WSOP Race for the Bracelets 2008

Poker's richest and most prestigious event, the World Series of Poker, is now under way. From May 30 to July 14, the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino is the epicenter of the poker world, hosting 55 different bracelet events over 47 action-packed days.

As of this writing, we're 33 events into the Series, and a number of big-name pros and exciting up-and-comers already have adorned their wrists with championship gold. Events No. 15 through 33 are covered in this issue.

Svetlana Gromenkova Wins Event No. 15 (Ladies No-Limit Hold'em World Championship)
By Scott McDaniel

Buy-in: $1,000
Entrants: 1,190
Prize Pool: $1,082,900
First-Place Prize: $224,702

Svetlana Gromenkova is sporting some new jewelry. The young woman who immigrated to New York from Russia six years ago outlasted 1,189 women to collect the $224,702 first-place prize, a World Series of Poker championship bracelet, and a custom-designed gold and diamond watch from Corum USA. The tournament was the second-largest women's-only event in poker history, creating a seven-digit prize pool of $1,082,900 that was spread among the top 99 finishers. Gromenkova defeated Anh Le heads up to win the title.

Andrew Brown Wins Event No. 16 (Omaha Eight-or-Better)
By Ryan Lucchesi

Buy-in: $2,000
Entrants: 551
Prize Pool: $1,022,820
First-Place Prize: $226,483

Jim Pechac might have thought his day would be short at the beginning of the final day of event No. 16 at the 2008 World Series of Poker. He began the day with two 1,000 chips, but made like Jack "Treetop" Straus and put on his best "two-chips-and-a-chair comeback" performance. He eventually finished in third place, leaving Ted Forrest and Andrew Brown to fight things out heads up. Also losing along the way at the final table were big names Jimmy Fricke (ninth), Scott Clements (seventh), and Ralph Perry (sixth). In the end, it was Brown who won the gold bracelet and $226,483 in prize money after he and Forrest exchanged the chip lead multiple times during heads-up play.

Jason Young Wins Event No. 17 (No-Limit Hold'em Shootout)
By Andy Liakos

Buy-in: $1,500
Entrants: 1,000
Prize Pool: $1,370,596
First-Place Prize: $335,565

After a long second round and an even longer night, 26-year-old Jason Young came to the final table with one hour of sleep and enough adrenaline to outlast a highly experienced final table full of Internet superstars. A small-time poker player and parks and recreation worker, Young had found modest success in the local poker rooms of Atlantic City before coming out to Las Vegas to try his luck in the World Series of Poker. He had recently quit his job in an effort to focus more on his passion for poker, and that decision earned him $335,565. Young said, "That's ten years of working in just two days."

Mike 'The Mouth' Matusow Wins Event No. 18 (No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Lowball)
By Julio Rodriguez

Buy-in: $5,000 with rebuys
Entrants: 85
Prize Pool: $1,735,020
First-Place Prize: $537,862

Eighty-five of the best poker players in the world bought into the $5,000 no-limit deuce-to-seven draw lowball tournament, and when all was said and done, one of the most recognizable poker players in the world had emerged victorious. Mike "The Mouth" Matusow captured his third gold bracelet at a table that was just as tough as, if not tougher than, the one he faced to win the 2005 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions.

Matusow navigated his way through a final table that boasted eight WSOP bracelets, seven World Poker Tour titles, and more than $25 million in lifetime earnings, not including the money that lay before them.

Matusow credits his victory to the power of positive thinking. "I've been telling people for the last three weeks that it is going to be a big World Series for me. I didn't know if I was going to win a bracelet. I didn't know if I was going to win anything. But I knew for sure that I was going to have a big showing, because my focus is good, I feel good, and I can just tell that things are going good for me," said Matusow.

At one point when threehanded, Matusow was nearly down to the felt and in danger of busting out. The dinner break came just in time, and he came back re-energized, refocused, and ready to mount his comeback. After doubling through Jeffrey Lisandro heads up, Matusow used big bets and even bigger calls to chip up and eventually wear down his opponent. A few hands later, Matusow had won his third career bracelet, taking his lifetime tournament winnings over the $6 million mark.

