Top 10 Moments of the 2008 World Series of Poker

The 2008 World Series of Poker is over, save the crowning of the world champion that will take place in November. During the bulk of the main event and the 54 events that preceded it, a lot of amazing things took place. Card Player has compiled the top 10 moments, which encompass the faces and achievements that told the story of the event.



No. 1: Scotty Nguyen Wins the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship

By Ryan Lucchesi



With the main-event final table moving to Nov. 9, the new main event of the summer became the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. world championship. The star-studded affair took on the fan-frenzied qualities of an all-star game, and in the end, a fan favorite emerged as the winner. "The Prince of Poker," Scotty Nguyen, won the third edition of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event, and in doing so became the first player in history to hold the titles of main-event world champion and H.O.R.S.E. world champion. Nguyen won the event with the charisma and flair that has made him one of the most popular poker players in the world.



Many times during the tournament, Nguyen got up from the table to blow off steam while the tournament was still in progress, in an attempt to avoid the meltdown he experienced in the 2007 main event (in which he was among the chip leaders heading to the television-table bubble, but missed the final table, busting out in 10th place). Many fans asked Nguyen for his autograph and for pictures when he left the table, and he obliged their requests every time, even though it meant getting blinded off while he was away. In the end, Nguyen defeated Michael DeMichele heads up for the bracelet, but the true battle took place during a three-handed war that included Nguyen, DeMichele, and Erick Lindgren. Nguyen was also the very first player in history to be awarded the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy after his win. It is inscribed with his name, along with those of the first two winners, the late Chip Reese and Freddy Deeb.



No. 2: Blair and Grant Hinkle Become the First Brothers Ever to Win Gold Bracelets at the Same WSOP

By Julio Rodriguez


Coming into the 2008 WSOP, little was known about the Hinkles, a family of poker players from Kansas City, Missouri. Younger brother Blair had shown some success on the tournament trail, but nobody could have anticipated what came next.

In event No. 2, one of the largest live tournaments in poker history, 27-year-old Grant, a part-time player, navigated a field of nearly 4,000 to take home the $831,462 first-place prize and his first gold bracelet. Cheering him on from the rail was 22-year-old Blair, who had won nearly $200,000 during the past year, but had fallen just short of a major score; that is, until two weeks later when, in event No. 23, he steamrolled the competition for the top prize of $507,613 and yet another gold bracelet for the Hinkle family.



Poker was truly a family affair while growing up in the Hinkle household. The brothers learned to play poker from their grandmother around the kitchen table. Grant caught the bug early, but it was Blair who really ran with it. After cashing in last year's main event, Blair came close to two World Poker Tour final tables by cashing in the L.A. Poker Classic and the Bay 101 Shooting Star. A month before the Series, Blair made the final table of the WSOP Circuit event at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and he was no doubt poised to put the Hinkle name on the map at the WSOP. Little did he know that he and Grant would make history by becoming the only brothers to win a bracelet in the same year.



Despite learning the game together, both players displayed a very different game in their two victories. Blair is persistently aggressive, while Grant prefers to hold back a bit. When asked about the differences between their playing styles, Grant commented, "He is just so relentless and so aggressive; he just keeps applying pressure. I'm talking to him about different situations, and it's hard to get comfortable with some of the stuff he's suggesting."



So, who is the better player? When asked, Blair modestly replied, "I'm not sure. If we play no-limit, I think I might have an edge on him, but if we play limit or stud or anything else, he's much better at those games than I am. He would crush me in limit hold'em, for sure."



While the Hinkles are still a long way off from catching up to the Brunsons, with a 19-year-old younger brother waiting in the wings, anything is possible.



No. 3: Layne Flack Wins Bracelet No. 6 and Redemption

By Ryan Lucchesi



Layne Flack won his first gold bracelet in 1999, in a $3,000 pot-limit hold'em event. He added a pair of gold bracelets three years later in 2002, winning two no-limit hold'em events. Then, Flack did something remarkable in his career; he won multiple bracelets in back-to-back years. In 2003, Flack won the $2,500 Omaha eight-or-better event and the $1,500 limit hold'em shootout. Holding five bracelets at just 35 years of age, Flack began to draw comparisons to another five-time bracelet winner, poker prodigy Stu Ungar. At that point in time, it was for all the right reasons.



