2008 WSOP FINAL RESULTS for Event 39

2008 World Series of Poker
Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada

Official Report
Event # 39
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In:  $ 1,500
Number of Entries:  2,720
Number of Re-Buys:  NA
Total Net Prize Pool: $ 3,712,800
June 21-23, 2008

Final Results:

1    David Woo    $631,550    Atlanta    Georgia
2    Matt Wood    $389,844    Whitby    Ontario, Canada
3    Eric Beren    $278,460    Dallas    Texas
4    Habib Khanis    $233,906    San Diego    California
5    Thom Werthmann    $191,209    Bloomfield Hills    Michigan
6    Curtis Early    $150,368    Dallas    Texas
7    Thanh Dat Tran    $113,240    Los Angeles    California
8    Michael Glasser    $85,394    Boca Raton    Florida
9    Jim Paras    $58,290    Arlington    Massachusetts
10    Paul Kerr    $36,756    Bothwell Strathclyde    England
11    Michael Polcari    $36,756    San Francisco    California
12    Russell Spaid    $36,756    Pierre    South Dakota
13    Sebastian Segovia    $29,331    Guatemala City    Guatemala
14    Edward Salazar    $29,331    Pueblo    Colorado
15    Dario Mario    $29,331    Bakersfield    California
16    Dan Lu    $21,905    Murrieta    California
17    Giovanni Nervo    $21,905    Poa     Russia
18    Kevin O’Leary    $21,905    Morden    England
19    Gary Bain    $17,450    Edmonton    Alberta, Canada
20    Lawrence Martone    $17,450    Pelham    New Hampshire
21    Garrett Beckman    $17,450    Gardener    Kansas
22    Michael Carson    $17,450    Las Vegas    Nevada
23    Igor Tiguy    $17,450    Boston    Massachusetts
24    Minh Nguyen    $17,450
25    Feng Chen    $17,450        Holland
26    Jeffrey Cohen    $17,450    Rye    New Hampshire
27    William Haughey    $17,450    Glasgow    Scotland
28    Robert Bonneau    $13,737    Montreal    Quebec, Canada
29    Johneric Francia    $13,737    Boston    Massachusetts
30    Jason Yates    $13,737    San Diego    California
31    Cristopher Hunichen    $13,737    Clayton    North Carolina
32    Gregory Alston    $13,737    Danville    California
33    Keith Hickman    $13,737    League City    Texas
34    Mario Coria    $13,737    Redondo Beach    California
35    Jonathan Gumapas    $13,737    San Diego    California
36    David Moore    $13,737    Coppell    Texas
37    Norman Contreras    $10,767    Fort Lauderdale    Florida
38    Donald Bidinger    $10,767    Bainbridge Island    Washington
39    Lucas Priour    $10,767    Las Vegas    Nevada
40    Patrick Castelli    $10,767    Westland    Michigan
41    Richard Styczynski    $10,767    Burr Ridge    Illinois
42    Adolfo Crespo    $10,767    Los Angeles    California
43    Richard Peters    $10,767    Grapevine    Texas
44    Ali Rabah    $10,767    Edmonton    Alberta, Canada
45    Gerald Watterson    $10,767    Jacksonville    Florida
46    Todd Link    $9,653    Plantation    Florida
47    Robert Yamaguchi    $9,653    San Diego    California
48    Dennis Loo    $9,653    Cambridge    Massachusetts
49    David Barter    $9,653
50    George Moussa    $9,653    Easton    Pennsylvania
51    Jacob Stearley    $9,653    Spring Lake    Michigan
52    Anthony Geraci    $9,653    Mission Viejo    California
53    Kelvin Beattie    $9,653    Melbourne    Australia
54    Jakobvedel Lauridsen    $9,653    Aarhus    Denmark
55    Michael Wilson    $8,539    New Market    Maryland
56    Ly Le    $8,539    Huntington    California
57    Michel Leibgorin    $8,539    Paris    France
58    Robert Gianquitti    $8,539    Lake Worth    Florida
59    Scott Ritchey    $8,539    Miami    Florida
60    Thomas Berg    $8,539    Chicago    Illinois
61    Frederick Adler    $8,539    Tucson    Arizona
62    George Womble    $8,539    Guyton    Georgia
63    David Peters    $8,539    Toledo    Ohio
64    Kyle Bowker    $7,425    Walton    New York
