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Monday, July 16, 2007

WSOP: Meet your Main Event final table

Philip Hilm is the chip leader going into the Main Event final table.

By Sarah Polson

The dust has cleared and the last person has been busted out to give us our final nine players for the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event. With Scotty Nguyen getting the closest in 11th place, no "famous" pros managed to make the cut this year.

So the big question on everyone's mind is, "Who are these players?" PokerListings.com has the answer for you.

Seat 1: Jon Kalmar $20,220,000

The last Brit standing in the Main Event is Jon "Skalie" Kalmar. From Chorley, Lancashire in the U.K., Kalmar has had a successful online poker career for the past two years.

The 34-year-old previously worked full time in an IT job and as a consultant, but quit to have more time to play poker. His new career, in his own words, is "poker geek."

He's had cashes in small events here and there, and cashed in the 2005 Main Event in 82nd place for $91,950. He also has a 10th-place finish in the 2005 European Poker Tour Irish Winter Festival of Poker.

Neither of them helped him meet his goal of winning "The Big One" that would set him and his family up for life, though. He is married with one child.

He had been stymied again in his quest to win this year, not cashing in any of the preliminary tournaments before the Main Event, but instead of spending the $600 to change his plane ticket and return home early, he decided to enter the last mega-satellite for the Main Event.

He's parlayed that into a final table seat, third place in the chip count and a real chance at finally winning the big one he's looking for.

Seat 2: Lee Childs $13,320,000

As one of three players at the Main Event final table with no live poker history in the Hendon Mob database, Lee Childs appears to be one of those unknowns who pop up every year and get their time in the WSOP spotlight.

Childs was raised in Virginia where he now resides in Reston with his wife. He was working as a software engineer, but recently gave it up to pursue a full-time poker career. His specialty is online multi-table tournaments and this is his first appearance at the World Series.

It's been a good tournament for the 35-year-old, whose run so far has included busting Jennifer Tilly and now guarantees him at least $500,000 for making the final table.

Seat 3: Philip Hilm $23,070,000

Philip Hilm began playing poker in late 2003 when a friend who was a former professional backgammon player introduced him to playing online. He was selling coffee machines in supermarkets to bring in money at the time, and he was willing to explore any alternative.

After a month of study, reading up on poker and playing online, Hilm was making more money in the evenings playing poker than he was during his day job. The decision to quit and go pro full-time was an easy one.

He prefers to play heads-up cash games online, and heads to the live arena for tournaments.

His success in the live poker world includes two cashes in European Poker Tour events: a fourth-place finish at the Scandinavian Open in 2006 and 15th place at the Grand Final in Monte Carlo in 2007. He also has a cash in the 2005 World Series in the $2,500 Short-Handed No-Limit Hold'em event.

In 2006 he was the star player and team captain of the Polish team at the PokerStars.com World Cup of Poker. He eventually led his team to victory ahead of Team U.S.A. and Canada.

Coming into the final table on Tuesday with the chip lead, perhaps Hilm will be able to duplicate that win and earn himself a WSOP Championship bracelet as well.

Seat 4: Jerry Yang $8,500,000

Jerry Yang is one of the short-stacks coming into the final table on Tuesday, but perhaps his Masters degree in health psychology will give him the edge needed to pull back up into the running.

Born in Laos, the 39-year-old Yang eventually moved to the United States. He now lives in Temecula, Calif., with his wife and six children and works as a psychologist and social worker.

He won his way into the Main Event via a $225 satellite at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula.

Yang has pledged 10% of his winnings from the Main Event to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Feed the Children and the Ronald McDonald House.

Seat 5: Raymond Rahme $16,000,000

PokerStars.com has three players representing the site this year at the final table. Raymond Rahme is one of them.

The semi-retired entrepreneur from Johannesburg, South Africa, has only been playing No-Limit Hold'em for two years. Before that, he was a lifelong Seven-Card Stud player.

At 62, Rahme is the oldest participant at the final table, and he also has the honor of being the first person from Africa to appear at the Main Event final table.

He won his entry into the tournament via the All-Africa Poker Championship. He placed fourth, and part of his prize was a travel package to Las Vegas with entry into the Main Event.

Rahme has a lot of supporters with him from South Africa cheering him on. So far he hasn't disappointed them, and even busted the 10th-place player to propel himself to the final table.

Seat 6: Tuan Lam $20,290,000

Tuan Lam is player number two representing PokerStars.com at the final table. With his second-place chip stack, he's also leading the team into the final day of play.

Born in Vietnam during the war, Lam immigrated to Canada at the age of 19. He currently lives in Toronto with his wife and two children and plays poker professionally.

The 40-year-old learned to play from his friends and he can be found competing at high-limit cash games on PokerStars.com.

This is his third year at the WSOP. He had one cash in 2005 and another in 2006. This will be his biggest tournament cash so far, but more than likely his eye is also on that bracelet win.

Seat 7: Alex Kravchenko $6,570,000

Alex Kravchenko is the lone Russian heading into the final table. From Moscow, he's made quite the splash in the poker world over his eight-year poker career, while at the same time has been running his own business back in Moscow.

He's had cashes in World Poker Tour events as well as other events all over the world. Plus, he cashed twice during the 2006 World Series of Poker, and already has five cashes this year. One of those is a win in the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Split Eight-or-Better event, making him the first Russian ever to win a WSOP bracelet.

Now Kravchenko is on the hunt for another bracelet and his place in history as the first Russian to win the championship event.

Seat 8: Lee Watkinson $9,975,000

As one of only two WSOP bracelet holders at the final table, there's a lot of pressure on Lee Watkinson to dig himself out from being one of the shorter stacks and come back for a win.

The 40-year-old poker pro is no stranger to pressure though, as he divides his time between poker, business ownership and animal rights activism.

With a degree from Washington State in economics, it's no wonder he's made sound investments in businesses such as a record company and clothing line. It doesn't hurt his poker game either to have a good head for numbers.

In his off-time, Watkinson enjoys wrestling, surfing, and helping rescue and retire captive chipmanzees. He and his wife have committed to helping rescue chimps that have been used for research, movies, or other purposes and eventually hope to build an animal sanctuary.

An $8 million plus first-place prize would go a long way toward helping the humanitarian couple meet their goal.

Seat 9: Hevad Khan $9,205,000

Rounding out the players from PokerStars.com is one of the most animated players at the table this year: Hevad "Rain" Khan.

Khan is originally from Poughkeepsie, N.Y., but has been moving around the country, living in San Francisco and Las Vegas.

He is well-known online for his extraordinary multi-tabling abilities. He videotaped himself playing as many as 43 poker games at once on his home computer to prove he wasn't a poker bot.

Coming into the Main Event, Khan had already cashed in one preliminary event this year, making it to 41st place in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event. He also made the final table of an event at the Bellagio Cup III during his stay in Vegas.

A Main Event win would cap that trip off nicely - or at the very least he'll have a good cash and the memory of busting out Humberto Brenes to fuel him until next year.

To find out how these players do, tune in to our Live Tournaments Section Tuesday starting at noon (PDT) for all the best updates, reports, photos, interviews and more as the WSOP works on crowning its champion.