This year’s tournament was the… Read more »

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Belgium Notches its First WSOP Bracelet

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By Dan Cypra - June 24th

If you're like many of the people looking at this article, you just read that headline and thought, "Really?" Well, it's true. No one from the country of Belgium had captured a World Series of Poker bracelet, until late Sunday night, that is. Brussels native Davidi Kitai became the first Belgian player ever to win a World Series of Poker bracelet in Event #38, a $2,000 pot limit hold'em tournament. He bested a field of 605 of poker's elite, cashing for $244,583. More importantly, he put his own country on the WSOP map. For one night, it seemed, Belgium was on top of the world. Read more »

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