Jens Veortmann Wins 2008 WSOP Event #22

Date: Sat, Jun 14, 2008

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Jens Veortmann played into the early morning hours before finally defeating Doug Ganger. Both players were beginning to show the fatigue that comes from 12 hours of high stakes tournament poker played from straight back chairs. Veortmann takes down his first WSOP gold bracelet and heads home with $298,253 in cash.

Doug Ganger carries away $182,822 in cash for outlasting all but one of the 414 total entrants. The Flying Dutchman, Marcel Luske, completed the top three and collected $110,264 for his third place efforts. Marcel might be seeing the effects of jet lag that have slightly dulled his usual sharp edged game. Of course, he's still the sharpest dresser in the room.

Congratulations to Jens Veortmann for winning event #22 to claim his first WSOP bracelet and title.

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Scott Seiver Wins 2008 WSOP Event #21

Date: Sat, Jun 14, 2008

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Scott Seiver moved to Las Vegas three weeks ago and collected his first pay check today, a whopping $755,891; and least we forget, a gold WSOP champion's bracelet. Scott came to the final table as the chip leader and never relinquished the lead. The young player made up for his lack of live game experience with thousands of hours if Internet play.

Second place finisher Dave Seidman attempted to protect his much smaller stack and showed early aggression as he tried to add to his disappearing chips. Scott overwhelming lead was just too much for Seidman and he went the way of the other final table players...to the rail where he collected $482,372 for second. Ben Sprengers received $292,034 for third.

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Daniel Negreanu Wins 2008 WSOP Event #20

Date: Fri, Jun 13, 2008

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Daniel Negreanu adds WSOP bracelet number 4 to his growing collection of poker gold. After a four year drought at the WSOP he notched his fourth WSOP win in the same event he picked up his third bracelet in 2004, $2,000 buy-in limit hold'em. Negreanu was the most accomplished player at the final table and with the finesse developed from playing in the toughest poker games over the years he collected all the play money. He rapidly dispatched his heads-up opponent, Ugur Marangoz, to take win and the $204,874 first place money. Marangoz goes away with $126,671 for second place and David Baker has a $78,624 payday after finishing third.

Ironically, Daniel will double hi $200K winnings since he has a pro bet with Phil Ivey that pays $200,000 for each bracelet won. Moments after winning the event he text messaged Ivey with the news...Negreanu 1, Ivey 0.

Congratulations to Daniel Negreanu for winning his fourth WSOP Championship.

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Vanessa Selbst Wins 2008 WSOP Event #19

Date: Fri, Jun 13, 2008

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In one of the wildest final tables heads-up matches a determined Vanessa Selbst fought back from near ruin to finally stop the unorthodox plays of her opponent, Jamie Pickering. Pickering would often raise the pot and re-pot out to the river in the $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha...in the dark without so much as a peek at his cards. This style of play is rarely seen when two players are heads-up for a WSOP championship bracelet. A large crowd gathered to watch the incredible action from the rail.

Vanessa stuck to her game plan even when the luck and her chips were going the other way. Solid play paid off and Vanessa Selbst goes home with the bragging rights, the cash and the coveted gold WSOP bracelet. Vanessa received $227,965 for outlasting the other 758 players in the starting field. James Pickering pockets $145,459 which is enough to keep him in beer for a few months. Stanley Statkiewicz Jr completed the top three and collected $88,062 for third.

Congratulations to Vanessa Selbst for winning her first WSOP bracelet.

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Mike Matusow Wins 2008 WSOP Event #18

Date: Thu, Jun 12, 2008

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Any way you slice it this was the all-star final table of the 2008 World Series of Poker and the longest final table to date. When Erick Lindgen left in the four spot the remaining three - Jeffrey Lisandro, Barry Greenstein, and Mike Matusow - played for over three hours before Barry Greenstein was eliminated in third place.

Heads-up play between Jeffrey Lisandro and Mike Matusow started with a bang when Mike went all-in on the first hand and doubled up. He continued to play some of the best mistake free poker seen from him in years to take the chip lead away from Lisandro, then he used his chip advantage to take them all.

This is Matusow's third WSOP bracelet and according to Mike it will not be his last. He said he is playing some of the best poker of his life after losing 61 pounds to collect $100K from Ted Forrest. Mike said the weight was not all he lost, he also lost his negative attitude and now finds life to be a much happier experience. He collected $537,862 for his win. Jeff Lisandro leaves with $347,004 for second and Barry Greenstein's third place finish gives him another $225,552 for his children's charities.

Our congratulations to Mike Matusow, 2008 WSOP Champion.

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Jason Young Wins 2008 WSOP Event #17

Date: Wed, Jun 11, 2008

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Jason Young Wins WSOP Event 17, a $1,500 Buy-In No-Limit Hold'em Shootout, and takes down $335,565 plus his first WSOP bracelet. A tough heads-up match pitted Jason Young against a determined Michael Schwartz. Young had Schwartz down to the felt more than once only to see him make a come back and reload his chip stacks. Young finally had Schwartz all-in for all the marbles and the poker Gods decided not to intervene on Schwartz's behalf. Young's A, J paired when an Ace came on the turn to best Schwartz's pocket fours. Schwartz received $209,527 for second place. John Strzemp III completed the top three and collected $129,675 for third place.

Congratulations to Jason Young for winning his first WSOP bracelet and championship.

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Andrew Brown Wins 2008 WSOP Event #16

Date: Wed, Jun 11, 2008

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Andrew Brown traded chips with well known poker pro Ted Forrest into the early morning hours before he finally managed to get them, all. Event #16, a $2,000 Buy-in Omaha Hi/Lo contest paid $226,483 to Brown for his winning ways. With plenty of friends cheering him on from the rail the young player never showed any fear of the more experienced Forrest answering most raises with a re-raise.

