2008 WSOP FINAL RESULTS for Event 53

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

Official Report
Event #53
Limit Hold’em Shootout
Buy-In:  $ 1,500
Number of Entries:  823
Number of Re-Buys:  NA
Total Net Prize Pool: $ 1,123,395
June 30 – July 2, 2008

Photo by IMPDI

Final Results:

1    Matt Graham    $278,180    Las Vegas    Nevada
2    Jean-Robert Bellande    $173,564    Los Angeles    California
3    Joe DeNiro    $107,845    Studio City    California
4    Brandon Wong    $69,088    Fresno    California
5    Danny Wong    $33,701    Las Vegas    Nevada
6    Spencer Lawrence    $20,221    London    England
7    John Kranyak    $13,480    Bay Village    Ohio
8    Andrew Prock    $10,335    Oakland    California
9    Michael Kachan    $7,526    Edina    Minnesota
10    Duane Graff    $5,055    Hickory Hills    Illinois
11    Mikael Norinder    $5,055    Stockholm    Sweden
12    Stefan Rapp    $5,055    Linz    Austria
13    Eric Rivkin    $5,055    Redondo Beach    California
14    Steve Kim    $5,055    Milipitas    California
15    Lorenz Guarin    $5,055    Toronto    Ontario, Canada
16    Jelger Wiegersma    $5,055    Eindhoven    Netherlands
17    Jonathan Tamayo    $5,055    Humble    Texas
18    Hansu Chu    $5,055    Mclean    Virginia
19    Frederick Berger    $5,055    Slidell    Louisiana
20    David Orvis    $5,055    Longmont    Colorado
21    Markus Stranzinger    $5,055    Klosterneuburg    Austria
22    Sol Mammon    $5,055    Plantation    Florida
23    Tony Tan    $5,055    Los Angeles    California
24    Jannick Wrang    $5,055    Copenhagen    Denmark
25    Richard Walter    $5,055    Shickley    Nebraska
26    Michael Wattel    $5,055    Phoenix    Arizona
27    Sebastian Bauer    $5,055    Bickenbach    Switzerland
28    Robert Lipkin    $5,055    Buffalo Grove    Illinois
29    Cristiano Blanco    $5,055    Roma    Italy
30    Mark Klecan    $5,055    Toronto    Ontario, Canada
31    Jeffrey Kimber    $5,055    Tulse Hill    England
32    Craig Crivello    $5,055    Las Vegas    Nevada
33    Terry Borer    $5,055    Toronto    Ontario, Canada
34    David Olson    $5,055    Dallas    Texas
35    David Gee    $5,055    Gilbert    Arizona
36    Jay Bloom    $5,055    Gilbert    Arizona
37    Kirby Rogers    $5,055    Shakopee    Minnesota
38    Imari Love    $5,055    Chicago    Illinois
39    William Durkee    $5,055    Evanston    Illinois
40    Jesse Martin    $5,055    Shrewsbury    Massachusetts
41    Hoyt Corkins    $5,055    Las Vegas    Nevada
42    Davood Mehrmand    $5,055    Frankfurt    Germany
43    Michael Watson    $5,055    Toronto    Ontario, Canada
44    Tino LeChich    $5,055    Melbourne    Australia
45    David Bach    $5,055    Athens    Georgia
46    Kenna James    $5,055    Las Vegas    Nevada
47    Christopher Vitch    $5,055    La Jolla    California
48    Michelle Ankenman    $5,055    Acon    Connecticut
49    Michael Leah    $5,055    Brooklyn    New York
50    Jason Smith    $5,055    Chandler    Arizona
51    Primoz Adamic    $5,055         Slovenia
52    Sasha Rosewood    $5,055    Santa Cruz    California
53    Rick Shepherd    $5,055    Henderson    Nevada
54    Joel Diaz    $5,055    Whittier    California
55    Jordan Smith    $5,055    Tool    Texas
56    Blair Rodman    $5,055    Las Vegas    Nevada
57    Aliaksandr Dzianisau    $5,055    Vitebsk    Belarus
58    Benjamin Fineman    $5,055    Las Vegas    Nevada
59    Gregory Giannokostos    $5,055    Dunwoody    Georgia
60    Greg De Bora    $5,055    Toronto    Ontario, Canada
61    Claudio Rinaldi    $5,055
62    Coralee Grebe    $5,055    Rochester    Minnesota
63    Zvi Stern    $5,055    Ramat    Israel
64    Van Arreca    $5,055    Baldwin Park    California
65    Jacob Petersen    $5,055    Baton Rouge    Louisiana
66    Colin Miners    $5,055    New York    New York
67    Simen Sagstuen    $5,055    Gjovik    Norway
68    Rhett Butler    $5,055    Rockville    Maryland
69    Benjamin Yu    $5,055    Henderson    Nevada
70    James Fricke    $5,055    Mahomet    Illinois
71    Steve Stolzmann    $5,055    Sheboygan    Wisconsin
72    Anthony Bloom    $5,055
73    Randy Ritterbush    $5,055    Colorodo Springs    Colorado
74    Connie Rim    $5,055    Suwanee    Georgia
75    Yueqi Zhu    $5,055    Rowland Heights    California
76    Charles Mccormick    $5,055    Oceanside    California
77    Terrence Chan    $5,055    Vancouver    Bristish Columbia, Canada
78    John Myung    $5,055    Vienna    Virginia
79    Andrew Bloch    $5,055    Las Vegas    Nevada
80    Blakely Purvis    $5,055    Montgomery    Alabama
81    Jesse Correa    $5,055    Yucaipa    California
82    Josh Jorgensen    $5,055    Gillette    Wyoming
83    John Pires    $5,055    San Jose    California
84    Eric Wellman    $5,055    West Chester    Ohio
85    Eddylee Martin    $5,055    Cayman Brac    Cayman Island
86    Allan Le    $5,055    Huntington Beach    California
87    Samuel Lee    $5,055    North York    Ontario, Canada
88    Justin Tran    $5,055    Sacramento    California
89    Robert Kovar    $5,055    Toronto    Ontario, Canada
90    Kevin Song    $5,055    Rowland Hights    California
Tournament Notes:

·        The $1,500 buy-in Limit Hold’em Shootout championship (Event #53) attracted 823 entries, creating a prize pool totaling $1,123,395.  The top 90 finishers collected prize money.

·        This is the final event on the schedule before the WSOP Main Event.

·        On this day, the WSOP set a new record.  More countries have now cashed this year than any time previously at any major tournament held anywhere in the world.  A total of 104 different countries have now sent players to the WSOP who have finished in-the-money.  Last year, this number was 87 different nations.  However, the Main Event is still yet to be played in 2008, which could add even more countries to the list.  For the first time ever, many nations in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East have discovered the WSOP which now reflects the international flavor of the tournament series.

·        The tournament was played over two consecutive days.  The final table was played on the secondary stage.  Due to the two-day schedule, playing times ran longer than expected.  The final table began play at midnight (actually on Day Three) and ended in the morning by sunrise.

·        The $1,500 buy-in Limit Shootout champion is Matt Graham.  He is a 24-year-old professional poker player from Las Vegas, NV.

·        Graham is originally from New Orleans, LA.

·        This was his fifth time to cash at the WSOP, and fourth time this year.  Graham collected $278,180 for first place.  He also earned his first WSOP gold bracelet.

·        Even before this victory, Graham had been deemed by some poker media as a “rising star.”  He emerged on the tournament scene only a few years ago, but some top pros have commented on his play in various blogs and poker forums.

·        The second-place finisher was Jean-Robert Ballande, from Los Angeles, CA.  In addition to succeeding with many tournament cashes and in the money finishes in recent years, Ballande appeared on the CBS television show “Survivor.”

·        Former WSOP gold bracelet winners who cashed in this tournament included Mike Wattel (26th), Hoyt Corkins (41st), Blair Rodman (56th), and Kevin Song 90th).

·        Nikolay Evdakov now holds the record of “Most Cashes at the WSOP in a Single Year” – with ten.

·        Dave Orvis was the chip leader at the End of Day One in this event.  He finished 20th.  Through Event #53, the End of Day One chip leaders have gone on to cash 70 percent of the time — 40 of 51 occasions (the chip leader was not applicable on two events).  Only thirteen of these same 51 chip leaders (25 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.

·        Jean-Robert Bellande was the chip leader at the start of this final table.  He ended up in second place.  Through Event #53, eighteen of 51 chip leaders at the start of the final table (34 percent) went on to win the event.  Thirty of 51 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).

·        Winner Matt Graham is officially listed as being from Las Vegas, NV.  Through the conclusion of Event #53, the gold bracelet count by nations and states reads as follows:
13 – Nevada
10 – California
4 – New York
3—Canada
3 – Germany
2 – Italy
2 – Missouri
1 – Arizona
1 – Belgium
1 – Brazil
1 – Denmark
1 – Florida
1 – France
1 – Georgia
1 – Holland
1—Ireland
1 – Maryland
1 – Michigan
1 – Ohio
1 – Pennsylvania
1 – Russia
1 – South Carolina
1 – Wisconsin

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

·        The Event #53 winner Matt Graham is to be classified as a pro player.  He plays poker full-time.  Accordingly, the “Pro-Am” gold bracelet scoreboard currently reads:
Professionals – 38 wins
Amateurs — 12 wins
Semi-Pros –   3 wins

·        Erick Lindgren now leads the “Player of the Year” race (through the end of Event #53).  Barry Greenstein, Jacobo Fernandez, David Benyamine, and John Phan are close behind,  For a complete updated points list, see:  http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/players/2008.asp?sort=poypts

·        Scotty Nguyen is now the leader on the 2008 prize money list, having won the most money at the WSOP, to date.  His accrued winnings total $2,039,628.

·        Through the conclusion of Event #53, the total amount of prize money awarded at this year’s WSOP totals $115,914,673.  This is more than last year’s prize pool at this same time last year.

CORRECTIONS / ADDITIONS:

EVENT #51:  Yesterday, it was reported that 2007 champion Jens Voertmann entered the tournament, but did not cash.  This was an error.  He did cash.  So far, 50 of 52 defending champions at this year’s WSOP have failed to cash in their respective events.  Blair Rodman and Jens Voertmann were the lone exceptions.