2008 WSOP Event 1 Pot-Limit Hold'em

Individual Event Reports

2008 WSOP Event #1 -- Pot-Limit Hold'em Day 1

The first event, Pot-Limit Hold'em, was worthy of a WSOP kick off with 352 players each paying $10,000 to get in on the action. The prize pool reached a whopping $3,308,800.00. And of course the big names wasted no time in playing. Seen in the field were Tuan Le, Phil Laak, Andy Bloch, Humberto Brenes, Lyle Berman, Chris Ferguson, WPT commentator Mike Sexton, Ted Lawson, Beth Shak, Anna Wroblewski, Jennifer Harman and Hasan Habib. By the end of day 1 there were 70 players remaning for the three day event. As more information comes in, we will post it so come back often!

1. Eli Elezra -- 302,900 chips
2. Amit Makhija -- 251,100 chips
3. Nenad Medic -- 240,200 chips
4. Patrik Antonius -- 236,300 chips
5. Justin Newton -- 233,000 chips
6. Mike Sowers -- 216,700 chips
7. Anthony Licastro -- 211,000 chips
8. Nikolay Evdakov -- 206,200 chips
9. David Bach -- 204,100 chips

2008 WSOP Event #1 -- Pot-Limit Hold'em Day 2

With the second day underway, the winner will receive $794,112 which is the largest amount ever paid to the winner of a Pot-Limit Hold'em tournament. The last 36 players are the ones to receive the money. And because of the buy in amount of $10,000, the WSOP has designated all WSOP events with this amount of a buy in are listed as "World Champion Events" meaning the winner is seen in the eyes of the WSOP as world champion in that style of poker.

It was tough to narrow down the players to the final table! Among those who made the money were Ted Lawson ($26,470.00 in 25th), Dustin Woolf $26,470.00 in 22nd), Anthony Licastro ($26,470.00 in 21st), Eli Elezra ($26,470.00 in 19th), Rolf Slotboom of Europe Card Player ($26,470.00 for 20th), Alexander Kostritsyn from Russia ($33,088.00 in 17th) and John Kabbaj from the UK ($49,632.00 in 10th. Here are the final table players with chip counts who will make sure there are fireworks for the fans surrounding the tables:

1. Andy Bloch --- 2,115,000
2. Nenad Medic -- 1,200,000
3. Mike Sexton -- 1,130,000
4. Mike Sowers -- 675,000
5. Amit Makhija -- 525,000
6. Chris Bell -- 455,000
7. Phil Laak -- 425,000
8. Kathy Liebert -- 285,000
9. Patrik Antonius -- 230,000

2008 WSOP Event #1 -- Pot-Limit Hold'em Final Table

The command to "shuffle up and deal" was given by Doyle Brunson himself and the final table was underway. This final table of nine players was played on Day Three and started at 3 pm and ended at 11:45 pm. And it has been made official that this will be televised, and ESPN will air the telecast of this event on July 22, 2008. (We will publish the entire broadcast schedule when it is made available.)

On the first hand of play, Phil �the Unibomber� Laak moved all-in with pocket jacks. High-stakes poker shark and heartthrob Patrik Antonius called his raise and showed pocket kings. A jack on the flop brought wild cheers from the crowd and a dance from Laak. But a king on the river gave Antonius the pot, leaving Laak low on chips. He busted out only a few hands later holding the same dreaded hand � pocket jacks (Nenad Medic�s pocket aces won the pot).

Laak�s final table appearance was short, but highly memorable. Known for his unpredictable antics, Laak brought along a stack of �Post It� notes to the table. When he moved all-in (three times), Laak wrote private notes and then approached ESPN�s rolling TV cameras. While his opponent was contemplating a decision, Laak wrote �Please Fold!� and other whimsical comments.

The winning hand was Medic�s 7h-5h against Bloch�s 9h-9d. After the flop came 8h-5s-4h, Medic re-raised all-in with his combination straight and flush draw. Bloch called with his overpair (nines). The Jh on the turn gave Medic his heart flush, which scooped the final pot of the night.

1. Nenad Medic -- $794,112.00
2. Andy Bloch -- $488,048.00
3. Kathy Liebert -- $306,064.00
4. Mike Sexton -- $248,160.00
5. Amit Makhija -- $198,528.00
6. Chris Bell -- $157,168.00
7. Patrik Antonius -- $124,080.00
8. Mike Sowers -- $99,264.00
9. Phil Laak -- $74,448.00