Erick Lindgen Wins $5,000 Mixed Holdem Event at 2008 WSOP

2008 World Series of Poker
Event #4 Final Report
$5,000 Mixed Hold'em

Erick Lindgren Wins $5,00 Mixed
Holdem Event at 2008 WSOP

Tournament Notes:

This marked the second consecutive year that the WSOP has offered a
$5,000 buy-in “Mixed Hold’em” tournament on the schedule. Mixed hold’em
means that two games are played – Limit Hold’em and No-Limit Hold’em. The
games alternate as each game is played for 30 minutes per (one-hour) level.

The World Series of Poker is truly global. Of the 36 players who finished in-
the-money, five different nations were represented – including Canada,
England, Ireland, Monaco, and the United States.

This was the third WSOP event of the year to be televised by ESPN. The final
table was played on the ESPN main stage, surrounded by the Milwaukee’s
Best Light All-In Lounge. Daily seating for WSOP final tables remains free and
open to the public. Most final tables begin in the afternoon.

Once again, this final table attracted a standing-room only crowd of
spectators. David Rheem and Erick Lindgren brought the largest and most
vocal cheering sections. Nevertheless, a few bona fide superstars ensured
that the outcome of this finale would attract widespread interest.

Of the nine finalists, only two players were previous gold bracelet winners,
Howard Lederer (with two previous wins) and David Williams (with one win).

The chip leader when final table play began was David Rheem. He started
with about 26 percent of the total chips in play. Rheem ended up going out
fifth.

The winner was Erick Lindgren. He is a 31-year-old professional poker player
from Las Vegas, NV. Lindgren was born in Burley, CA, which is a small town
in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

First place paid $374,505.

Lindgren rarely had the chip lead at the final table until the final moments.
He was in second or third place most of the way. But he ultimately prevailed
over tough competition.

Lindgren made a straight (ace-to-five) as his winning hand. He had A-2 and
called rival Justin Bonomo all-in bet on the turn when the cards showed 10-5-
3-4. Bonomo had 5-4, good for two pair. But Lindgren scooped the final pot
of the night with his wheel.

Justin Bonomo, a.k.a. “ZeeJustin” ended up as the second-place. Although
disappointed, Bonomo expressed his admiration for Lindgren and understood
what the victory meant to his final adversary. In a touching moment that
showed real class, Bonomo’s parents went over to Lindgren immediately
after his victory and expressed their congratulations.

Lindgren’s win wrote the closing chapter of one of poker’s great human
interest stories, particularly amongst poker aficionados. One of the most
popular touring pros, Lindgren had been snake bitten at the WSOP for
years. He has won just about everything in poker except a WSOP gold
bracelet. Lindgren was often mentioned up this point on the very short list of
“best poker players never to have won at the WSOP.” His name will now be
removed from that list, and be placed on countless others.

With his sixth place finish in this event, Howard Lederer currently ranks 20th
on the all-time number of cashes list in WSOP history, with 35. His cash in
this event also pushes him over the $4 million mark in lifetime tournament
winnings (for all major events). Lederer is widely-known at “The Professor.”
He won the $5,000 buy-in Omaha High-Low event in 2000. The following
year, he won the $5,000 buy-in Deuce-to-Seven Lowball championship. He
also finished fifth in the 1987 WSOP Main Event. Much of his recent time has
been spent fighting for the rights of poker players and lobbying government
officials to accept poker as a game of skill.

David Williams finished in seventh place. In 2004, he burst upon the poker
scene as the runner up in the WSOP Main Event to Greg “Fossilman” Raymer.
Williams went on to win a gold bracelet in the $1,500 buy-in Seven-Card Stud
event in 2006.

Three-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Chau Giang just missed making it to
the final table. He finished 11th.

Former gold bracelet winner Barry Shulman finished in 33rd place. Shulman is
the owner of Card Player magazine and Shulman Media.

Other well-known poker celebrities who performed well and cashed in this
event included Andy Bloch (who finished second in Event #1) taking 16th, Phil
“Unabomber” Laak taking 24th, and Mori Eskandani, taking 32nd.

Mori Eskandani is the Executive Producer of the popular television program
“Poker After Dark.”

One of the more humorous moments of this year’s World Series occurred at
this final table when 11-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, Jr.
tromped across the stage to greet a few of the players. When the
tournament announcer Robbie Thompson acknowledged Hellmuth and
delivered what would normally be an applause line, the crowd sat silently.
Then, a few of the more boisterous onlookers began booing and the entire
audience joined in. Hellmuth, shocked by the crowd’s reaction shouted out,
“tough crowd!”

Through the conclusion of this event (#4) eight players have cashed twice at
this year’s WSOP. They include Andy Bloch, Phil Laak, Patrik Antonius, David
Bach, Nikolay Evdakov, Raphael Zimmerman, Matthew Graham, and Kanzuki
Ikeuchi.

Last year, this tournament was won by Steve Billirakis. At age 21 years and
11 days, Billirakis set a new record as the youngest gold bracelet winner in
WSOP history (which has since been broken). Billirakis played in this event
but did not cash.

About half an hour prior to Lindgren’s win, touring pro David Singer won his
first WSOP gold bracelet at final table held on an adjacent stage. This proved
to be a real day of deliverance for two longtime poker stars, who had been
denied poker’s ultimate prize for too long.

ESPN will air the broadcast of this event on August 5, 2008.

The 2008 World Series of Poker championship gold bracelets are designed
and manufactured by Corum USA. For more information and specifications,
contact Knych Keller: kkeller@corumusa.com
_________________________________

World Series of Poker Commissioner – Jeffrey Pollack

Director of Sponsorship and Licensing -- Ty Stewart

Director of Broadcasting and New Media – Craig Abrahams

Director of Communications – Seth Palansky

Regional Vice President of Specialty Gaming -- Howard Greenbaum

Tournament Director – Jack Effel

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Erick Lindgren 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Gold Bracelet Winner