First of 55 Bracelet Events at the 2008 World Series of Poker, played at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV. Start of the Final Table for the $10K World Championship Pot-Limit Hold'em.

Continuing the Final Table for the $10K World Championship Pot-Limit Hold'em.

Start of the Final Table for the $1.5K World Championship No-Limit Hold'em.

Continuing the Final Table for the $1.5K World Championship No-Limit Hold'em.

Nine pros vie for the $5,000 Mixed Hold'em bracelet.

Nine pros vie for the $5,000 Mixed Hold'em bracelet.

Prior to the start of the 2008 World Series of Poker, Bluff Magazine named five 21-year-old’s to watch and Jeff “YellowSub86” Williams was one of them. With a European Poker Tour title already under his belt many poker observers were counting on him having a big WSOP. Today will be the first chance for many poker fans to see Williams play as he is one of the nine players at the final table of Event #5 ($1,000 No Limit Hold’em w/rebuys). He’s joined by Alan Jaffray, Peter Gould and 2006 Main Event third place finisher Michael Binger. But the chip leader when the final table begins will be Michael Banducci. Making his run more impressive is the fact that Banducci had only one rebuy plus the double add-on in an event where multiple rebuys are common. In fact the 766 player field was responsible for 2,258 rebuys and add-ons pushing the prize pool to $2,894,094 with first place paying $636,736.

Prior to the start of the 2008 World Series of Poker, Bluff Magazine named five 21-year-old’s to watch and Jeff “YellowSub86” Williams was one of them. With a European Poker Tour title already under his belt many poker observers were counting on him having a big WSOP. Today will be the first chance for many poker fans to see Williams play as he is one of the nine players at the final table of Event #5 ($1,000 No Limit Hold’em w/rebuys). He’s joined by Alan Jaffray, Peter Gould and 2006 Main Event third place finisher Michael Binger. But the chip leader when the final table begins will be Michael Banducci. Making his run more impressive is the fact that Banducci had only one rebuy plus the double add-on in an event where multiple rebuys are common. In fact the 766 player field was responsible for 2,258 rebuys and add-ons pushing the prize pool to $2,894,094 with first place paying $636,736.

For the poker purist, the event is the World Championship and most of the 147 players who make up the field in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship consider it to be the player’s championship. The final table features three-time bracelet winner Barry Greenstein, 1996 World Champion Huck Seed, 1998 World Champion Scotty Nguyen, French pro Patrick Bueno, World Poker Tour co-founder and Big Game regular Lyle Berman and 2008 World Series of Poker Player-of-the-Year Erick Lindgren. There’s also two newcomers, Matt Glantz and Michael DeMichele at the table, giving viewers a little bit of everything. The table is star-studded for two reasons. The first is the $50,000 buy-in guarantees that only the best of the best of the best will be in the field. The second is that H.O.R.S.E. requires proficiency at the five fixed limit games played from start to finish; Hold’em, Omaha Eight-or-better, Razz, Seven-card Stud, Seven-card Stud Eight-or-better. The storylines entering final table play are seemingly endless. Lindgren was chasing his second bracelet only days after winning his first after years of chasing it and was in a dog fight for Player-of-the-Year Greenstein at the time. Seed was looking for his first bracelet since 2003 in hopes of regaining the respect of the poker world. And then there was Nguyen, who famously busted out of the 2007 Main Event in 11th spot after blowing up and relinquishing his chips in four hands. The 2008 event is also special for another reason. After Chip Reese, who won the inaugural $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event in 2006, passed away last December WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack moved to create the Chip Reese Trophy, which would be awarded to the winner of the event every year and stay with that player until the following year’s event.

