2008 World Series of Poker

Or more fallout from that idiotic law Bush signed.

 

Jeez, which one?

 

So it is less than 2006 and more than 2007?

That's interesting.

I think some of the fact that it isn't as large as the year Jamie Gold won is the poker "boom" is slowing down.

I think as we get further from Moneymaker and Rounders, those still playing the game are more and more likely to be the hard core players and enthusiasts.

 

Maybe, but the numbers are up from last year. Jerry Yang won $8.25 million last year, there are more entries this time around.

Is there a reason for this, say more freerollers from the .net versions of pokerstars, fulltilt, ultimatebet and the others, or are there even more international players coming to play in the event. God knows online poker is still massive in Europe and Australia.

 

Is there only one "Day 2" or like last year is there two?

 

There are two, one for Days 1A and B, and the other for C and D. Then the field merges on the official Day 3.

 

And with the exchange rates, they can get into the field cheaper than ever before.

 

After the four days of "Day 1," there are 3,629 of the original 6,844 remaining. Day 2A is today (survivors of 1A and 1B), while 2B is tomorrow (survivors of 1C and 1D). Below are the top 10 from each of the four days, put in order overall. Only a few known pros in this list: Brandon Adams, Robert Mizrachi, Victor Ramdin, Alex Balandin ... to name them. Many other top guys are looming, like Chan and Carlos Mortenson.

Player, Chips
Henning Granstad 242,950
Mark Garner 194,900
Ben Sarnoff 177,500
Brandon Adams 176,450
Curt Kohlberg 173,050
David Baker 163,450
Brian Schaedlich 160,725
Howard Berchowitz 160,075
Arnaud Mattern 157,650
Kellen Hunter 155,200
Stefan Mattsson 154,275
Steve Austin 149,000
Mohamad Kowssarie 146,000
Patrick Fortin 145,275
Robert Mizrachi 142,400
David Stucke 140,525
Sami Rustom 140,450
Dylan Linde 138,425
Jeff Frerichs 138,025
Diren Yildiz 136,075
Soren Peterson 135,475
Josh Schiffman 133,000
Adam Hudson 127,750
Nick Caltabiano 127,700
Nikolay Losev 127,225
Evan Woodington 127,125
Michael Souza 126,100
Serj Markarian 126,000
Victor Ramdin 124,600
Wayne Brown 124,575
Todd Rebello 123,925
Samir Shakhtoor 122,875
Christian Choi 122,225
Charles Dolan 121,625
Liya Gerasimova 111,050
Robert Eckstut 110,275
Alex Balandin 109,925
Coco Valerice 106,727
Michael Watson 104,425
Gilles Smadja 101,450

 

So was there an announcer wearing a cowboy hat sitting at a desk near the tables screaming about how Austin was "stomping a mudhole and walking it dry, by God!" after each time this guy eliminated another player?

 

Day 2 isn't over yet, but Phil Hellmuth has over 200,000 in chips.

There's still 1700 people left in the tournament, but would anybody really bet against him making the final table at this point? You've got to think ESPN is praying like crazy.

 

The guy's a demonstrably great tournament player, but there are still plenty of surviving no-names no doubt eager to earn their ESPN moments by taking a shot at the Brat.