2008 WSOP Gold Bracelet Winner Event #28

2008 World Series of Poker
Event #28 Final Report
$5,000 Pot Limit Omaha
with Rebuys

Tournament Notes

WSOP GOLD BRACELET WINNER
EVENT #28 – Phil Galfond

The $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament attracted a star-studded field
of 152 entries. Another 483 re-buys increased the total prize pool to
$3,085,930. The top 18 finishers (final two tables) collected prize money.

Last year, this same event attracted 145 entries. The increase in both
participation and the number of re-buys made this year’s tournament the
biggest Pot-Limit Omaha prize pool in poker history.

Pot-Limit Omaha made its WSOP debut in 1984. It has been played every
year since then.

Only two players in WSOP history have won multiple Pot-Limit Omaha
victories – “Amarillo Slim” Preston and Johnny Chan, with two wins each.

This tournament set a number of additional records for fans of poker trivia.
On Day One, one of the tables (Orange 15) included the most accomplished
lineup of tournament players in WSOP history. The table included eight
former WSOP gold bracelet winners. In fact, the combined number of WSOP
wins for all players at Orange 15 amounted to 32. Here was the lineup for
murderer’s row:

-- Robert Williamson – 1 bracelet
-- Phil Hellmuth, Jr. – 11 bracelets
-- Erick Lindgren – 1 bracelet
-- Erik Seidel – 8 bracelets
-- Daniel Negreanu – 4 bracelets
-- Phil Ivey – 5 bracelets
-- Daniel Alaei – 1 bracelet
-- Alexander Kravchenko – 1 bracelet

The final table included four former WSOP gold bracelet winners, with a
combined 28 victories between them. This eclipsed the previous all-time
record set in the 2006 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship when there were a
combined 27 victories between the nine finalists.

-- John Juanda – 3 bracelets
-- Phil Hellmuth, Jr. – 11 bracelets
-- Daniel Negreanu – 4 bracelets
-- Johnny Chan – 10 bracelets

A potential dream heads-up matchup between the two all-time WSOP record
gold bracelet winners -- Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan -- never materialized.
Hellmuth ended up busting out in eighth place. Chen ended up fourth.

Hellmuth defeated Chan in the 1989 WSOP Main Event, winning his first world
championship. Since then, Hellmuth and Chan have faced off only one time at
a WSOP final table. That took place in a memorable 2002 match in the Heads-
Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship when the two poker giants ended up as
the two finalists. Chan defeated Hellmuth to win what at the time was his
seventh gold bracelet.

Due to the star quality of the final day, this was the toughest seat in town for
poker fans. By the 3 pm start, the ESPN main stage and Milwaukee’s Best
Light skybox were filled to capacity. Furthermore, hundreds of poker
aficionados gathered around television monitors to see history in the
making. While the finale was indeed exciting, several of the poker superstars
busted out early which altered the enthusiasm somewhat for the late night
drama.

The tournament was played over three consecutive days. The final table was
played on Day Three at the same time as the conclusion of the $1,500 buy-in
No-Limit Hold’em championship (Event #27).

The winner was Phil Galfond, from Madison, WI. He is 23-years-old. He is a
poker pro who concentrates mostly on cash games.

Galfond collected $817,781 for first place. He also earned his first WSOP gold
bracelet. This was his fourth time to cash at the WSOP. This was the second-
highest top prize ever paid to the winner of a Pot-Limit Omaha tournament.

Galfond’s poker nickname is “OMGClayAiken.”

Galfond was the chip leader during most of the final table.

“I had a big chip lead and I did not want to blow it,” Galfond said afterward.
“So, the first thing I feel is relief that I did not blow the lead.”

Prior to taking a seat at the final table Galfond stated that winning a WSOP
gold bracelet would mean a great deal to him. “It commands respect from
your peers,” he said.

“It was such a tough final table lineup,” Galfond stated when asked about
playing amongst so many big poker names. “That’s what makes winning this
so much better.”

The second-place finisher was Adam Hourani, from East Lansing, MI.

Ten-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Johnny Chan finished fourth. This was
his 40th career cash, which ranks 16th on the all-time list.

Kirill Gerasimov took fifth place. Gerasimov nearly pulled off a parlay for
Russia as fellow countryman Vitaly Lunkin (from Moscow) won Event #27,
which concluded about half an hour earlier. This has been a breakthrough
year for Russian poker players, as many have enjoyed success at this year’s
WSOP. Note: A Russian player also leads the “most cashes” category at this
year’s WSOP, to date – see below.