But five years later, at the beginning of the 2008 WSOP, Flack still held five gold bracelets, and he began to draw comparisons to Ungar for all the wrong reasons. He came close to winning a sixth bracelet at the 2005 WSOP, when he finished second in a $1,500 pot-limit hold'em event, but his fast living was affecting his tournament play. "I got off track pretty good for a while. I spent the last year regrouping and getting my life back together," said Flack. He arrived at the 2008 WSOP refreshed, revived, and ready to win. He won his sixth gold bracelet in the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha rebuy event, in which he rebought 22 times but eventually walked away with the first-place prize of $577,725 (the largest single win of his career). Flack now holds six gold bracelets, tying him with T.J. Cloutier, Jay Heimowitz, and Men "The Master" Nguyen on the all-time leader board. There are only six men on the planet who hold more bracelets than Flack, and now that he has brought the focus back to his game, he still has ample time to chase more records.



No. 4: John Phan Wins Two Gold Bracelets

By Ryan Lucchesi



When John Phan began the 2008 WSOP, he was among the group of players considered the best to never have won a bracelet. He finishedrunner-up to Jon Friedberg in the $1,000 no-limit hold'em event in 2006. Despite cashing 11 times at the WSOP and making appearances at four final tables, that first gold bracelet continued to elude Phan, despite more than $3 million in career tournament winnings.



That all changed in 2008, as Phan became the only player at the WSOP to walk away with two gold bracelets. He won his first in a $3,000 no-limit hold'em event, taking home $434,789 for his largest cash of the summer. His second bracelet came exactly one week later, when he won the $2,500 no-limit deuce-to-seven triple-draw lowball event. This was worth another $151,911. Phan cashed three other times, as well, to bank an additional $21,763.



If that wasn't enough, Phan made the final table of the World Poker Tour Bellagio Cup IV (fifth place – $193,915) directly following the conclusion of the WSOP, punctuating what was arguably the best summer for a poker player in Las Vegas. Phan then headed to Vietnam for a few weeks to provide much needed charity to the villages close to where he grew up in his home country. When he returns to the United States, he will gear up for a run at the 2008 Card Player Player of the Year title. At the time of this writing, he is in second place with 4,181 points, just 399 points behind the current leader, Erik Seidel.



No. 5: The Best Never to Have Won a Bracelet … Not Anymore

By Ryan Lucchesi



The title of best player never to have won a bracelet haunts poker players the same way that the title of best player never to have won a championship/Super Bowl/World Series haunts professional athletes. In 2008, many of these players escaped from that infamous group by winning their first gold bracelets. None of them did so with more flash than Erick Lindgren, who quite possibly was the very best player in that group. Lindgren came painfully close to winning his first in 2006, but he finished runner-up to that year's phenom, Jeff Madsen, in the $5,000 no-limit hold'em six-handed event. This year was a little different for Lindgren; he came right out of the gate and claimed his first bracelet by winning the $5,000 mixed-hold'em event, and then went on to cash a total of five times and make two more final tables, which included a third-place finish in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. world championship. Lindgren won $1,312,096 and left the debate over the best player never to have won a bracelet in his rearview mirror.



Other notable players who won their first gold bracelets in 2008 included David Singer ($1,500 pot-limit hold'em), Nenad Medic ($10,000 pot-limit hold'em world championship), Kenny Tran ($10,000 heads-up no-limit hold'em world championship), Rob Hollink ($10,000 limit hold'em world championship), David Benyamine ($10,000 Omaha eight-or-better world championship), J.C. Tran ($1,500 no-limit hold'em), and John Phan (who, as mentioned above, won two gold bracelets). Notable online professionals also collected their first gold bracelets in 2008, including Dario Minieri ($2,000 no-limit hold'em six-handed), Phil Galfond ($5,000 pot-limit Omaha with rebuys), and Scott Seiver ($5,000 no-limit hold'em). The year of the professional helped make the club for the best players never to have won a bracelet much smaller.