65    Joshua Schlein    $7,425    Baltimore    Washington
66    Stuart Fischbein    $7,425    Westlake Village    California
67    Craig Crivello    $7,425    Las Vegas    Nevada
68    Theodore Harris    $7,425    Mount Shasta    California
69    Chad Burum    $7,425    Grants Pass    Oregon
70    Edward Im    $7,425    Sammamish    Washington
71    Jason Lowe    $7,425    Seattle    Washington
72    Daniel Yi    $7,425    Overland Park    Kansas
73    Sasa Biorac    $6,311    Wiesbaden    Germany
74    Adam Levy    $6,311    Orlando    Florida
75    Brett Brucaleri    $6,311    St. James    New York
76    Gordon Hamilton    $6,311    League City    Texas
77    Kaveh Tehrani    $6,311    Woodbury    New York
78    Jason James    $6,311    McMinnville    Oregon
79    Robert Miller    $6,311    Potomac    Maryland
80    Richard Fohrenbach    $6,311    Milford    Connecticut
81    Patrick Stemper    $6,311    Austin    Texas
82    Marcin Horecki    $5,569    Warsaw    Poland
83    Luke Vrabel    $5,569    West Hartford    Connecticut
84    Travis Maly    $5,569    Denver    Colorado
85    William Terry    $5,569    Seattle    Washington
86    Michele Guzzardi    $5,569    Melbourne    Australia
87    Robert Ohanessian    $5,569    Torrance    California
88    Joe Tehan    $5,569    Las Vegas    Nevada
89    Casey McCarrel    $5,569    Lafayette    California
90    Lilach Aviv    $5,569    Los Angeles    California
91    Philip Aksu    $4,826    Granada Hills    California
92    Gerald Arnerich    $4,826    Colton    California
93    Evan Cappello    $4,826    Sebring    Florida
94    Michael Zulker    $4,826    Tempe    Arizona
95    William Gazes    $4,826    New York    New York
96    Christopher Bach    $4,826    Westminster    California
97    Christopher Weaver    $4,826    Jacksonville    Florida
98    Michael Komarek    $4,826    Plainfield    Illinois
99    Merwick Black    $4,826    Pollock Pines    California
100    David Cai    $4,084    Alhambra    California
101    Mazlum Acar    $4,084    Oberoil    Switzerland
102    Yarom Limor    $4,084    Beverly Hills    California
103    Mario Fauceglia    $4,084    Algonquin    Illinois
104    Romik Vartzar    $4,084    Glendale    California
105    Michael Wernick    $4,084    Sutton Coldfield    England
106    Ryan Rapaski    $4,084    Clinton Township    Michigan
107    Ugur Marangoz    $4,084    Las Vegas    Nevada
108    Barry Greenstein    $4,084    Ranchos Palos Verdes    California
109    Joshua Teyler    $4,084    Lawrenceville    Georgia
110    Karin Abdelmoumene    $4,084    Chelles    France
111    Greta Correa    $4,084    Kaluela    Hawaii
112    Serge Ravitch    $4,084    Astoria    New York
113    Christian Holt    $4,084    Walker    Michigan
114    Jason Chang    $4,084    Encino    California
115    Harry Pozefsky    $4,084    Gloversville    New York
116    Andrew Jones    $4,084    Raleigh    North Carolina
117    Cuong Tran    $4,084    Winnipeg    Manitoba, Canada
118    Jon Wurden    $4,084    Fisher    Minnesota
119    Dwayne Vetter    $4,084    Houston    Texas
120    Craig Leyton    $4,084    Charlotte    North Carolina
121    Daniel Martin    $4,084    Olean    New York
122    Sean Adair    $4,084    Overland Park    Kansas
123    Charles Adkins    $4,084    Adkins    Texas
124    Russell Ellison    $4,084    Tallahassee    Florida
125    Joshua Vanduyn    $4,084    San Diego    California
126    Hasan Habib    $4,084    Downey    California
127    Oscar Ortega    $3,527    Richmond    Texas
128    Christopher Boyd    $3,527    Port Lavaca    Texas
129    Eric Kintzer    $3,527    Las Vegas    Nevada
130    Kevin Paler    $3,527    San Leandro    California
131    Dolan Ernest    $3,527    Vancouver    Washington
132    David Johansson    $3,527    Vasteras    Sweden
133    Steven Vanzadelhoff    $3,527    Geldermalsen    Netherlands