Vanessa Selbst Wins Event No. 19 (Pot-Limit Omaha)
By Ryan Lucchesi

Buy-in: $1,500
Entrants: 759
Prize Pool: $1,036,035
First-Place Prize: $227,933

Vanessa Selbst came to the final table of the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha event at the 2008 World Series of Poker with a lot of momentum. She was the overwhelming chip leader, and she put those chips to good use, knocking out four opponents en route to threehanded action. Selbst suffered a small setback when play got down to Stanley Statkiewicz, Jamie Pickering, and her. Both opponents managed to double up through Selbst, but she regained control by eliminating Statkiewicz, which set up the heads-up match with Pickering.

A loud and raucous crowd began to gather as Pickering adopted an insane habit of playing his hands blind at times. He took the chip lead once, but his wild ways led to his ultimate demise. The heads-up match took an hour and a half to complete, and by the time it had built to a conclusion, hundreds of fans lined the rail to catch a glimpse of the unbelievable action. People went crazy as they watched Pickering raising the pot blindly, and it created a party atmosphere during the final hour of play. Pickering's wild and crazy strategy, combined with the skill of Selbst, made for the most entertaining final-table atmosphere of the summer. "That was awesome. At one point, I called the pot bet, and then I check-raised all in with a very, very bad hand in Omaha. I said, 'You know what, you're gambling.' I was up against a random hand with good pot odds, so at that point, you've got to have a little gamble in you. You can't play tight the whole time. He's a really fun guy; I couldn't have imagined that's how I'd win the bracelet," said Selbst.

Selbst captured her first gold bracelet and also became the first woman at the 2008 WSOP to win a bracelet in an open buy-in event. Selbst is a 23-year-old professional poker player who now has more than $600,000 in career tournament winnings. She plans to walk away from the game after this year and pursue a law degree at Yale University, where she also completed her undergraduate work in 2005. "This doesn't change the fact that I'm going back to law school. This might or might not be my last WSOP; I'm not sure what I'll be doing next summer. If it is my last WSOP, it feels great to have won one, for sure," said Selbst.

Daniel Negreanu Wins Event No. 20 (Limit Hold'em)
By Julio Rodriguez

Buy-in: $2,000
Entrants: 480
Prize Pool: $873,600
First-Place Prize: $204,434

With the eyes of the Amazon Room upon him, Daniel Negreanu came to the final table of the $2,000 limit hold'em event more focused and determined than ever before. Starting third in chips, Negreanu combined patience, aggression, and uncanny reads to propel himself to the title, and his fourth World Series of Poker bracelet.

The 2008 WSOP has truly been the year of the pro, as the notable household names have cleaned up in bracelets. Despite the reoccurring trend of stacked final tables, Negreanu was the sole headliner at this affair, but that didn't stop the railbirds from crowding the stage as each and every card hit the felt.

The action started fast as the short stacks fell one by one. Meanwhile, Negreanu picked his spots, won more than his fair share of hands, and took the chip lead. When it got down to threehanded play, Negreanu's pocket aces and pocket kings were cracked to put his tournament life in jeopardy. "I started to think negatively, but then I realized I was all right," said Negreanu. "Limit hold'em suits my small-ball strategy perfectly. They have to see flops with me, and that's where I really have the advantage."

After picking up a few sizeable pots and making a gutsy call with ace high, Negreanu was back in the driver's seat. His rivered straight took out poker professional David Baker, and then a flopped flush gave him a 5-to-1 chip lead over Ugur Marangoz. Just a few hands later, Negreanu had sealed the deal and won his fourth career bracelet. His first-place prize of more than $200,000 puts him just a few thousand shy of $10 million in career tournament earnings.

Scott 'gunning4you' Seiver Wins Event No. 21 (No-Limit Hold'em)
By Ryan Lucchesi

Buy-in: $5,000
Entrants: 731
Prize Pool: $3,435,700
First-Place Prize: $755,891

Las Vegas native and 23-year-old online professional poker player Scott "gunning4you" Seiver just missed making his first final table of the 2008 World Series of Poker when he busted out in 13th place in the $1,500 pot-limit hold'em event. He followed that up by taking 22nd place in the $10,000 mixed-game world championship a few days later. Seiver made the third try the charm when he defeated a tough final table in Event No. 21. He outlasted online professionals Scott "SCTrojans" Freeman and Adam "csimmsux" Geyer, as well as red-hot Jacobo Fernandez, to win his first gold bracelet. He came to the final table with the large stack, and never relinquished the role of chip leader.

