2008 WSOP MAIN EVENT, End of Day 1-D

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

Official Report
Event #54
World Championship
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In:  $ 10,000
Number of Entries:  6,844
Total Net Prize Pool:  $64,333,600
Number of Places Paid:  666
First Place Prize:  $9,119,517
Total Players Remaining:  TBD
July 3 - November 10, 2008

Tournament Notes from Day 1-D:

·        The official “first day” is split into four flights spread over four consecutive days.  Due to the large size of the field, it became necessary in recent years to play the Day One sessions in four groups, divided as Days 1-A, 1-B, 1-C, and 1-D.

·        The World Series of Poker Main Event began with Day 1-A on Thursday, July 3, 2008.  Day 1-B was played on July 4th.  Day 1-C was played on July 5th.

·        Day 1-D was played in July 6th and started at 12:15 pm PST.

·        The number of registered players for Day 1-D was 2,461.  Day 1-C attracted 1,928 entries.  Day 1-B attracted 1,158 entries.  Day 1-A attracted 1,297 entries.  The combined number of players entered into the 2008 Main Event totals 6,844.

·        This ranks as the second-largest live poker tournament in history.  This year’s turnout surpassed 2007 attendance (6,358) by 7.4 percent.  Only the 2006 WSOP Main Event was larger than this tournament — with 8,773 entrants.

·        This is the second-largest tournament prize pool in history.  The total prize pool amounts to $64,333,600.  The top 666 finishers will collect prize money.

·        The 2008 WSOP Main Event winner will collect $9,119,517 in prize money.  The minimum payout this year is $21,230.

·        The day’s traditional “Shuffle Up and Deal” honor went to Congressman Robert Wexler (D-Florida) who is one of several key federal lawmakers fighting on behalf of the rights of all poker players.  “We are here as friends of poker,” Wexler said in his pre-tournament remarks.  Wexler went on to briefly discuss his efforts to overturn federal legislation detrimental to the game of poker.

·        Former New York Senator Alfonse D’Amato joined Wexler onstage for the opening ceremony.  Sen. D’Amato is the Chairman of the Poker Players Alliance, based in Washington, DC.

·        The tournament began play in five different places – the Amazon Ballroom, Brasilia Ballroom, Tropical Ballroom, Rio Casino Floor, and the Rio Poker Room.  Breaking order resulted in all players competing inside the Amazon Ballroom by day’s end.

·        This was the largest of the four Day One turnouts.  While standard WSOP tables are played nine-handed, the bigger turnout resulted in approximately 30 tables being played ten-handed.  However, these tables were reduced rather quickly, so no table played ten-handed more than an hour.

·        ESPN designated two “feature” tables.  The table on the main stage included 11-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth.  Also playing at the feature table was mixed martial arts superstar Chuck Liddell.  Two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Mark Seif also had a seat on the main stage.  The secondary feature table was located off to the side and included five-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Phil Ivey.

·        All seat assignments and re-draws at the WSOP are completely random.  However, ESPN selects “feature” tables each day, which are presumably tables with the greatest public interest.  Those two tables are then transferred to the main and secondary stages.

·        Registered players were given energy drinks and bottled water made by All In, and seat cushions provided by Everest Poker.

·        All players started the tournament with 20,000 in chips.

·        Former WSOP Main Event champions who played on Day 1-D included Johnny Chan (1987/1988), Phil Hellmuth (1989), Noel Furlong (1999), Chris “Jesus” Ferguson (2000), Carlos ‘the Matador” Mortensen (2001), and Jerry Yang (2007) .  Furlong and Ferguson were eliminated.  Nine former champs remain in the 2008 Main Event.  They include – Jerry Yang, Johnny Chan, Phil Hellmuth, Carlos Mortensen, Brad Daugherty, Chris Moneymaker, Joe Hachem, Scotty Nguyen and Robert Varkonyi.

