World Poker Open Final Table Bios

Today's final table at the 2007 World Poker Open features one of the more experienced lineups in a while. Combined, they have 11 prior appearances on the World Poker Tour, and 11 World Series of Poker bracelets. Two of these players already have WPT titles on their résumés, and they're hoping to join the exclusive club of multiple-WPT winners.

Here is some background information on the six final tablists:

Seat 1
Freddy Deeb
1,345,000 in chips

Kassem “Freddy” Deeb is one of the superstar poker players, beloved by fans and respected by his peers. His long career includes more than $5.6 million in career earnings, including 2 WSOP bracelets and a WPT title in the 2005 Aruba Poker Classic.

His biggest victory came in the 2007 WSOP $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event, where he showcased his skills in all aspects of poker to pick up the $2.2 million first prize.

Deeb is an engaging player, often talking and joking while he plays. This will be his fourth WPT final table, his first dates all the way back to the first episode of Season I, where Deeb finished third in the 2002 Bellagio Five-Diamond World Poker Classic.

With tremendous skill, experience, and the chip lead, Deeb is the clear favorite to win today, which would put him in the exclusive club of players with multiple WPT titles.


Seat 2
Brett Faustman
1,282,000 in chips

Brett Faustman is 28 years old and married, with a career in commercial insurance sales. But he used to be a poker dealer, and now he's taking his shot at the poker big time. He entered a $1,000 satellite here at the Gold Strike to win his entry into this, his first WPT event. It's paid off, so far, as he's parlayed that $1,000 all the way to the televised final table.

Faustman grew up in Michigan, where he was a top wrestler in college. But college wrestling doesn't pay the bills (NCAA rules and all that), so he made a living of sorts by winning money from the other players at poker.

Second in chips, Faustman starts the day in good position. But he'll have to navigate an extremely tough, experienced lineup at this final table.


Seat 3
Men “The Master” Nguyen
729,000 in chips

Men “The Master” Nguyen is one of the most accomplished players in the history of poker. He has won more than $8 million in his career in live tournaments, putting him in 10th place on the all-time money list. He has six WSOP bracelets, and his 57 WSOP cashes put him in second place on the all-time list behind Phil Hellmuth. He also made the final table of the 1996 WSOP main event, finishing in fourth place.

Nguyen has been named Card Player Player of the Year a record four times (1997, 2001, 2003, 2005), and this will be his fifth appearance at a WPT final table.

That's all fine and good, but what has Nguyen done lately? Well, less than two weeks ago he won event No. 14 here at the Gold Strike's World Poker Open.

While Nguyen's starting chip stack is a little below average, he is still a threat to win every tournament he plays, and the other players are definitely aware of it.


Seat 4
Gabe Costner
1,181,000 in chips

Gabe Costner is a 30-year-old southerner (born in Alabama, living in Mississippi) who started his career as a financial advisor before becoming a professional poker player. Costner is a cash-game specialist who rarely plays tournaments, but he's certainly glad he signed up for this one.

Costner's home casino is the Beau Rivage down in Biloxi, home to the WPT's Gulf Coast Poker Championship. His girlfriend Claudia -- also a cash game player -- will be here in the stands today, rooting him to victory.


Seat 5
Hoyt Corkins
395,000 in chips

“Cowboy” Hoyt Corkins is no stranger to fans of the WPT, as this will be his fifth appearance on the show. The highlight of his career was his victory at WPT Foxwoods all the way back in Season II, where he became the first player to win $1 million in a regular-season WPT tournament. Corkins would love to add his second WPT title today.

Corkins has been playing poker professionally for 29 years, picking up nearly $3.4 million in career earnings along the way. He won a WSOP bracelet back in 1992 and added another in 2007. He has made five WSOP final tables, and finished second to Mike Matusow in the 2005 WSOP Tournament of Champions -- one of the most exciting final tables of the televised era.

While he can be soft-spoken at the table, Corkins lets his chips do the talking. He's starting with a short stack today, but his experience makes him a big factor in this tournament.


Seat 6
John Spadavecchia
256,000 in chips

While you might not recognize John Spadavecchia, he is an extremely accomplished poker player, with career earnings of more than $2.3 million. Born in Italy 69 years ago, he grew up in Florida, and he's married with three children. In addition to his time playing poker, he's also a distributor of ceramic tile and marble.

Spadavecchia has a WSOP bracelet in $5,000 deuce-to-seven draw (1991), and he won a WSOP Circuit championship in Las Vegas in 2006. He has made 10 WSOP final tables, including the 1994 WSOP main event, where he finished in third place.

This is Spadavecchia's first WPT final table, and he faces an uphill battle today as the short stack. But Spadavecchia can be patient when he needs to be, and if he gets the right cards, he has a shot at adding a WPT title to his résumé.

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