Jens Voertmann Wins Event No. 22 (H.O.R.S.E.)
By Julio Rodriguez

Buy-in: $3,000
Entrants: 414
Prize Pool: $1,142,640
First-Place Prize: $298,253

As was the case in the mixed-games events at this year's World Series of Poker, a predictably star-studded final table formed to determine a champion of the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. event. Coming to the final table third in chips, Full Tilt Pro Jens Voertmann was able to overcome the likes of Jennifer Harman, Steve Zolotow, Hoyt Corkins, and Marcel Luske to take his first bracelet and by far the biggest cash of his career back to Germany.

Voertmann proudly spoke of the rising interest in poker in his home country and speculated that his victory could spark even more of an increase in its popularity among his fellow Germans. "Poker is growing and growing and growing in Germany," said Voertmann. "It's becoming very popular. Full Tilt has just hired 10 pros, so you can see how popular it is. We now have five German players who have won bracelets, and that's something special."

Blair Hinkle Wins Event No. 23 (No-Limit Hold'em)
By Ryan Lucchesi

Buy-in: $2,000
Entrants: 1,344
Prize Pool: $2,446,080
First-Place Prize: $507,613

Friday, June 13, 2008, was truly a historic night at the 39th-annual World Series of Poker, when 22-year-old Blair Hinkle won his first gold bracelet and $507,563 in prize money in impressive fashion. He also accomplished a feat with his brother that had never happened in the 38 previous years of the tournament. Grant Hinkle, Blair's older brother, won event No. 2 to capture his first gold bracelet. This makes the Hinkles the first brothers in the history of the WSOP to win bracelets in the same year. Only one other pair of brothers even hold bracelets: Puggy Pearson (three bracelets in 1973) and J.C. Pearson (one bracelet in 1994).

It was Grant who originally introduced poker to his brother, but Blair went on to become a full-time poker professional while Grant kept his day job as a marketing manager in Kansas City, Missouri. Now, they both have bracelets, and their mother (who attended both final tables) is the hands-down proudest parent in the world of poker.

Blair has made a splash recently as a hyperaggressive fresh face on the tournament trail, and he reinforced this by winning a third of the pots at the final table. He came to the table second in chips, but once things got started, he took over and never looked back. Blair eliminated his last six opponents and left no doubts about his claim to the prize. The lone roadblock in his way was Dustin Dirksen, the other aggressive force at the final table, but Hinkle sent him packing in fifth place, and then cruised to victory. "I was really glad to see him off the table. The rest of the players were a little bit tighter, so they allowed me to open up and raise a lot of pots and take down a lot of uncontested pots," said Hinkle.

The win was impressive, but even more impressive was its historic significance. Hinkle also had this to say about the piece of history that he now shares with his brother: "We're setting a record together, and he's the one who really got me going in poker, besides my grandma, so I'm really happy that we both could win in the same year and do something really unique. It's been a blast."

Max Pescatori Wins Event No. 24 (Pot-Limit Hold'em/Omaha)
By Julio Rodriguez

Buy-in: $2,500
Entrants: 457
Prize Pool: $1,051,100
First-Place Prize: $246,471

In what has proven to be just the beginning of Italy's success at the 2008 World Series of Poker, Max "The Italian Pirate" Pescatori took down his second career bracelet in the half pot-limit hold'em/half Omaha event. Sporting a sling for his sliced-up arm, Pescatori battled a formidable final table that included Allen Cunningham, who was gunning for his fourth bracelet in as many years. Cunningham fell just short with a fourth-place finish, but has proven year after year how consistent he is at the WSOP.

Pescatori mentioned that nothing could top his first bracelet in 2006, when the Italian national soccer team won the World Cup, but did talk about the affirmation of his skills. "Of course, the first bracelet is always the best one. This one is another confirmation of my skills and the work that I put into poker," said Pescatori. "I really love the game, and this helps me reaffirm to myself that I'm actually pretty good."