·        1989 world champion Phil Hellmuth arrived at the Main Event in his typical flamboyant style.  Two hours after play had already begun Hellmuth pulled up to the Rio driving a large Army truck.  He was flanked by 11 female models, all dressed in military fatigues.  Hellmuth then strutted down the hallway, into the tournament room, and to the feature table decked out as General George S. Patton.  Hellmuth was draped in tan pants, a green Army coat, and a tank commander’s helmet emblazoned with eleven gold stars – one for each of the WSOP gold bracelets that he has won.  By contrast, Patton, a bona fide World War II icon, had only four stars on his helmet at the height of his command of the Third Army.

·        Former Oscar-nominated actress Jennifer Tilly (Bullets Over Broadway) played on this day.  She was eliminated about five hours into play.

·        Sully Erna (lead singer for Godsmack) played on this day.  This was his third consecutive Main Event.  Erna’s performance has been impressive as he cashed both previous years at the WSOP – 713th out of 8,773 entrants in 2006, and 237th out of 6,358 entrants in 2007.  He is low on chips, but will continue play on Day Two.

·        Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) star, lasted only about two hours in the tournament.  He was one of the early bust outs.

·        Liddell was not the only UFC superstar in the field.  Incredibly, just hours after Forrest Griffin won the UFC Light Heavyweight World Championship (which took place the night before), the bruised-up iron man played in the WSOP Main Event.  He was eliminated a few hours into the tournament.

·        Former Major League Baseball star Jose Canseco played on this day.  This was his second straight WSOP appearance.  He was eliminated.

·        Former Major League Baseball pitcher David Wells played on this day.  He was eliminated.

·        Professional golfer Paul Azinger, who is also Captain of the 2008 Ryder Cup Team, played in this day.  The best performance in the WSOP ever by a P.G.A. golfer was Rocco Mediate’s 600th place finish in the 2005 WSOP, with 5,619 entrants.  Azinger made the cut and will play on Day Two.

·        Maria Ho, who was the last female player to survive in last year’s WSOP Main Event (finishing 38th) played on this day.  She was eliminated just after the dinner break.

·        Tom Schneider, last year’s WSOP “Player of the Year,” played in this day, but was eliminated about midway through the afternoon.

·        The first royal flush of the day was dealt just 45-minutes into play.

·        The WSOP instituted an “excessive celebration” rule which is in place this year.  Within a few minutes of the action starting, one player won a hand, stood up in his chair, and took out two large brass cymbals

·        The WSOP is truly an event for everyone – regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, sex, class, native language, or age (above 21).  This fact was apparent on the tournament floor which was populated by a wide variety of people — including many with physical challenges.

·        For the second-consecutive year, Jack Ury was the senior player in the Main Event.  At 95-years young, Ury broke his own record (set last year at the spry age of 94) as the oldest player ever to compete in a WSOP event.  He survived Day One can will return for play on Day Two.

·        It had been reported that Russian poker player Nikolay Evdakov played Day 1-C.  However, he changed his registration at the last minute and played on this day instead.  Evdakov set a new record at this year’s World Series for “Most Cashes in a Single Year” – with ten in-the-money finishes.  He survived and will play on Day Two – en route to what would be his 11th cash.

·        Every year, the WSOP is filled with great stories.  Donald Hobbs, from Pineville, KY played on this day.  Hobbs may very well be this year’s greatest poker inspiration.  Last summer, Hobbs was involved in a horrible car crash.  Over 70 percent of his body was burned.  Both of his legs were broken.  He was in a coma for days.  He also developed a number of internal medical problems that seriously threatened his life.  Hobbs was hospitalized for several months and while bedridden decided to write to his favorite poker player — 2003 WSOP champ Chris Moneymaker.  When Moneymaker heard about Hobbs, he decided to pay a personal visit to the hospital hundreds of miles away and try to serve as motivation for rehabilitation and recovery.  Hobbs told Moneymaker that playing poker was a terrific way to pass the time, while he was unable to walk and pursue his normal activities.  Moneymaker pledged to Hobbs that if he continued to push himself and stay strong, he would bring Hobbs to this year’s WSOP as a guest.  Incredibly, Hobbs took the challenge to heart and made what doctors described as a miraculous recovery.  Still bound to a wheelchair for mobility, Hobbs rolled into Day 1-D of the Main Event and was thrilled to learn that Moneymaker had not only invited him as a guest, but also entered Hobbs into the $10,000 buy-in tournament.  Hobbs was eliminated late in the day.

