David Singer Wins $1,500 Pot Limit Holdem Event at 2008 WSOP

2008 World Series of Poker
Event #3 Final Report
$1,500 Pot Limit Hold'em

David Singer Wins $1,500 Pot Limit
Holdem Event at 2008 WSOP

Tournament Notes:

This was the second Pot-Limit Hold'em tournament on the 2008 WSOP
schedule. The first tournament which was held four days ago generated the
largest Pot-Limit Hold'em prize pool in poker history. This tournament had a
$1,500 buy-in with 714 entries, which created a prize pool totaling $973,245.

This was the first non-ESPN final table of the 2008 WSOP. The final table was
played adjacent to the main stage, which featured Event #4, the $5,000 buy-
in Mixed Hold'em event in what was an overlapping time slot. While the
crowd was not as large for this finale, several players had their own cheering
sections, full of friends and relatives.

The World Series of Poker has become an international attraction. Of the 72
players who finished in-the-money, six different nations were represented –
including England, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Russia,
and the United States.

Jacobo Fernandez enjoyed the chip lead when final table play began. He had
about a quarter of the total chips in play. He held the chip lead until play
became heads up against David Singer. After a four hour battle which took
out seven players, Fernandez and Singer battled for nearly five hours before
the winner was determined.

The $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Hold'em champion is David Singer, from Las
Vegas, NV. He is originally from Brooklyn, NY. Singer was a formally an
attorney who worked for a non-profit environmental firm. He has been a
professional poker player since 2001.

This marked Singer's 18th time to cash at the WSOP. He is the only player to
have made it to the final table of the $50,000 HORSE event both years it's
been played. Oddly enough, while Singer has nearly $4 million in career
tournament earnings, he had never finished higher than fourth prior to this
victory.

Singer's wife is expecting the couple's first child very soon. In fact, the child
is due at any moment. Incredibly, Singer stated that he would depart the
poker tournament – no matter what the situation – in order to be at his
wife's side when she gave birth. "The moment she goes into labor, I am
quitting the tournament," he said on the night before the final table was to
be played. "I don't care even if I am playing heads-up for the (gold bracelet)."

Singer was playing heads-up against a very tough opponent named Jacobo
Fernandez. The final hand of the tournament pitted Singer's queen-four
against Fernandez' seven-three. It proved to be a very exciting last hand for
players and spectators alike, as the turn showed 7-5-3-6. Singer held the
made straight against Fernandez' two pair. Singer put his opponent to the
test with an all-in move and Fernandez reluctantly called with his sevens and
threes. A blank on the river sealed Singer's victory.

Through this event, poker professionals have now won 2 gold bracelets,
versus amateurs, who have won 1.

The second-place finisher was Jacobo Fernandez, who put up a valiant fight.
He held onto the chip lead a majority of the time, but could never manage to
close out the win. Fernandez is from the Dominican Republic. He now lives in
Hollywood, FL.

Gregory Alston finished in third place. Two years ago, he made a final table
appearance in this event as well, finishing ninth. This was Alston's 11th
career WSOP cash.

Joe Tehan took sixth place. He has as strong a tournament record as anyone
over the last three years, with 39 major cashes and over $2.2 million in
tournament earnings.

Seventh-place finisher Al "Sugar Bear" Barbieri has been a fixture at the
WSOP for more than a decade. The Philadelphia native proudly calls himself a
protégé of three-time gold bracelet winner John Bonetti, who has been
suffering health problems in recent months.

Doug Carli, a.k.a. "Rico" is the unofficial World Series of Poker Circuit's Most
Valuable Player. He finished 12th in this event. Carli has enjoyed astounding
success over the last four years at the 12 annual WSOP Circuit events. He
has nearly twice as many cashes (33) and final table appearances (19) as
the player in second place.

Former gold bracelet winner Harry Thomas (1985 Seven-Card Stud) took 24th
place.

Four-time WSOP gold bracelet winner and 1983 world champion Tom McEvoy
finished in 25th place. That put McEvoy across the $2 million mark for lifetime
tournament earnings (for all major events).

Lou "The Big Easy" Esposito, the champion of last year's Bayou Poker
Challenge at Harrahs New Orleans, took 45th place.

The tournament was played over three days. The final table of nine players
was played on Day Three and started at 2 pm and ended at 10:00 pm.

Last year, this tournament was won by Michael Spegal. He entered this year,
but did not cash.

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Photo Provided By: IMPDI for the 2008 WSOP