Also making an appearance at the final table were Minh Ly and Jonathan "HoosierAlum" Depa. Pescatori complimented Depa on his play, stating that the young online professional played well, and if not for a bad beat, would have been a tough opponent to take on heads up.

Pescatori has been the spark of a poker movement within Italy, and consistent winners such as Dario Minieri, Marco Traniello, Luca Pagano, Dario Alioto, and Cristiano Blanco have followed in his footsteps to make a name for themselves and their home country at this year's WSOP.

Kenny Tran Wins Event No. 25 (Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em World Championship)
By Julio Rodriguez

Buy-in: $10,000
Entrants: 256
Prize Pool: $2,406,400
First-Place Prize: $539,056

A final-table appearance in last year's $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. tournament got him noticed. A deep finish in the main event made him feared. A 10th-place finish in this year's World Poker Tour Championship made him one of poker's best. After coming so close to a major title for more than a year, L.A. cash-game pro Kenny Tran finally sealed the deal by winning his first World Series of Poker bracelet. It was truly the best Father's Day gift the father of three could ask for.

Tran traveled a tough road to the finals, as he bested the likes of Jonathan Jaffe, Roman Paradiso, Erick Lindgren, and good friend Brandon Adams. Tran credited his slow, methodical pace of play for his victory over online pro Alec Torelli. "My strategy for playing online players is always the same," said Tran. "Take a really long time, grind them down, play small, and basically just bore them into making a mistake."

Torelli made his deepest finish in the WSOP thus far in his short career, but came up just short as he fell in two consecutive matches. Torelli defeated recent bracelet winner Vanessa Selbst in the semifinals to advance. This marks the second consecutive year that Selbst was eliminated just before the finals, and a victory would have made her the first woman to win two open events in the same year.

Barry Greenstein Wins Event No. 26 (Razz)
By Andy Liakos

Buy-in: $1,500
Entrants: 453
Prize Pool: $618,345
First-Place Prize: $157,643

Following in much the same tradition of events prior, another pro won another gold bracelet, and this time it was Barry Greenstein, in the $1,500 razz event.

Clearly the most experienced player at the final table, Greenstein still had his work cut out for him. It would be no easy task getting through this final table, which featured several Internet pros such as Mike Wattel and the man considered to be the world's greatest gambler, Archie "The Greek" Karas. This was the second World Series of Poker final table together for Wattel and Karas. Wattel finished fifth and Karas finished fourth in this very same event in 2005, and, in fact, this was Wattel's fourth time at the final table of this event since 1999. This final table also marked a very special occasion in Wattel's poker career, guaranteeing him enough prize money to break the $1 million mark, granting him exclusive access into the poker-made millionaires club.

Greenstein came to this final table second in chips and remained pretty low on the radar until play got down to the final three. He took the chip lead from Christopher Viox for the first time and never gave it up, slowly putting more and more distance between himself and his opponents, until the betting limits and his suffocating chip lead ultimately proved to be too great to overcome.

In an epic battle of wit and determination, Greenstein led Christopher Klodnicki in heads-up play 985,000 to 380,000. It wasn't long before Greenstein had his opponent down to his last few bets with a 10-1 chip lead, only to have Klodnicki double through and claw his way back to even. This would happen on several occasions throughout the night until Klodnicki and his terminal short stack eventually succumbed to the pressures of the betting limits. After hours of grueling heads-up play, it was Greenstein who emerged victorious, taking home his third gold bracelet and the $157,643 top prize. Klodnicki showed a lot of heart, but in the end, it just wasn't enough, as he had to settle for second place and $97,389.

As soon as Greenstein accepted his bracelet, he double-timed it over to the $10,000 limit hold'em world championship event, where he already had another stack waiting for him. A true pro, Greenstein barely had pocketed his third WSOP bracelet before he was off trying to win his fourth.

