If you’re looking for entertainment this Tuesday night, August 5th, do what many poker enthusiasts around the country will be doing and turn on ESPN, the Worldwide Leader in Sports. The fourth event of the 2008 World Series of Poker will air at 8:00pm ET. The $5,000 mixed hold’em event contains one of the most star-studded final tables ever played in poker’s largest live tournament series. You’ll see one-half of Team Bodog, David Williams and Justin Bonomo, taking on a final table that includes Full Tilt Poker pros Erick Lindgren and Howard Lederer as well as “November Nine” member David “Chino” Rheem, who becomes the first member of the November Nine to be viewed on national television. This article doesn’t contain spoilers, so read on with confidence.
Rheem’s play in Event 4 will allow his opponents at the Main Event final table to get advanced scouting on his no limit play. They’ll all be recording Event 4 and then re-watching it multiple times. The Main Event final table resumes on November 9th after a 100 day layoff. Here are the starting chips stacks for the Event 4 broadcast:
David “Chino” Rheem – 885,000
David Williams – 678,500
Justin Bonomo – 517,500
Erick Lindgren – 345,000
Howard Lederer – 324,500
Roland de Wolfe – 194,000
Andrew Robl – 162,000
Isaac Haxton – 115,500
Pat Pezzin – 108,500
The two Bodog pros near the top of the starting chip stacks should strike fear into the other seven players at the table. Williams won a $1,500 Seven Card Stud tournament during the 2006 WSOP for his first and only bracelet. He’s also the owner of a win in a $5,000 buy-in HOSE Circuit Event tournament at Caesars Palace in May, 2006. Event 4 was one of four cashes he had during the 2008 WSOP. Including Event 4, Bonomo, who is known as “ZeeJustin” in the online poker world, has made two WSOP final tables. He’s well-renown online and reached the final table of the Caesars Palace Classic in 2007. On the World Poker Tour, he bubbled the final table of the 2006 Doyle Brunson North American Poker Classic, cashing for $152,230.
Erick Lindgren stormed onto the poker scene in the fall of 2003. He won the Ultimate Poker Classic on the World Poker Tour for half a million dollars. Several months later, he won his second WPT title, conquering the Party Poker Million for $1 million. He was the WPT Player of the Year during Season II and has made two more final tables since. However, winning a WSOP bracelet has been the monkey on his back. He’s a member of Team Full Tilt Poker, which also includes Gus Hansen, Mike Matusow, and Andy Bloch.
Lederer is the owner of a pair of WSOP bracelets. The first came in a $5,000 buy-in Limit Omaha Hi/Lo tournament during the 2000 WSOP. The second came one year later in a $5,000 buy-in No Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball event. His lifetime WSOP winnings exceed $1.1 million. He dominated the first season of the World Poker Tour, winning both the Foxwoods World Poker Finals and the Party Poker Million. Although the prize pools during the WPT’s first season were drastically smaller than today’s are, Lederer cashed for more than $600,000 combined.
Haxton’s claim to fame is finishing second in the 2007 PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure. He won $861,000 in that tournament, boosting his fame in the poker world and his bankroll in the process. De Wolfe cashed seven times during the 2007 WSOP. Like Lederer and Lindgren, he’s a member of Team Full Tilt Poker.
Who will emerge victorious and claim the $374,505 first place prize? Tune into the WSOP on ESPN this Tuesday to find out.