134    Robert Michener    $3,527    Minneapolis    Minnesota
135    William Gaffney    $3,527    Henderson    Nevada
136    Bryan Pope    $3,527    Brecksville    Ohio
137    Paul Gallo    $3,527    Cupertino    California
138    Frederick Hudspeth    $3,527    Rockwall    Texas
139    Anthony Toscano    $3,527    Huntington Beach    California
140    Stephen O’Dwyer    $3,527    Las Vegas    Nevada
141    James Leonard    $3,527    Jacksonville    Florida
142    Niels Rikhof    $3,527    La Junta    Colorado
143    Kenna James    $3,527    Las Vegas    Nevada
144    Kyle Nisenson    $3,527    Parker    Colorado
145    Jung Hyun    $3,527    Los Angeles    California
146    Sten Viberg    $3,527
147    Marshall Plouffe    $3,527    Northridge    California
148    Loi Nguyen    $3,527    Broomfield    Colorado
149    James Keys    $3,527    Bury St. Edmonds    England
150    Jason Somerville    $3,527    Stony Brook    New York
151    Scott Seiver    $3,527    Las Vegas    Nevada
152    Robert Matos    $3,527    Middle Village    New York
153    Jon Scott    $3,527    Bakersfield    California
154    Mark Fink    $3,527    Sioux Falls    South Dakota
155    Rodrigo Portaleoni    $3,527    Santos    Brazil
156    Thomas Mesirow    $3,527    Shorewood    Wisconsin
157    Martin Wolski    $3,527    Roselle    Illinois
158    Ryan Concotelli    $3,527    Seminole    Texas
159    David Plastik    $3,527    Las Vegas    Nevada
160    Joseph Danise    $3,527    Ft Lauderdale    Florida
161    Marc Levy    $3,527    Boynton Beach    Florida
162    Dayna Kloeber    $3,527    Peoria    Arizona
163    Hilbert Shirey    $3,155    Winter Haven    Florida
164    Paul Smith    $3,155    Poway    California
165    Robbin Jaureguy    $3,155    Temecula    California
166    Daniel Randolph    $3,155    Lincoln Park    Michigan
167    Kevin Riley    $3,155    Canton    Michigan
168    Lance Oliver    $3,155    Roseville    California
169    Anthony Lee    $3,155    Honolulu    Hawaii
170    Gary Tang    $3,155    Ithaca    New York
171    Ann Lynch    $3,155    Chicago    Illinois
172    Joseph Hunter    $3,155    Rancho Cucamonga    California
173    Walter Grant    $3,155    Chesapeake    Virginia
174    Kevin Hiraiwa    $3,155    Woodland Hills    California
175    Amit Makhija    $3,155    Brookfield    Wisconsin
176    James Smith    $3,155    Phoenix    Arizona
177    Peter Attridge    $3,155    Knottingham    England
178    Michael Perkins    $3,155    Fort Worth    Texas
179    Robert Cimino    $3,155    Redondo Beach    California
180    Earl Peterson    $3,155    Sun City    California
181    Karl Mahrenholz    $3,155    London    England
182    Eric King    $3,155    Lubbock    Texas
183    Michael Costanzo    $3,155    Savannah    Georgia
184    Humberto Brenes    $3,155    San Jose    Costa Rica
185    Grantland Hillman    $3,155    Oakland    California
186    Ian Mcdonald    $3,155    Woodhall Spa    England
187    Philip Tom    $3,155    Las Vegas    Nevada
188    Edmund Liu    $3,155    Burbank    California
189    George Dunst    $3,155    Madison    Wisconsin
190    Douglas Dearborn    $3,155    Toronto    Ontario, Canada
191    Michael Trivisonno    $3,155    Lyndhurst    Ohio
192    James Yen    $3,155    Kenmore    Washington
193    Corey Williams    $3,155    Sunnyvale    California
194    Nigel Jones    $3,155    York    England
195    Chance Steed    $3,155    College Station    Texas
196    Nicholas Venovski    $3,155
197    Arash Sarraf    $3,155    Beverly Hills    California
198    David Lucchesi    $3,155    Walnut Creek    California
199    Richard Rudloff    $2,970    Biloxi    Mississippi
200    Kevin Williams    $2,970    Scottsdale    Arizona
201    Scott Locke    $2,970    Monroeville    Pennsylvania
202    John Boyrazian    $2,970    Riverside    California