Vitaly Lunkin Wins Event No. 27 (No-Limit Hold'em)
By Ryan Lucchesi

Buy-in: $1,500
Entrants: 2,706
Prize Pool: $3,693,690
First-Place Prize: $628,417

When day 3 began in event No. 27 at the 2008 World Series of Poker, 17 players remained in the hunt. The $1,500 no-limit hold'em event attracted 2,706 players, and eliminating 2,697 of them proved to be too much to fit into two days of play. There was neither a big-name professional remaining nor a runaway chip leader when the day began, so the tournament and its $628,417 first-place prize were anyone's for the taking. In the end, it was the player who held the slight chip lead to start the day who emerged with the gold bracelet. Vitaly Lunkin is a 37-year-old businessman from Moscow, Russia, and he held 912,000 in chips when the day began; 12 hours later, he held every chip in the tournament, as well as his first gold bracelet.

Phil Galfond Wins Event No. 28 (Pot-Limit Omaha With Rebuys)
By Julio Rodriguez

Buy-in: $5,000 with rebuys
Entrants: 152
Prize Pool: $3,085,930
First-Place Prize: $817,781

In what has been regarded by some as the best final table ever formed at the World Series of Poker, in the $5,000 pot-limit Omaha rebuy event, two online players took out some of the game's best to match up in an epic heads-up battle for the bracelet.

In relatively quick fashion, Brian "tsarrast" Rast went from being one of the chip leaders to out, as he took some tough beats at the hands of Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan, each hoping to add to their already impressive bracelet totals. Hellmuth exited shortly thereafter and was followed by Daniel Negreanu, who was in for a ridiculous $85,000 in rebuys. His seventh-place finish ensured that he finished in the black, albeit with a relatively modest profit.

Notables John Juanda, Kirill Gerasimov, and Johnny Chan busted out in rapid succession, and play ground to a near halt threehanded. David Benyamine, Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond's biggest threat to the title, went out in third place to start the heads-up match.

Despite a large chip advantage, it took more than 100 hands for Galfond to take out Adam Hourani. Both players were content to play small pots and wait for the best spot. In the end, Galfond's turned two pair held up to give him the title, the bracelet, and more than $800,000 in winnings --- not a bad score, considering his $25,000 investment.

John Phan Wins Event No. 29 (No-Limit Hold'em)
By Julio Rodriguez

Buy-in: $3,000
Entrants: 716
Prize Pool: $1,976,160
First-Place Prize: $434,789

After years of coming close and finishing just short, John "The Razor" Phan finally got his first World Series of Poker bracelet. Phan had finished runner-up twice before at the WSOP, along with numerous other final-table appearances, but he wouldn't be denied any longer.

His win wasn't easy, however, as notable online players George "muckthenuts" Dunst and Matt "Plattsburgh" Vengrin forced him to lay down some big hands early on, cutting his starting stack nearly in half. Phan was forced to battle back from the short stack and eventually navigated his way past professionals David Singer and Alex Bolotin.

When he got heads up with Johnny Neckar, a bad beat nearly gave him yet another second-place finish, but a three-outer on the river gave him the miracle he needed to double up, reclaim the chip lead, and ultimately take home the gold.

Rob Hollink Wins Event No. 30 (World Championship Limit Hold'em)
By Ryan Lucchesi

Buy-in: $10,000
Entrants: 218
Prize Pool: $2,049,200
First-Place Prize: $496,931

Heading into the 2008 World Series of Poker, 46-year-old professional poker player Rob Hollink had accumulated more than $2 million in career tournament winnings. But going to the final table of the $10,000 limit hold'em world championship, he had never won a gold bracelet. That all changed when he topped a tough final table to claim his place in WSOP history. "I think this is better. What else do you want to win besides a World Series of Poker gold bracelet? I have been coming here since 2001, and I have played 80 to 90 events and have done pretty badly, and I never knew why. I always thought I was unlucky here. I have won 15 tournaments in Europe; here, I never could find the solution to why I didn't do well. But I thought that one day I was going to win. That day is here, and it feels very good. The longer you wait, the better it feels, I guess," said Hollink.

He also made history by becoming the first player from the Netherlands (his hometown is Groningen, located in the northeastern corner of the country near the German border) to win a gold bracelet. Hollink now can add his WSOP victory and first-place prize of $496,931 to his impressive career, which also includes the first-ever European Poker Tour Grand Final title. Hollink had a large contingent of Dutch supporters in the crowd who rallied around their countryman in much the same way that they fervently support their athletes at the Olympic Games.

