Michael Banducci Wins $1,000 Rebuy NL Holdem at 2008 World Series of Poker

2008 World Series of Poker
Event #5 Final Report
$1,000 No Limit Holdem
with Rebuys

Michael Banducci Wins $1,000
Rebuy No Limit Holdem at 2008
World Series of Poker

Tournament Notes:

This year's $1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em with Re-Buys championship
attracted 766 entries. Another 2,258 re-buys created a prize pool totaling
$2,894,094.

A "Re-Buy" poker tournament means players are permitted to buy back into
the tournament multiple times, provided they have equal or less chips than
their starting stack. In this tournament, players started play with 2,000 in
chips. Hence, any player with a chip count of 2,000 or less was allowed to re-
buy. The re-buy period ends after the first two levels, or in this case the first
two hours.

Re-buy tournaments are particularly popular with players who have deeper
pockets. Since they can simply re-buy if they go bust, play tends to be wild
and aggressive during the initial two levels.

The player with the most re-buys in this tournament was Suk Sung, who
reloaded 23 times. This means Sung invested $23,000 for this event. Note:
The record for most re-buys was set by Daniel Negreanu back in 2006 when
he reloaded an astounding 46 times, plus two reported add-ons. Negreanu
was downright stingy this year, by comparison. He re-bought a considerably
more modest 12 times this year.

This was the fourth 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. Seating for all WSOP final tables
remains free and open to the public.

The winner is Michael Banducci, from Traverse City, MI. He is a 23-year-old
professional poker player. Banducci was born in Toronto, Ontario (Canada).

Banducci symbolizes the new breed of poker player who has learned the
game by playing on his computer. He first saw poker on television about five
years ago. He never dreamed he would win a gold bracelet. He stated that
his early goal was simply to get to the WSOP and someday play in a
tournament. Now, he has much more lofty ambitions – including winning
another event.

Banducci made one re-buy plus a double add-on. Hence, he invested $4,000
in this tournament and collected $636,736.

The new champion attended Hope College in Michigan. He worked a variety
of summer jobs. He started playing poker at a local casino and mostly played
$4-8 limit until graduating to higher levels of play.

Pro's versus Amateurs: Through Event #6 at this year's World Series, poker
professionals have won 5 gold bracelets. Amateurs have won 1 gold bracelet.

Banducci made some interesting observations in a post-tournament interview
with the WSOP Public Relations Team:

The amount of time it takes to become a good player is reduced by playing
(on the computer). We play so many hands. We talk to our friends (about
the hands). You learn so fast. I think younger players understand the
fundamentals much better. Older players probably know about the real-life
aspects of the game. But the future of poker (success) depends on
understanding the fundamentals.

I can't imagine ever stopping doing what I am doing. I really enjoy it. Only
now, I view it more as a business. I put in a set number of hours per week.
At one time I was really passionate about poker. But I think I have become
more disciplined about what I do.

There were 184 hands played at the final table. The final hand came when
Jeff Williams was down by about a 3 to 1 margin and called Mike Banducci's
all-in re-raise with A-5. Banducci held the dominant hand with A-J. The final
board showed K-J-10-3, giving Banducci a pair of jacks and the title.

The runner up was Jeff Williams. He is 22-years-old. If ever there was a
player to watch in the future it is this wunderkind from Atlanta, GA. At the
age of 19, Williams won the European Poker Tour championship, held in
Monte Carlo.

The presence of many Internet poker players at the final table attracted
arguably the largest and most boisterous gallery of supporters. Each player
seemed to have a specific cheering section of twentysomethings. This added
to the drama and excitement of the finale.

Michael Binger took seventh place. Binger is perhaps best remembered for
his third place finish and $4 million cash in the 2006 Main Event. He also tied
a WSOP record last year for the most cashes in a single year, with eight.

Steve Gross took ended up as the eighth-place finisher. Just two weeks ago,
Gross graduated from college.

Several former WSOP gold bracelet winners cashed in this event, including
Phi Nguyen (10th), Daniel Negreanu (22nd), Nenad Medic (24th), John Juanda
(27th), Lee Watkinson (51st), Mark Vos (55th), and Billy Baxter (59th). Medic
won his first gold bracelet just a few days ago in the Pot-Limit Hold'em World
Championship.

The 31st-place finisher, Alex Jacob, won the United States Poker
Championship in 2006.

The tournament was played over three days. The first day included ten
levels and was played from 12 noon until 12:45 am. Day Two was played
from 2 pm until 1 am. The final table of nine players was played on Day Three
and started at 3:30 pm and ended at 2 am.

Last year's champion in this event was Michael Graves, from Springfield, AR.
He did not register to play in this event.

This will be the last tournament taped for broadcast by ESPN until the
$50,000 HORSE championship, which starts on June 25th. In the meantime,
Bluff Media and ESPN 360 will be carrying live video of many final tables over
the next three weeks, which can be seen on the Internet.

The broadcast of this event will air on ESPN on August 12, 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

UltimatePokerForum.com
The Ultimate Poker Site

Michael Banducci

Site Directory

Be a Shark, not a Fish!

Built specifically for Sit and Go
Tournaments, Shark combines
the best of an online poker
odds calculator with dynamic
instructional advice

Photo Provided By: IMPDI for the 2008 WSOP

Michael Banducci 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Gold Bracelet Winner