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Sunday, June 1, 2008

Day 3: WSOP first final table set

By Sarah Polson

The second day of the 2008 World Series of Poker has come and gone, but not without bringing poker fans some spectacular action as Event 1 reached its final table and Event 2 attracted enough players to be on track to set a new WSOP record.

Event 1

This was the first time a $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em event has ever been included in the World Series of Poker schedule. Last year's equivalent of this world championship event had a $5,000 buy-in and attracted 398 players.

According to Nolan Dalla, WSOP media director, there were concerns about doubling the entry fee for this and other events this year, but those concerns were laid to rest when nearly the same number of players turned out for the Pot-Limit Hold'em event as did in 2007 when it was $5k to enter.

As 352 players took to the felt on Friday to kick off the WSOP, the largest Pot-Limit Hold'em prize pool in WSOP history was created, and the playing field was filled with plenty of pros looking for a piece of the $3,308,800 pie.

Poker fans can expect to see plenty of pros in all the events of the WSOP, but these days they're lucky if even one big-name pro makes it to the final table. The World Championship Pot-Limit Hold'em event didn't have that problem.

With about 24% of the playing field consisting of former WSOP gold bracelet winners, two of those winners will take a seat at the final table today.

Kathy Liebert has one bracelet from her 2004 win in a Limit Hold'em Shootout event. A win today would give her a second bracelet and make her the first woman to win an event in 2008.

She'll have competition from the other former bracelet winner at the table, Mike Sexton. Sexton won his bracelet back in 1989 in a Seven-Card Stud Split event, but he's been a steady casher since at the World Series and in events around the world.

Liebert is sitting eighth in the chip count, and Sexton is third when play begins today. They'll both have their work cut out for them if they want to overcome chip leader Andy Bloch. Bloch has more than $2 million in chips, with his nearest competitor about $1 million in chips behind him.

Bloch doesn't have a fancy WSOP bracelet to wear yet, but he has plenty of WSOP experience to draw from. In 2007 along he made two final tables, and in 2006 he came in second in the $50k H.O.R.S.E. event.

Nenad Medic is Bloch's closest competitor, though Medic is only about $70,000 in chips higher than Sexton. Medic is also sans WSOP bracelets so far in his career. He is quickly building a reputation on the tournament circuit, however, and has a World Poker Tour World Poker Finals win from 2006.

Some of the other familiar names at the final table include Phil Laak and Patrik Antonius, both of whom are sitting at the bottom of the chip counts with Liebert.

Antonius has a major event win from 2005 when he won the European Poker Tour Baden Classic, and he's had several WSOP and WPT cashes over the years.

Laak has some experience playing in a Pot-Limit Hold'em final table. He might not have a WSOP bracelet yet, but the closest he came to a bracelet was in 2005 in the $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em event. Other than that, his biggest major win came in 2004 when he won a WPT event.

That leaves three lesser-known players in the middle of the pack of the final table today. Chris Bell is the most successful of the three in live tournament play so far. He's had lots of WPT cashes, with his best being a third-place finish in the 2005 Mirage Poker Showdown.

Bell's best showing at a World Series event was in 2007 when he came in fifth in the $2,500 Omaha/Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo Eight-or-Better event.

Sitting in the middle of the pack with Bell are Mike Sowers and Amit Makhija. Both have deep cashes in EPT events already this year, while Sowers has a win in the $1,000 Hold'em event of the 2007 Aruba Poker Classic, and Makhija has two cashes in the 2008 Wynn Classic.

Here's how the final table is stacked when play begins at 2 p.m. PT today:

Seat 1: Mike Sowers 675,000
Seat 2: Chris Bell 455,000
Seat 3: Amit Makhija 525,000
Seat 4: Patrik Antonius 230,000
Seat 5: Andy Bloch 2,115,000
Seat 6: Mike Sexton 1,130,000
Seat 7: Phil Laak 425,000
Seat 8: Nenad Medic 1,200,000
Seat 9: Kathy Liebert 285,000

Event 2

The second event of the 2008 WSOP turned out to be a big draw, a really big draw. The $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event is scheduled for two Day 1s, the first of which began play on Saturday with 2,048 players taking their seats to play.

More than 1,500 players had also already registered for Day 1b action, which begins today at noon, and WSOP officials are actually expecting the combined attendance for Event 2 to reach more than 4,000 players. The previous record of 3,151 participants was set in 2007.

So, who showed up to play in Day 1a of the event? PokerListings' crack team of tournament reporters spotted Phil Ivey, Ted Forrest, Jeff Madsen, Freddy Deeb, Matt Stout, Miami John Cernuto, David Sklansky, Eric Froehlich, Chad Batista, Todd Brunson, Hoyt Corkins, Steve Wong, Greg Raymer, Vanessa Rousso, Gavin Griffin, T.J. Cloutier and others in the mix.

Batista was an early bust in the event, and other pros who fell early included Daniel Negreanu, Praz Bansi, Antonio Esfandiari, Greg Mueller, Bill Edler, Billy Baxter, Ivey, Jean-Robert Bellande and more.

A few of the notables who did survive Day 1a to return on Monday to play are Shane "Shaniac" Schleger, Todd Brunson and Gavin Griffin.

Day 1b of Event 2 begins today at noon, and you can bet PokerListings will be on the scene to tell you all about who's in and who's out as the cards start hitting the felt.

Check out all of our live updates, photos, interviews, videos and more in the Live Tournaments section.