The European veteran was raised on pot-limit Omaha, but he has always had a strong acumen for limit hold'em. "I like to play limit hold'em; it's probably my second-best game. Originally, I played a lot of pot-limit Omaha, and besides that, I played a lot of limit hold'em. I've always liked to play limit hold'em tournaments; it's the kind of game I really like to play. You can be aggressive without being reraised out of the pot if you are too aggressive too often," said Hollink.

Dario Minieri Wins Event No. 31 (No-Limit Hold'em Sixhanded)
By Ryan Lucchesi

Buy-in: $2,500
Entrants: 1,012
Prize Pool: $2,327,600
First-Place Prize: $528,418

Online poker professional Dario Minieri has been crushing competitors in the online poker world for some time now, but a first win in a live major tournament had eluded him. He came close on the European Poker Tour twice, but both times, he finished in third place. One of these finishes came in the EPT Baden championship event, while the other hit much closer to home, at Italy's first major poker tournament, the EPT San Remo championship event, with all of his countrymen cheering him on. Heading to the final table of the $2,500 no-limit hold'em sixhanded event at the 2008 World Series of Poker, Minieri wanted to break through his third-place roadblock as badly as he wanted a bracelet.

The 23-year-old Minieri steamrolled the competition early, and his hyperaggressive style, which he has perfected online, was firing on all cylinders. At one point early at the final table, Minieri had won 14 pots but had to show his cards only twice, as he snapped off his opponents' raises with large reraises. It looked like he would put his third-place ghosts to rest, but then fate dealt him into a three-way dogfight. "I had a nightmare about third place, because I've come in third two times on the European Poker Tour, so when we were down to three, I played a little tighter. There were many all ins, nobody went out, and I was getting nervous, but I got a text message from my Italian friends that said, 'Dario, don't worry; you're going to do well,'" said Minieri. Before the bracelet winner was decided, every player in the final three was all in for his tournament life at one point, including Minieri. It was a wild ride, to say the least, and the large group of Italian fans on hand created one of the most exciting final-table atmospheres of the summer.

Minieri emerged victorious in the end and was awarded his first gold bracelet and $528,418 in prize money, while a group of his countrymen applauded, including Max Pescatori, the Italian professional who won his second gold bracelet in event No. 24. "We talk about the game with each other and become better together. Talking with Max about the game has been good for me. I'm very happy that poker in Italy is growing, and I'm very happy that I can talk about poker with people like Max and other Italian players," said Minieri.

Jose-Luis Velador Wins Event No. 32 (No-Limit Hold'em)
By Julio Rodriguez

Buy-in: $1,500
Entrants: 2,304
Prize Pool: $3,144,960
First-Place Prize: $574,734

L.A. cash-game pro Jose-Luis Velador came to the final table with a massive chip lead, and with relative ease, he took out most of his opponents to claim his first World Series of Poker bracelet. Velador had a bit of trouble putting away second-place finisher Anthony Signore, but ultimately his big stack prevailed and he took home nearly $600,000.

Velador wasn't the only Commerce Casino regular at the final table, as up-and-coming tournament pro Osmin "Odie" Dardon finished in third place. Dardon was arguably the most experienced player at a table full of relative unknowns. In recent years, it has been the unknown who has ruled the WSOP, but this year's Series has been a bit of an anomaly, as stacked tables full of professionals have become the norm.

Sebastian Ruthenberg Wins Event No. 33 (World Championship Seven-Card Stud Eight-or-Better)
By Ryan Lucchesi

Buy-in: $5,000
Entrants: 261
Prize Pool: $1,226,700
First-Place Prize: $328,762

Sebastian Ruthenberg had a tall order to fill to start the final day of the $5,000 seven-card stud eight-or-better world championship at the 2008 World Series of Poker. On just a few hours of sleep, he had to run the gauntlet at a final table that included Steve Sung, Marcel Luske, and Annie Duke. After he accomplished that feat, waiting for him was a tough heads-up match against Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. Ruthenberg came out on top, and he won his first gold bracelet and $328,762 as his just rewards. A loud group of German supporters was with him every step of the way, creating an international party atmosphere in the Amazon Room.