2008 World Series of Poker


The 2008 World Series of Poker was the 39th annual World Series of Poker. Held in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino, the series began on May 30, 2008, and featured 55 poker championships in several variants. All events but the $10,000 World Championship No Limit Texas hold 'em Main Event, the most prestigious of the WSOP events, ended by July 15. As has been the WSOP custom since 1976, each of the event winners received a championship bracelet in addition to that event's prize money, which ranged from $87,929 to $9,119,517.
Highlights of the 2008 series include the selection of Erick Lindgren, who won a bracelet and made three final tables, as recipient of the "Player of the Year Award". Nikolay Evdakov led all players with a record 10 money finishes, and Phil Hellmuth set a WSOP record of 41 career final tables. The Main Event, which began with 6,844 participants, was suspended once the event was down to the nine players needed for the final table; the Main Event was resumed on November 9, and concluded with the heads-up final between Peter Eastgate and Ivan Demidov the next day. This year was the first in which the Main Event was suspended in this fashion, a change introduced at ESPN's request to allow the television network to do a same-day Main Event broadcast.
In a stunning statistical improbability, Justin Phillips knocked out Motoyuki Mabuchi in the Main Event. Phillips held a Royal Flush, while Mabuchi held quad aces. One of the broadcasters, Lon McEachern, mentioned on air that the chances of such a showdown occurring were 1:2.7 billion. Ray Romano had just sat down at the table when this hand played itself out.

Event schedule

2008 records

Nikolay Evdakov set a WSOP record for most cashes at a single World Series with 10. The previous record of eight was held by five players: Chris Ferguson, Phil Hellmuth, Humberto Brenes, Michael Binger, and Chad Brown. Evdakov's achievement also represents the most cashes by a player at one WSOP without reaching a single final table. Hellmuth, who made two final tables, established a new WSOP career record of 41 final tables, two more than T. J. Cloutier. Scotty Nguyen became the first player to hold both a Main Event and a $50,000 H.O.R.S.E World Championship bracelet.
Several nationals were the first from their country to win bracelets. Brazilian Alexandre Gomes won Event 48 to become the first South American player to win a WSOP bracelet since Ecuadorian-born Carlos Mortensen won the 2001 Main Event. Rob Hollink won Event 30, becoming the first Dutch WSOP bracelet winner, and Davidi Kitai won Event 38, becoming the first Belgian player to win a bracelet.
The 2008 Main Event final table took 15 hours and 28 minutes to play, beating the previous record of 14 hours and 2 minutes in 2005.

Main Event

The $10,000 World Championship No Limit Texas Hold 'em Main Event began on July 3 with the first of four starting days. After reaching the final table of nine players on July 14, the final table was delayed until November 9. This change in schedule was made to allow ESPN to broadcast the final table on November 11, shortly after it was played. All final table players were paid ninth place prize money in July, with the remaining prize pool distributed in November. Instead of the Amazon Room, aka "the Poker Room," where all of the events were held, the final table would be held in the Penn and Teller Theatre. On November 9, players played down from nine to two and the winner was decided the next night. The final table consisted of 274 hands in total.
After a large decrease in Main Event participants in 2007 compared to 2006, the number increased slightly in 2008 but was still far from the 2006 number. As in 2007, the payout structure is flatter than in 2006 and before, with the lowest payouts at $21,230, as compared to $10,616 in 2006.
The "last woman standing" in the 2008 Main Event was Tiffany Michelle, who finished in 17th place. Celebrities best known from television, music, and professional sports, among other areas, also participated, with two placing in the money. The list includes:
NameNumber of chips
WSOP
Bracelets		WSOP
Cashes*		WSOP
Earnings*
Dennis Phillips26,295,000 000
Ivan Demidov24,400,000 01$39,854
Scott Montgomery19,690,000 03$73,700
Peter Eastgate18,375,000 000
Ylon Schwartz12,525,000 011$124,580
Darus Suharto12,520,000 01$26,389
David Rheem10,230,000 05$474,843
Craig Marquis10,210,000 03$35,759
Kelly Kim2,620,000 03$38,750
*Career statistics prior to the beginning of the 2008 Main Event

Final table

At the age of 22, Peter Eastgate became the youngest Main Event winner, surpassing Phil Hellmuth who was 24 when he won in 1989 and became the first European to capture the title since Carlos Mortensen won in 2001. His winning hand was a five high straight known as a "wheel", made from his hole cards ' and three of the community cards which were ', while his opponent Ivan Demidov lost with for two pair.

Other notable high finishes

NB: This list is restricted to top 30 finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry.
PlaceNamePrize
15thOwen Crowe$436,201
17thTiffany Michelle$334,534
20thBrandon Cantu$257,334
26thPhi Nguyen$257,334
30thMike Matusow$193,000

Performance of past champions

Twenty past WSOP Main Event champions, representing 22 bracelets, participated in the 2008 Main Event. Two champions from the late 1980s finished in the money: Johnny Chan placed 329th for $32,166, and Phil Hellmuth finished 45th for $154,400.
NameChampionship
Year		Day of
Elimination
Doyle Brunson1976 and 19771-d
Bobby Baldwin19781-a
Tom McEvoy19831-b
Berry Johnston19861-a
Johnny Chan1987 and 19884
Phil Hellmuth19896
Brad Daugherty19912-b
Jim Bechtel19931-c
Dan Harrington19951-a
Huck Seed19961-c
Scotty Nguyen19982-a
Noel Furlong19991-d
Chris Ferguson20001-d
Carlos Mortensen20012-b
Robert Varkonyi20022-a
Chris Moneymaker20033
Greg Raymer20041-b
Joe Hachem20052-b
Jamie Gold20061-b
Jerry Yang20072-b