2008 WSOP Gold Bracelet Winner Event #30

2008 World Series of Poker
Event #30 Final Report
$10,000 World
Championship Limit Hold'em

Tournament Notes

WSOP GOLD BRACELET WINNER
EVENT #30 – Rob Hollink

The $10,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em World Championship attracted a highly-
competitive field of 218 entries, creating a prize pool totaling $2,049,200.
The top 27 finishers collected prize money.

While all 55 WSOP tournaments on the 2008 schedule are categorized as
“gold bracelet” events, this is also known as a “world championship” event.
This means the winner of this event is the Limit Hold’em world champion.
Beginning this year, all $10,000+ buy-in tournaments are designated as
official world championships. Ten WSOP tournaments qualify under these
guidelines -- a list which includes eight gold bracelet tournaments with
$10,000 buy-ins, the $50,000 buy-in HORSE event, and the Main Event.

This is the highest buy-in Limit Hold’em tournament in history. Previously, the
highest buy-in Limit Hold’em tournament had been $5,000. Last year, the
highest buy-in Limit Hold’em event was $3,000.

Limit Hold’em was the most popular varient of tournament poker for a 15-
year period between 1988 and 2003. Limit Hold’em was also the dominant
form of poker played in public cardrooms from the mid-1980s (when California
law changed to allow flop games) until a few years ago. In fact, during much
of the 1980s and 90s finding a No-Limit Hold’em game was next to
impossible. For many years at the World Series of Poker, Limit Hold’em
events attracted more total entries than No-Limit Hold’em events.

Limit Hold’em tournaments are now spread less frequently. For instance,
there are only three Limit Hold’em events on the 2008 WSOP schedule,
versus 25 No-Limit Hold’em events. This was the second of three such
events.

The tournament was played over three consecutive days. The final table was
played on the ESPN main stage and was broadcast by Bluff Media on
ESPN360. NFL play-by-play announcer Howard David was joined by poker
pro and author Barry Tanenbaum on the live coverage.

This finale took place at the same time as the conclusion of the $3,000 buy-in
No-Limit Hold’em championship (Event #29), which took place at the
secondary final table.

The winner was Rob Hollink, from Groningen, Holland. He is a 46-year-old
professional poker player. He is divorced and has three children.

Groningen is in the northernmost part of Holland. It is very near the German
border.

Hollink collected $496,931 for first place. He also earned his first WSOP gold
bracelet.

Hollink becomes the first WSOP gold bracelet ever from the nation of Holland.
Many great Dutch players have come close to winning. But Hollink goes down
in history as the first to achieve a WSOP triumph.

Hollink stated that he has been coming to the WSOP every year since 2001.
He estimated that he has played 80-85 events, without much success. “I
have won 15 tournaments in Europe, but every year I come here (to the
WSOP) it has been bad luck for me,” Hollink stated afterward. “But I guess
this makes up for it now.”

The champion stated that his favorite poker game is Pot-Limit Omaha.
However, he has developed a special fondness for Limit Hold’em as well. He
calls it his “second favorite game to play.”

With a Dutch player winning this event, six different nations have now been
represented amongst WSOP winners.

The second-place finisher was Jerrod Ankenman, from Avon, CT. Ankenman
finished as the runner-up on one previous occasion. He was second in the
$3,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em event in 2006. Ankenman co-authored a book
with two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Bill Chen called “The Mathematics
of Poker.”

Former WSOP gold bracelet winner Aaron Katz took fourth place.

Poker pro Andy Bloch finished in seventh place. This was Bloch’s second final
table appearance. He was the runner up in the Pot-Limit Hold’em World
Championship (Event #1) and now stands as the only player to make it to
two official “world championship” events so far this year.

Bloch also set a dubious record of accomplishment in this event. He became
the all-time leader in “most final table appearances” with no WSOP wins.
This was his eighth such achievement. Bill Gazes and Don Barton have seven
appearances/no wins each. Mark Gregorich has six.

South Africa picked up its first entry on the cash list at this year’s World
Series as Cy Jassinowsky, from Johnannesburg finished in eighth place.

Two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Eric Froehlich finished in 12th place.
This marked his eighth WSOP cash in three years.

John “Tex” Barch, who won $2.5 million for his third-place finish in the 2005
Main Event, finished 17th.

Three-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Dewey Tomko ended up as the 23rd
place finisher. This marked Tomko’s 43rd career WSOP cash, which now ties
him for 11th place on the all-time list. Tomko was also the runner-up in the
1982 and 2001 WSOP Main Events.

Other former WSOP gold bracelet winners who cashed in this event included
Todd Witteles (19th), Hoyt Corkins (21st), and Alex Kravchenko (27th).

Through the conclusion of Event #30, the player with the highest percentage
of cashes (minimum of six events played) is Kathy Liebert at 62.5 percent.
Liebert has entered a total of eight events and cashed in five.

Through the conclusion of Event #30, only one player has cashed six times –
Nikolay Evdakov, from Moscow, Russia. He is best positioned 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 #30 at this year’s World Series of Poker, the
gold bracelet count by nations and states reads as follows:
8 – Nevada
5 – California
4 – New York
2 – Canada
2 – Missouri
1 – Germany
1 – Holland
1 – Italy
1 – Maryland
1 – Michigan
1 – Pennsylvania
1 – Russia
1 – South Carolina
1 – Wisconsin

The Event #30 winner Rob Hollink is to be classified as a professional.
Accordingly, through the conclusion of Event #30 at this year’s World Series
of Poker, the “Professionals versus Amateurs” gold bracelet scoreboard
reads:
Professionals –         23 wins
Amateurs --                4 wins
Semi-Pros --                2 wins

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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