203    James Moult    $2,970    Borrowash Derby    England
204    Nicholas Gibson    $2,970    Windsor     England
205    Allan Le    $2,970    Huntington Beach    California
206    Justin Phillips    $2,970    Oregon City    Oregon
207    Michael Brigante    $2,970    North York    Ontario, Canada
208    Jose Delaguardia    $2,970    Panama City    Panama
209    Hein Meijer    $2,970
210    Andrew Jacobson    $2,970    Las Vegas    Nevada
211    James Tilley    $2,970    Oceanside    California
212    Patrick Vaughn    $2,970    Fairview    Oregon
213    Haysam Chiniara    $2,970    Montreal    California
214    John Hom    $2,970    San Rafael    California
215    Martin Derbyshire    $2,970    Toronto    Ontario, Canada
216    Gary Yates    $2,970    Los Angeles    California
217    Jeffrey Bonnett    $2,970    Omaha    Nebraska
218    Scott Paust    $2,970    Black Diamond    Washington
219    William Spurling    $2,970    Fields Landing    California
220    Paul Janssen    $2,970    Side Lake    Minnesota
221    Rodney Knight    $2,970    Henderson    Nevada
222    Julian Lefevre    $2,970    Arncott    United Kingdom
223    Blake Mine    $2,970    San Jose    California
224    Theobald Tran    $2,970    Las Vegas    Nevada
225    Woodrow Sloan    $2,970    Belleville    Michigan
226    Kenneth Mcmahan    $2,970    Valencia    California
227    Justin Hoffman    $2,970    Alpharetta    Georgia
228    Bob Slezak    $2,970    Omaha    Nebraska
229    Richard Hunt    $2,970    Golden Shores    Arizona
230    Robert Ludlow    $2,970    Dallas    Texas
231    Chris Rentes    $2,970    Kinnegad    Ireland
232    William Davis    $2,970    Albuquerque    New Mexico
233    Vincent Giuseffi    $2,970    Fountain Valley    California
234    Michael Bodell    $2,970    Santa Clara    California
235    Karen Munro    $2,784    Whitehorse    Yukon, Canada
236    Arnold Spee    $2,784    Las Vegas    Nevada
237    Robert Ohl    $2,784    Mansfield    Ohio
238    Graham Stanley    $2,784    Greenville    North Carolina
239    Todd Goodman    $2,784    West Hills    California
240    Shlomo Maimon    $2,784    Woodland Hills    California
241    Steven Dales    $2,784    Abbotsford    British Columbia, Canada
242    Karl Bielenberg    $2,784    Scottsdale    Arizona
243    Nicholas Binger    $2,784    Las Vegas    Nevada
244    Christian Bryant    $2,784    Euclid    Ohio
245    Vincent Bartello    $2,784    Las Vegas    Nevada
246    Keith Lilley    $2,784    Conroe    Texas
247    Kenneth Powell    $2,784    Dublin    Ireland
248    William Garcia    $2,784    Pomona    California
249    Stuart Melton    $2,784    Glendale    Arizona
250    Ilan Van Vlies    $2,784    Amsterdam    Netherlands
251    Brian Baldridge    $2,784    Redmond    Washington
252    Lauren Koch    $2,784    Kihei    Hawaii
253    Eric Gerber    $2,784    Portland    Oregon
254    Avelyn Navarro    $2,784    San Diego    California
255    Kristopher Eggert    $2,784    Woodinville    Washington
256    John Sidoni    $2,784    Saint Marys    Pennsylvania
257    Lonny Flack    $2,784    West Valley    Utah
258    Louis Conte    $2,784    Pompano Beach    Florida
259    Tristan Wade    $2,784    Boynton Beach    Florida
260    Tyson Ohlig    $2,784    Gresham    Oregon
261    Anthony Pagano    $2,784    Manchester    Connecticut
262    Keith Koverman    $2,784    Waianae    Hawaii
263    March Schwartz    $2,784    Lake Havasu City    Arizona
264    Michael James    $2,784    Toronto    Ontario, Canada
265    Matthew Voorhees    $2,784    Englewood    Colorado
266    Chad Carlson    $2,784    Alexandria    Virginia
267    Jonathan Dajao    $2,784    Vallejo    California
268    Jack Cardinal    $2,784    North Royalton    Ohio
269    Lance Kamin    $2,784    West Bloomfield    Michigan
270    Harris Schnall    $2,784    Henderson    Nevada

