As we go to press, we are just a few days away from the main event. It's been well over a month of back-to-back-to-back huge events, and as everyone expected, some great stories have unfolded.
First, Phil Hellmuth,
Card Player columnist and co-owner, tied history with his 10th bracelet in the $1,000 no-limit hold'em (rebuys) event. He tied Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan's record of 10
WSOP gold bracelets after besting a tough final table that included 2006 bracelet winner Ralph Perry, 2006
WSOP Tournament Circuit-Caesars winner John Spadavecchia, 17-time
WSOP money-finisher David Plastik, 2005
European Poker Championship winner Antanas "Tony G" Guoga, and 2005
Grand Prix de Paris runner-up Juha Helppi.
Hellmuth says he is playing the best poker of his life, and his results surely prove just that. He has six cashes and has made three final tables this year.
Perhaps the most amazing story is a young gun named Jeff Madsen. The 21-year-old student from the University of California-Santa Barbara turned 21 just six weeks ago, and has put on a clinic at the
WSOP. Not only did Madsen become the youngest player ever to win a bracelet (he won it in the $2,000 no-limit hold'em event), but he then followed up just a few days later with a second bracelet after he crushed the field in the $5,000 shorthanded no-limit hold'em event. To make his win even more impressive, he beat Erick Lindgren, one of the best players who hasn't captured WSOP gold, heads up. But Madsen hasn't stopped there. He has made two additional final tables, in Omaha eight-or-better and stud eight-or-better, and has proven that he isn't just a no-limit player. With more than $1.5 million in winnings, this young gun has risen to the top of the poker ladder faster than any other player in recent memory. Look forward to more about this rising star in
Card Player soon.
Two other players who have pulled off quite amazing
WSOP runs are Bill Chen and Eric Froehlich. Chen is another dual-bracelet winner from this year's
WSOP, with titles in the $3,000 limit hold'em and $2,500 no-limit hold'em shorthanded events. Chen is a math wizard who holds a Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley. He has co-written a book titled
The Mathematics of Poker that will be available this fall.
Pick it up, because based on his results, Chen knows what he is talking about. Froehlich made a name for himself last year by becoming the youngest
WSOP bracelet winner ever. This year, he won another bracelet in the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha (rebuys) event. Congratulations to all.
This is always the most exciting time of the year. And with more than 8,000 people preparing to take a shot at the estimated $10 million prize pool, the main event will uncover a few more stories for us to follow next issue.