For the poker purist, the event is the World Championship and most of the 147 players who make up the field in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship consider it to be the player’s championship. The final table features three-time bracelet winner Barry Greenstein, 1996 World Champion Huck Seed, 1998 World Champion Scotty Nguyen, French pro Patrick Bueno, World Poker Tour co-founder and Big Game regular Lyle Berman and 2008 World Series of Poker Player-of-the-Year Erick Lindgren. There’s also two newcomers, Matt Glantz and Michael DeMichele at the table, giving viewers a little bit of everything. The table is star-studded for two reasons. The first is the $50,000 buy-in guarantees that only the best of the best of the best will be in the field. The second is that H.O.R.S.E. requires proficiency at the five fixed limit games played from start to finish; Hold’em, Omaha Eight-or-better, Razz, Seven-card Stud, Seven-card Stud Eight-or-better. The storylines entering final table play are seemingly endless. Lindgren was chasing his second bracelet only days after winning his first after years of chasing it and was in a dog fight for Player-of-the-Year Greenstein at the time. Seed was looking for his first bracelet since 2003 in hopes of regaining the respect of the poker world. And then there was Nguyen, who famously busted out of the 2007 Main Event in 11th spot after blowing up and relinquishing his chips in four hands. The 2008 event is also special for another reason. After Chip Reese, who won the inaugural $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event in 2006, passed away last December WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack moved to create the Chip Reese Trophy, which would be awarded to the winner of the event every year and stay with that player until the following year’s event.

In 2007 Robert Mizrachi turned a few heads in the poker world when he became the first of the Mizrachi brothers to win a World Series of Poker bracelet. Everybody assumed that Michael “the Grinder” Mizrachi would be the first. He’d had some great success on the World Poker Tour and had been the brightest star in the family. But Robert’s win in the $10,000 World Championship Pot Limit Omaha event got him the bracelet and family bragging rights. The 2008 WSOP gave "the Grinder" a chance at redemption and he goes for his first bracelet in the same event his brother won a year earlier, $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha. The table certainly has international flavor to it. Peter Jetten of Toronto, Canada, Billy “the Croc” Argyros from Melbourne, Australia join Tom Hanlon of Dublin, Ireland and Marty Smyth of Belfast, Ireland. But despite the international intrigue, the story remains about Grinder. “Have brothers ever gone back-to-back?,” Mizrachi asked the day the final table started. The answer was no and in fact, only three sets of siblings each have a bracelet; Annie Duke and Howard Lederer, J.C. and Puggy Pearson and Grant and Blair Hinkle who each won a bracelet in 2008. Can Mizrachi pull of the historic win?

In 2007 Robert Mizrachi turned a few heads in the poker world when he became the first of the Mizrachi brothers to win a World Series of Poker bracelet. Everybody assumed that Michael “the Grinder” Mizrachi would be the first. He’d had some great success on the World Poker Tour and had been the brightest star in the family. But Robert’s win in the $10,000 World Championship Pot Limit Omaha event got him the bracelet and family bragging rights. The 2008 WSOP gave "the Grinder" a chance at redemption and he goes for his first bracelet in the same event his brother won a year earlier, $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha. The table certainly has international flavor to it. Peter Jetten of Toronto, Canada, Billy “the Croc” Argyros from Melbourne, Australia join Tom Hanlon of Dublin, Ireland and Marty Smyth of Belfast, Ireland. But despite the international intrigue, the story remains about Grinder. “Have brothers ever gone back-to-back?,” Mizrachi asked the day the final table started. The answer was no and in fact, only three sets of siblings each have a bracelet; Annie Duke and Howard Lederer, J.C. and Puggy Pearson and Grant and Blair Hinkle who each won a bracelet in 2008. Can Mizrachi pull of the historic win?

The preliminary events are all in the bag. There’s only one title left – and for every player, amateur or professional, it’s the one title they all want in their collection. This year a total of 6,844 players made their way to the Amazon Room at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas in pursuit of the championship and the $9 million first place prize. Between now and October 28 ESPN will broadcast a total of 18 hours of Main Event coverage. From Phil Hellmuth’s grand entrance to the return to action of 2007 Main Event champion Jerry Yang, ESPN is turning this year’s Main Event into something more. It will also be the first time that poker fans will be introduced to the November Nine – the final nine players who will return to the Rio in November for a shot at the World Championship.

The preliminary events are all in the bag. There’s only one title left – and for every player, amateur or professional, it’s the one title they all want in their collection. This year a total of 6,844 players made their way to the Amazon Room at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas in pursuit of the championship and the $9 million first place prize. Between now and October 28 ESPN will broadcast a total of 18 hours of Main Event coverage. From Phil Hellmuth’s grand entrance to the return to action of 2007 Main Event champion Jerry Yang, ESPN is turning this year’s Main Event into something more. It will also be the first time that poker fans will be introduced to the November Nine – the final nine players who will return to the Rio in November for a shot at the World Championship.

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