Ted Forrest received $143,420 for second place while Jim Pechac finished third and takes home $88,065. The event featured a field of 553 players.

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Svetlana Gromenkova WIns 2008 WSOP Ladies Event #15

Date: Wed, Jun 11, 2008

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Svetlana Gromenkova is the 2008 WSOP Ladies Poker Champion. She completed the three days of eliminations on top of the field of 1190 players. When the final river card hit the board the normally storic Gromenkova broke out the smiles as she celebrated with her friends in the gallery. This is her first major win and her first WSOP gold bracelet. In addition to the bracelet Svetlana received a custom Corum watch and $244,702 in cash.

If the second place finisher, Anh Le, looks familiar it probably is a result of her having finished second in this same event in 2005, the year Jennifer Tilly took home the gold. Coming so close to the championship twice had an impact on Le and almost brought out the tears. Interviewer David Howard saved the day when he mentioned her daughter Isabelle waiting at home. Ahn Le collected $144,567 for second and Patty Till completed the top three to pocket $87,715.

Congratulations to Svetlana Gromenkova winning her first WSOP gold bracelet.

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Eric Brooks Wins 2008 WSOP Event #14

Date: Tue, Jun 10, 2008

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Eric Brooks can return to Bryn Mawr, Pennslyvania and tell them he's a world champion. Monday evening he eliminated the Fu Wong, the last player with a seat in the WSOP Stud Championship to claim the title, the money and the coveted gold bracelet. Eric chipped away at second place finisher Fu Wong's stacks during the heads-up play until all the chips were in his stack. Along with his first bracelet Brooks picked up $415,856 and a year's worth of bragging rights. Fu Wong heads back home to Chandler, Arizona with his second place prize of $259,910.

Eric Seidel and Minh Ly, a couple of well known poker professionals, were seated at the final table. The starting field of 158 players included many of poker finest in the mix. FYI: Eric Brooks donates all of his winnings to charity. Our congratulations to Eric Brooks for his big win to claim the World Championship Seven Stud title.

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Duncan Bell Wins 2008 WSOP Event #13

Date: Tue, Jun 10, 2008

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Duncan Bell came tto0 the final table as the chip leader and never got behind the curve. The Monday afternoon final table featured the 9 players remaining from the starting field of 1,397 entrants in the $2,500 Buy-in No-Limit Hold'em event. Bell of Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada completed the elimination of the other 8 contestants in only 3 1/2 hours of play making this the shortest 2008 final table to date. He received $666,777 and the gold WSOP champion's bracelet for his win.

Steve Merrifield of Fairmont, West Virginia finished second and received $428,949. Congratulations to Duncan Bell for taking down his first WSOP bracelet.

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Jimmy Shultz Wins 2008 WSOP Event #12

Date: Mon, Jun 9, 2008

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Two hours of roller coaster chip stacks poker finally produced a winner early Monday morning when Jimmy Shultz had his opponent all-in and his 10,3 of hearts turned into a flush on the river to trump Zac's pocket 3's. The see-saw battle was power poker from the go with automatic preflop raises, re-raises and check raises. Shultz had Fellows down to the felt more than once only to see his stacks of chips move back across the table. Jimmy Shultz collected $257,105 and his first WSOP gold bracelet for the win while Zac Fellows settled for the second place money of $165,165.

For most of the final table the players and spectators were treated(?) to another installment of the Vinny Ninh Show. The antics of Vinh were often disruptive and a floorperson remained close by the table to maintain order. Vinny played his usual extreme aggressive style of poker and rode his cards to a third place finish and $99,099.

Congratulations to Jimmy Shultz for his victory.

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Rob Tom Wins 2008 WSOP Event #11

Date: Mon, Jun 9, 2008

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Phil Tom won his first gold WSOP bracelet Sunday evening when he outlasted a field of 360 players that started the event three days ago. Having won all three of his tables brought him to the final table and the win. He received $477,990 in addition to the new jewelry.

Greg "FBT" Mueller received $298,638 for second place. Leo Wolpert collected $187,812 for third place. The final table went quick by WSOP standards, finishing in just over 6 hours of play. Congratulations to Phil Tom for the winning his first WSOP gold bracelet.

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Farzad Rouhani Wins 2008 WSOP Event #10

Date: Sun, Jun 8, 2008

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Farzad Rouhani is the winner of Event #10 of the 2008 WSOP. The $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8-or-better paid $232,911 for first place plus a coveted WSOP gold bracelet. Rouhani of Germantown, Maryland came to the final table as the chip leader with 513,000 in play money and never looked back as he cruised to his first bracelet.

Tom Chambers took down the $142,784 second place money while well known poker pro Miami John Cernuto finished third and collected $86,117. Another popular professional , Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi went out in the eight spot and received $24,095.

Congratulations to Farzad Rouhani for winning his first WSOP event.

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Ralph Rep Porter Wins 2008 WSOP Event #9

Date: Sun, Jun 8, 2008

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Late Saturday night Ralph 'Rep' Porter completed the final hand of the final table of event #9, a $1,500 Buy-in No-Limit Hold'em Six-Handed affair that drew a field of 1,236 players and amassed a prize pool of $1,687,410. The hard fought win netted the Woodinville, Washington player the first place money totaling $372,929 and his first WSOP bracelet.

Second place went to Nathan Templeton along with $231,981 in cash and Devin Porter completed the top three and collected $151,842. Final table play lasted for 212 hands before only one player remained with chips and only three of those hands were played heads-up. That's all it took for Ralph Porter to eliminate Nathan Templeton. Congratulations are in order for the latest 2008 WSOP champion, Ralph 'Rep' Porter.

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