Sunday, June 15, 2008

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2008 WSOP Day 17: More Hold'em begins

Will Shankar return to defend his title?

By Sarah Polson

The 2008 World Series of Poker is busting at the seams with No-Limit Hold'em events, and another one gets started today at noon.

This will be Event 29, $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em. Last year it fell as Event 28 in the schedule and saw 827 players sign up to create more than $2 million in prize money.

After three days of play it was Shankar Pillai, an investment banker from Commack, N.Y., who defeated Beth Shak for the win.

He took home $527,829, plenty of cash to help turn the aspiring poker pro toward a full-time career.

The players who made the final table in 2007 were:

Place	Name	Prize
1st	Shankar Pillai	$527,829
2nd	Beth Shak	$323,683
3rd	Jason Song	$212,274
4th	Dustin Holmes	$141,516
5th	Ben Fineman	$100,431
6th	Phil Hellmuth	$76,464
7th	Perry Friedman	$57,063
8th	Brett Richey	$42,227
9th	Daniel Corbin	$30,814

Shak also made for a formidable heads-up opponent for Pillai. Pillai had said he enjoyed playing against Hellmuth since he had hoped to come up against some really good players, but in the end Shak was one of the few people who really scared him in the event.

"I couldn't get a read on her whatsoever, and it seemed like any time she put her money in, she had aces," Pillai said in an interview after his win. "That's all she shoved was good hands, and I mean, I didn't really know how to play against her."

His strategy of keeping pots small eventually paid off though as he collected his money and his gold bracelet, but Shak may be back with a vengeance this year.

Since her second-place finish, Shak has turned up a cash in a World Poker Tour event and in a WSOP Circuit event. She also was selected as one of the ladies to take on Gus Hansen in Poker After Dark's "Gus and the Ladies" event. She bested Hansen to come in third.

Some of the other pros who made the money in the $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em event last year include Evelyn Ng, Steven Dannenman, Greg Mueller, John Racener, Phil Laak and more.

Many pros are running hot this season, and though there's also a $10,000 World Championship event starting at 5 p.m. today, a good chunk of them may see how far they can get in Event 29 first.

Other action at the felt today includes finals for Event 25, $10,000 World Championship Heads-Up No-Limit, and Event 26, $1,500 Seven-Card Razz. Meanwhile Event 27, another $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event, and Event 28, $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha w/Rebuys, will continue into their second days of play.

For all the live updates, player interviews, videos and more from the 2008 WSOP, visit the PokerListings Live Tournaments section.

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