No. 6: Card Player World Series of Poker Player of the Year – Jacobo Fernandez

By Cameron Yoos



In the rankings of mankind's greatest debates, it falls second only to "tastes great, less filling."

The question continues to dog us – quantity or quality?



Of course, the best answer, as provided by Jacobo Fernandez at the 2008 WSOP, is both. Fernandez, from Hollywood, Florida, not only cashed in seven WSOP events, but also managed to snag seats at three different final tables. He finished second in the $1,500 pot-limit hold'em event for $136,644, third in the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha rebuy event for $222,659, and fourth in the $5,000 no-limit hold'em event for $238,781.



Seven cashes is a feat even casual poker fans can appreciate, but it was Fernandez's presence at three final tables that made professional poker players stand up and take notice. He was also on the brink of a fourth final table when he placed 12th in the $10,000 seven-card stud world championship, earning $33,417. He also added impressive top-30 finishes in the $5,000 no-limit hold'em shootout event (25th overall for $16,920) and the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better rebuy event (30th overall for $4,619).



No. 7: Vanessa Selbst Wins an Open Buy-In Event

By Scott McDaniel


Vanessa Selbst became the only woman to win an open buy-in event at the 2008 WSOP when she bested 758 players to take down the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha title. The win earned Selbst $227,933 and her first WSOP bracelet.



The victory was the highlight of an overall impressive Series for the native of Brooklyn, New York. Days after the biggest win of her career, Selbst nearly won a second bracelet by fighting her way through the $10,000 heads-up no-limit hold'em world championship field, eliminating tough competition that included brothers Michael and Robert Mizrachi. She eventually finished third, just short of the finals. This deep run was good enough for $108,288, and her three cashes at the 2008 WSOP totaled $350,359.



But it's not like she came out of nowhere. The 24-year-old Yale graduate has now made a WSOP final table in each of the last three years, has nearly $700,000 in lifetime tournament winnings, and has seven career WSOP cashes. It began in 2006 when she took seventh in a no-limit hold'em event. She came back in 2007 and finished eighth in the $1,000 ladies no-limit hold'em world championship, and then finished third in the $5,000 heads-up no-limit hold'em world championship a couple of weeks later. She earned nearly $150,000 at the 2007 WSOP.



Though a poker professional, Selbst said that she believes it's important to give back and do some good in the world. She plans to return to Yale to study law and eventually work on human-rights issues.



No. 8: Nikolay Evdakov Sets the Record For Most Cashes at One WSOP With 10

By Alex Porter


The 2008 World Series of Poker boasted many record-breaking numbers. A total of 58,720 players entered 55 events, up 8 percent from last year's total of 54,288, and the total awarded prize money this year rose 13 percent from 2007, to $180,676,248. Toward the end of the Series, the record-breaking accomplishments of one Russian player created quite a buzz among players, spectators, and pros.



As a relatively unknown player from Moscow with only a few previous tournament cashes, Nikolay Evdakov turned heads by setting a new record of 10 cashes in a single WSOP. The previous record of eight cashes was held by four players: Humberto Brenes (2006), Phil Hellmuth (2006), Tom Schneider (2007), and Michael Binger (2007).



Evdakov started his WSOP by collecting $49,632 for a 12th-place finish in the $10,000 pot-limit hold'em world championship. Although that would remain Evdakov's highest finish during his 2008 WSOP run, his 14th-place finish in the $5,000 pot-limit Omaha event netted him his highest single payday, $61,718. Evdakov took home a combined total of $228,526 for his 10 cashes.



He displayed skill in a variety of games. Only five of his cashes came from hold'em events, one in pot-limit and four in no-limit. Three of his cashes were in pot-limit Omaha events, with the remaining two in deuce-to-seven lowball and a mixed-game event that included deuce-to-seven triple draw, Omaha eight-or-better, pot-limit Omaha, stud, stud eight-or-better, razz, and both limit and no-limit hold'em.