Three-time WSOP gold bracelet winner John Juanda was eliminated in sixth
place. Juanda currently has more WSOP in-the-money finishes than any
other player since 2000 -- with 41. This was also his 43rd career cash, which
ties him for tenth-place on the all-time list, along with Brent Carter.

Four-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu finished in seventh
place. Negreanu won the $2,000 Limit Hold’em event last week, and
achieved his fourth cash and second final table at this year’s World Series.
Negreanu now has 30 career cashes, which ties him for 37th place on the all-
time list with poker legend Doyle Brunson.

Eleven-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth finished in eighth
place. He is the all-time WSOP leader in number of cashes – currently with
64. While Hellmuth was being interviewed by the Bluff Media crew for the live
ESPN260 Internet broadcast, Negreanu busted out of the tournament
moments later. As the normally long-winded Hellmuth was pontificating on
what went wrong and was making predictions of his future victories,
Negreanu (standing off-camera) shouted, “Hey Phil, this is not a one-hour
expose!” Unfazed by the distraction, Hellmuth rambled on until the camera
was finally cut off.

Daniel Negreanu made the most re-buys in this event, with 16. He invested
$85,000 in entry fees in this tournament and collected $123,437 in prize
money.

Chris “Jesus” Ferguson finished in 10th place, just missing make it to the final
table. This marked Ferguson’s 54th career WSOP cash, which ranks fourth all-
time – just one behind T.J. Cloutier.

The curse on defending champions continues. Last year’s winner, Burt Boutin
played in this event. But he did not cash. This brings the current streak to
28 straight non-cashes for defending champions in their respective events.

Other former WSOP gold bracelet winners who cashed in this event included
David Williams (16th), Ted Lawson (17th), and Eli Elezra (18th).

Robert Williamson III has dominated Pot-Limit Omaha events at the WSOP for
the past decade. His Pot-Limit Omaha resume includes a 3rd in 1999, 1st in
2002, 3rd in 2003, 7th again in 2003, 2nd in 2004, 14th again in 2004, 2nd in
2005, and 10th in 2007. That’s eight cashes in ten years, with six final
tables. However, Williamson did not cash in this event this year.

Jamie Pickering, from Australia, who was the runner-up to Vanessa Selbst in
the Pot-Limit Omaha championship (Event #19) a few days ago, finished in
13th place.

Through the conclusion of Event #28, the player with the highest percentage
of cashes (minimum of five events played) is Kathy Liebert at 57 percent.
Liebert has entered a total of seven events and cashed in four.

Through the conclusion of Event #28, the player who has entered more
tournaments than any other player is Sirous Jamshidi – with 20 entries. He
has cashed twice.

Through the conclusion of Event #28, only one player has cashed six times to
date – Nikolay Evdakov, from Moscow, Russia. Five-time in-the-money
finishers include Tom Schneider (Scottsdale, AZ), Roland Isra (New York, NY),
and Alex Jacob (Las Vegas, NV). All are in contention to challenge the record
set for “Most WSOP Cashes in a Single Year,” shared by four players --
Michael Binger (2007), Chad Brown (2007), Phil Hellmuth, Jr. (2006), and
Humberto Brenes (2006), with eight in-the-money strikes.

The current Milwaukee’s Best Light “Player of the Year” standings shows Erick
Lindgren on top of the points list with one gold bracelet win and four cashes.
However, Daniel Negreanu is now close in points, along with Vanessa Selbst
and Jacobo Fernandez.

Through the conclusion of Event #28 at this year’s World Series of Poker, the
gold bracelet count by nations and states reads as follows:
8 – Nevada
4 – New York
4 – California
2 – Canada
2 – Missouri
1 – Germany
1 – Italy
1 – Maryland
1 – Michigan
1 – Pennsylvania
1 – Russia
1 – South Carolina
1 – Wisconsin

Phil Galfond is to be classified as a professional. Accordingly, through the
conclusion of Event #28 at this year’s World Series of Poker, the
“Professionals versus Amateurs” gold bracelet scoreboard reads:
Professionals –         21 wins
Amateurs --                4 wins
Semi-Pros --                2 wins

On this day, pro golfer and recreational poker player Rocco Mediate lost to
Tiger Woods by one stroke in a sudden-death playoff at the U.S. Open.
Mediate played in the 2006 WSOP Main Event.

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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