2008 WSOP Main Event

well in 2006 there was Cunningham, Prahlad Freeman, Jeffrey Lisandro and a few others. That was the year that had the most recognizables.

 

final table:

Dennis Phillips 26,295,000
Ivan Demidov 24,400,000
Scott Montgomery 19,690,000
Peter Eastgate 18,375,000
Ylon Schwartz 12,525,000
Darus Suharto 12,520,000
David 'Chino' Rheem 10,230,000
Craig Marquis 10,210,000
Kelly Kim 2,620,000


I haven't decided who to pull for yet.

 

I think I'm rooting for David 'Chino' Rheem. I remember watching him on another televised tournament, and liking him. Good player, fun to watch.

 

It's a shame none of the big guns have made it this year. When I saw that Alan Cunningham was one of the chip leaders late on, I was sure he'd make up for his 2006 disappointment. Not to be, though.

Mike Matusow has had a great World Series, too. 30th in the Main Event came after a bracelet in a 2-7 draw lowball event and a 5th place in an Omaha event. He can be a bit of a prat sometimes, but there's no doubting his ability.

And I'm looking forward to November 9th. Don't agree with delaying the final table, but should be good to watch.

 

From what I've seen, Rheem is by far the most experienced player at the final table. He also seems like one cool customer. I'm either pulling for him or Phillips, the chip leader. From what I've seen he seems like a down-to-earth blue collar kind of guy, so it'd be real cool to see a guy like him win it too.

Probably the most disappointing element to this Main Event was Matusow not getting a shot at another final table (would have been his 3rd since what, 2001?). What's a real shame is the way he went out--Matusow and the other player both flopped trips, but the Mouth had him outkicked until the other guy made a boat on the turn. Just a real cold deck all around.

What I'm really wondering is where my boy Prahlad Friedman has been. Hasn't done anything since '06.

 

Yeah Hellmuth was shortstacked when he went out but Matusow was still a threat, he could have made the final table especially had he won that hand.

 

I think a Europena might be due. The game is very popular in germany and Scandinavia but there was never been a European champ so it may be Peter Eastgate.

 

Eastgate is one strange dude. I saw an interview with him off of ESPN's website. Maybe he was just having trouble with the English, but he seemed to have some real odd ticks. Not that I'm gonna hold that against him or anything, haha. Mentally I think Rheem will be the sharpest when the tournament comes around, although I think you're right about a European being due.

 

montgomery and rheem are the only players left who i've seen play before. i wasn't that impressed with montgomery, but obviously he's got skills to make it this far. i was really pulling for tiffany michelle to make it to the final table, and while i'm not a fan of matusow or hellmuth, i do wish one of them would have made it just to make it more interesting.

 

Not too far from final table now

 

yeah, i've been watching. some classic hellmuth moments for sure. i think at this point i'm pulling for dennis phillips.

 

prediction article
Final Table today. I will probably wait until it comes on TV onTuesday to learn the results.

 

For those who want to follow it live, here's ESPN's live blog.

Here.

I suppose I should make the obvious mention that there are spoilers there.

 

lol man did that ever change once i saw her play. possibly more offensive than hellmuth without any of his skill.

 

I don't know who won yet, I am going to wait to see it on TV tommorrow. (What's one more day after several months?)

 

They don't either, they played to two last night, and heads up play should be starting pretty soon.

 

Tiffany Michelle was really annoying. She's from same city outside of LA I am, but man she was annoying.

(I had a migraine today and watched like 3 hours of WSOP. It was great)

 

Michelle was annoying. I love when she made fun of Marquis for taking too long and then he promptly bluffed her out of the hand

 

called it.

 

Best two players went heads up in my opinion. Demidov and Eastgate are both really, really solid. Sucks that the best Main Event heads up battle we've seen in years was condensed to 2 hands. '04-'06 we probably saw less than 10 hands--less than 30 last year. I know ESPN makes this show geared towards the average joe, but I really wish they would have an extended version for people who know their stuff that showed more hands and less fluff. I still enjoyed the show thoroughly, but two hours is not enough time to show real poker.

Anyhow, I'm pretty happy with the way the table played out. As soon as Montgomery got eliminated I knew I'd be happy with any of the four remaining players winning it. Eastgate might be a bit boring personality-wise (e.g., see his "celebration" when he won), but boy can he play. Him and Demidov were fantastic.

Good pick on Eastgate though, I had picked Demidov.

 

Demidov and Eastgate have great careers ahead of them. They will not disappear like Gold or Yang. They have solid games. I was also impressed with Ylon Schwartz, although im glad he didn't win because he said he would dissapear if he did.

 

yeah, i totally agree. the way it was edited made it seem like eastgate always had the nuts and people still kept betting into him, which is just crazy. it was hard to get a feel for how the table was really playing since they pretty much only showed the hands where someone was knocked out.

anyway, i actually liked pretty much everyone at the table. i was pulling for dennis phillips but it was pretty clear that he was overmatched and i wasn't disappointed with the result.