Tournament Notes:

·        The $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em championship (Event #39) attracted 2,720 entries, creating a prize pool totaling $3,712,800.  The top 270 finishers collected prize money.

·        This is the fifth of seven $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em tournaments on the 2008 WSOP schedule.  This game and buy-in level has consistently proven to be the most popular draw on the schedule in recent years, aside from the Main Event.

·        This was the second-highest turnout of the year, so far.  Only Event #2 ($1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em) attracted more entries – with 3,929.

·        An alternative, lower buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament of less than $10,000 has been included as part of the WSOP schedule every year since 1973.  Over the years, these buy-in amounts have ranged from $1,000 up to $5,000.  More $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournaments have now taken place at the WSOP over the past 39-years than any other event.

·        With results from this event added, a significant milestone was crossed as more than 12,000 different players have now cashed in the 39-year history of the World Series of Poker.  Furthermore, a total of 117 players have won over a million dollars at the WSOP.

·        Robert Cheun, who was last year’s champion for this event on the corresponding date, did not enter this tournament.  This brings the current streak to 39 straight non-cashes for defending champions in their respective events.

·        The 2008 $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em champion is David Woo, a.k.a. “The Magnificent.”  He is a 30-year-old poker pro from Atlanta, GA.  Woo has been playing poker full-time for about five years.

·        Woo was born in South Korea.  He graduated from Georgia State University.

·        Woo owned an operated a small coffee shop before taking up poker.  He played poker recreationally at night and then woke up early each morning to open his store.  After awhile, Woo was making more money with his poker game, so he decided to give up the small business.

·        Woo enjoys gambling.  He once made a $50,000 side wager with a friend on a basketball court.  Incredibly, Woo made a bet that he could make at least 80 of 100 three-pointers.  Since Woo stands no more than about 5′5″ tall and does not look like much of a basketball player, the wager seemed hopeless.  Woo, who perfected a three-point shot while a student at Georgia State, ended up making more than 80 percent of the shots and collected on the bet.

·        Woo was given his nickname “The Magnificent” by none other than Josh Arieh, a two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner from Atlanta.  Arieh plays regularly with Woo in home games and gave him his complimentary moniker.

·        Woo won $631,656 for first place.  This was also his first WSOP gold bracelet victory.  This marked his fourth time to cash at the WSOP, all since 2005.

·        Woo finished in the money at the 2006 WSOP Main Event.  He took 132nd place.  He had a serious shot at going much deeper what stands as the biggest poker tournament of all time, as he was one of the chip leaders after Day Four.  Unfortunately, when second in chips to Jamie Gold, he lost a huge pot and was never able to recover his stack.

·        “Every time I play poker is a learning experience,” Woo said afterward.

·        “I would have been sick with anything less than first place,” Woo said.  “I really expected to win.”

·        The second-place finisher was Matthew Wood, from Canada.

·        The final table clocked in at about 6.5 hours.

·        The heads-up match between players named “Woo” and “Wood” created some difficulty for the tournament announcer Robbie Thompson, as the last names were so similar.

·        Eric Beren took third place in this event.  Last month, Beren graduated from M.I.T. – a school which has produced some exceptional poker talent.

·        Only one former WSOP gold bracelet winner made it to the final table.  That player was Thom Werthmann, from suburban Detroit.  Werthmann, who won the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha championship in 2005, finished in fifth place.