No. 9: The World's Best Add to Their Bracelet Collections

By Sharad Mattu



Every year's WSOP has a theme, and this year was no different. From the first event to when the main event's final table was set, professional poker players – from household names to anonymous online grinders – dominated.



Then, over the course of one week in mid-June, three of the world's most famous poker players ended a bracelet drought that had stood since 2005. These players, who held a combined seven bracelets, added three more.



The first to do so was Mike Matusow in the $5,000 no-limit deuce-to-seven lowball rebuy event, which always lures the best of the best. Known for his perpetually running mouth and his tendency to derail and blow up after hours of good play, Matusow avoided that this time around. He survived a stacked final table that included Erick Lindgren, David Benyamine, Tony G, and Barry Greenstein, and then came back against Jeffrey Lisandro in heads-up play. It was his third bracelet overall, and first since 2002.



Just one day later, it was Daniel Negreanu's turn to end his slump. He won his fourth bracelet and first since 2004, when he won the $2,000 limit hold'em event. Negreanu won a bracelet in the first WSOP event he entered in 1998, but didn't win again for five years. But while nobody says that Negreanu doesn't know how to handle the ups and downs of poker, his win was important to him for a different reason. "Every year, you hear the people talk about how you're washed up and you're too busy with your outside interests, your PokerStars deals, and all the traveling," Negreanu said shortly after winning. "But what people don't realize is that poker is still my number one thing, no matter what."



Three days later, Barry Greenstein, who just a decade ago would often pass on WSOP events in favor of the more lucrative cash games, won his third bracelet, and first since 2005. The event was $1,500 razz, and Greenstein truly had to earn this one. Final-table play lasted more than nine hours, and only one other open event had a first-place prize that was less than the $157,619 Greenstein took home.



When poker's popularity shot through the roof, these three players became stars, and deservedly so. But camera time doesn't change the realities of poker. For a while, at least when it came to WSOP events, things weren't going Matusow's, Negreanu's, and Greenstein's way. But that all changed in just one week.



No. 10: Ryan Hughes Becomes the First Player Ever to Win Two Bracelets in Seven-Card Stud Eight-or-Better

By Cris Pannullo



Johnny Moss. Doyle Brunson. Chip Reese. Phil Ivey. Men Nguyen. Each of these legends owns a WSOP bracelet in seven-card stud eight-or-better. Ryan Hughes has them all beat. With a win in this year's $1,500 seven-card stud eight-or-better event, Hughes became the first player in history to win two gold bracelets in that stud variant.



What makes Hughes' accomplishment even more impressive is that his second bracelet came only a year after the first. Last year, the 27-year-old professional poker player from Phoenix, Arizona, entered the $2,000 event on a whim. Having won a few single-table tournaments and feeling like he was running hot, Hughes took his shot at the $2,000 event, ultimately outlasting 339 other competitors en route to his first bracelet.



This year, Hughes had even more work to do; 544 players posted the $1,500 buy-in to try to prove their mettle on the game's biggest stage. Hughes, however, very nearly sat it out: "I wasn't even supposed to play this event. I was supposed to go home [on the day the tournament started], but someone e-mailed me and told me to play it, so I decided to play." That simple e-mail would be the start of a three-day poker marathon, culminating in his second bracelet in as many years. Despite the excitement of winning his first bracelet, Hughes takes more pride in his latest title: "I think the second bracelet means a little more because it is a tougher crowd to get into. A lot of people get the first bracelet, but the second one means that it is not quite a fluke."



Calling his success a fluke would indeed be harsh, but Hughes' World Series triumphs certainly did come against the odds. Despite being well-versed in his preferred games of no-limit hold'em and Omaha eight-or-better, Hughes has almost no seven-card stud eight-or-better experience. "I never really play the game," Hughes admitted matter-of-factly. For his two bracelet victories, Hughes has amassed $359,726 in winnings, but even that has not convinced him to play more seven-card stud eight-or-better. "I'll probably just play it the two times a year that it's at the World Series," he said.