·        Jim Quinn is a New York City subway driver.  He won this year’s unofficial satellite to play in the WSOP Main Event.  Each year, several transit workers each put up $10 on their lunch breaks to play a series of satellite qualifiers which leads up to a single winner, who gets to play at the WSOP.  Quinn survived and will play on Day Two.

·        The number of players remaining out of the initial 2,461 players who registered for this day is 1,652.  This means 67 percent of the field survived.  The combined number of survivors from Day 1-A, 1-B, 1-C, and 1-D is 3,629.  This means that 62 percent of all players who were in the starting field survived Day One.

·        The End of Day 1-D chip leader is Steve Austin, from La Quinta, CA – with 149,000 in chips.  The End of Day 1-C chip leader was Henning Granstad – with 249,950 in chips.  The End of Day 1-B chip leader was Ben Samoff – with 177,500 chips.  The End of Day 1-A chip leader was Mark Garner — with 194,900 chips.  Hence, Henning Granstad currently stands as the Main Event chip leader.

·        Other notable poker players who made the cut included:  David Oppenheim, Victor Ramdin, Doug Saab, Gus Hansen, Cliff Josephy, Kirill Gerasimov, Jean-Robert Bellande, Brandon Cantu, Duncan “Pumper” Bell, Thomas “Thunder” Keller, Antonio “the Magician” Esfandiari, John Friedberg, Steve Billirakis, Men “the Master” Nguyen, Hevad Khan, Phil Gordon, Chip Jett, Steve Dannenmann, Bryan Micon, Matt Savage, Jennifer Harman, Allen Cunningham, Scott Clements, Dan Shak, Pat Poels, Paul Magriel, Howard Lederer, Tom Chambers, Lou Esposito, Eric Haber, James Worth, Anders Henriksson, Mike “Little Man” Sica, Jeff Shulman, Paul McKinney, Brett Jungblut, Bernard Lee, and Shannon Elizabeth.

·        It is estimated that 209 female players participated in the 2008 WSOP Main Event.  Note:  This estimate is based on a head count of every player in the tournament room taken at the start of each day.

·        Harrahs Entertainment revived a longstanding WSOP tradition, which is to award a special-edition jacket to all players who make a final table appearance.  The jackets will be given out retroactively to all players who have made it to a final table, which includes all 59 gold bracelet events played this year.  The jackets are co-sponsored by Milwaukee’s Best Light.  Note:  Final table jackets were initially given out to finalists during the late 1980s and continued up through 2003.

·        All Day Ones play the exact same length of time.  Play ended after five levels.  Each level is two hours long.  Day 1-D concluded at 1 am PST.

·        Amongst the Day 1-A and 1-B results only, there are 49 different nations still represented in this tournament with surviving players.

·        Amongst the Day 1-A and 1-B results only, there are 50 different U.S. states and the District of Columbia still represented in this tournament with surviving players.  Only New Hampshire is left out in the cold from this list.

·        Survivors from Days 1-A and 1-B merged and will play on Day 2-A.  Survivors from Days 1-C and 1-D merged and will played in Day 2-B.

·        Day Twos start with blinds at 250-500 and a 50 ante.  Five levels will be played (which means play ends after Level 10).

·        Day 1-D survivors will be off for the next two days.  They will resume play on Day 2-B which begins Wednesday, July 9th.  Play commences at 12 noon.

·        A few interesting side notes:  This year’s number of Main Event entries exceeds the first 34 years of the WSOP combined – 1970-2003 had 6,809 players versus 2008 with 6,844 players.  The average of the last three WSOP Main Events is 6,916 players, which is very close to the turnout for this year’s world championship.

·        The full payout list for the Main Event (all places) will be posted tomorrow, July 7th.