·        Seventh-place finisher Curtis Early had an interesting experience at the WSOP.  He was on his way from moving his personal belongings from Dallas to Seattle, when he decided to stopover for a few days in Las Vegas.  In fact, his U-Haul trailer was hitched to his car in the Rio parking lot, while Early collected $113,240 in prize money in this event.

·        Mike Glasser finished in eighth place.  Prior to becoming a poker professional, Glasser was a criminal defense attorney in Florida.

·        Former WSOP gold bracelet winners who cashed in this event include Mike Carson (22nd), Minh Nguyen (24th), Barry Greenstein (108th), Hasan Habib (126th), Hilbert Shirey (163rd), Humberto Brenes (184th), and John Hom (214th).

·        This marked Humberto Brenes’ 52nd career WSOP in-the-money finish.  The Costa Rican now ranks fifth on the call-time cashes list.

·        Through Event #39, only two players have made three final table appearances – Jacobo Fernandez and David Benyamine.  Sixteen players have made two WSOP final table appearances.  This list includes – Chris Bjorin, Andy Bloch, Alex Bolotin, Scott Clements, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Barry Greenstein, Fu Wong, Greg Jamison, Mike Matusow, Erick Lindgren, Minh Ly, Daniel Negreanu, David Singer, J.C. Tran, Theo Tran, and Tim West.

·        Nikolay Evdakov, from Moscow, Russia is the only player at this year’s WSOP who has cashed seven times – just one off the all-time record mark.  Evdakov is positioned to break the record set for “Most WSOP Cashes in a Single Year,” shared by five players — Michael Binger (2007), Chad Brown (2007), Phil Hellmuth (2006), Richard Tatalovich (2006), and Humberto Brenes (2006), with eight.

·        Winner David Woo is officially listed as being from Atlanta, GA.  Through the conclusion of Event #39 at this year’s World Series of Poker, the gold bracelet count by nations and states reads as follows:
10 – Nevada
6 – California
4 – New York
2 – Canada
2 – Germany
2 – Italy
2 – Missouri
1 – Belgium
1 – Denmark
1 – France
1 – Georgia
1 – Holland
1 – Maryland
1 – Michigan
1 – Pennsylvania
1 – Russia
1 – South Carolina
1 – Wisconsin

·        Nine different nations have produce a gold bracelet winner at this year’s WSOP.  This list now includes Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Russia, and the United States.

·        The Event #39 winner David Woo is to be classified as a professional since he left his job as a business owner and has supported himself by playing poker for about five years.  Accordingly, the “Pro-Am” gold bracelet scoreboard currently reads:
Professionals – 31 wins
Amateurs — 6 wins
Semi-Pros –          2 wins

·        Michael Polcari was the chip leader at the End of Day One for this event.  He cashed in 11th place.  Hence, through Event #39, the End of Day One chip leaders have gone on to cash 76 percent of the time — 28 of 37 occasions (the chip leader was not applicable on two events).  Ten of these same 37 chip leaders (27 percent) made it to the final table.  Only one chip leader went on to win the event.  That lone wire-to-wire winner was Vanessa Selbst in Event #19.

·        Thom Werthmann was the chip leader at the start of this final table.  He ended up as the fourth-place finisher.  Through Event #39, sixteen of 37 chip leaders at the start of the final table (43 percent) went on to win the event.  Twenty-two of 36 chip leaders (59 percent) went on to finish in the top three spots.  Two events did not have a chip leader (Heads-Up and Shootout tournaments).

·        It should be noted that the Milwaukee’s Best Light “Player of the Year” rankings will now include points accrued from the $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. championship.

·        The Milwaukee’s Best Light “Player of the Year” standings currently shows Jacobo Fernandez as the current leader, with David Benyamine close behind.  Here are the top five ranked players:
1.    Jacobo Fernandez –          222 points
2.  David Benyamine –          220 points
3.   Barry Greenstein –          190 points
4.   Erick Lindgren –             185 points
5.  Daniel Negreanu – 170 points

·        David Benyamine is now the leader on the 2008 prize money list, having won the most money at the WSOP, to date.  His accrued winnings total $941,651.