One of the quieter days at the Rio still managed to produce a new champion, two final tables and another record-sized field. Here's a complete recap of the 25th day of play at the 2008 World Series of Poker.
Event #42 ($1,000 Seniors No Limit Hold’em)
Yet another recording setting field at the 2008 World Series of Poker as 2,128 players created the largest field ever for a Seniors event. The total prize pool is $2,018,380 with the top finisher set to receive $368,759. Last year the Seniors event had 1,882 players for a $1,721,620 prize pool with Ernest Bennett taking home $348,423 and the gold bracelet.
When play ended for the 220 players had survived the day and Duane Gerleman was the clear chip leader. His stack of 136,000 puts him 38,000 ahead of Steve Fager. Gerleman had two cashes earlier this year at the WSOP Circuit events at Horseshoe Council Bluffs.
Men “the Master” Nguyen is also in contention with 81,000. Nguyen was arguably one of the most active players on Day 1, including doubling up on the final hand of the play with A-Q against his opponents pocket aces. Official Chip Counts and Live Updates.
The oldest player in the field was Harold Waite at 91 years old. Waite did manage to make the money last year, but despite a nice ovation from the other players in the room, he did not make it to Day 2 of this year's tournament.
Event #41 ($1,500 Mixed Hold’em)
Thirty minutes of No Limit Hold’em, followed by 30 minutes of Limit Hold’em for 12 hours on Monday finally delivered a final table of nine players early Tuesday morning. The final table, which will be broadcast live on ESPN360.com, includes Nick Binger, brother of Michael Binger, who sits in second with 339,000 chips.
A total of 98 players started the day and some of the bigger names hitting the rail included brothers Allen and Nam Le, Yosh Nakano and recent final tablist Jan Von Halle. The bubble burst after Bob Lauria was eliminated in 73rd place.
The players will return at 3 pm Tuesday afternoon for a final table. Mats Gavatin is the chip leader with 405,000 chips. Get Official Chip Counts and Live Updates via WorldSeriesofPoker.com.
Event #40 ($2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball)
As the 30 players left in the event began play the name in last place was Billy Baxter. With seven WSOP bracelets to his name, Baxter was the lowest stack at the start of the day but nobody discredited the former champion. And he proved his mettle by doubling up on his first hand and eventually working his way up to second place before busting in seventh place, on the final table bubble.
Other big names to hit the rail on Monday included Greg Raymer, Mike Wattel, Bill Chen, Raymond Davis and Chau Giang. But that doesn’t mean the final table will be lackluster, far from it with names like Robert Mizrachi, David Sklansky and John Phan, who will be going for his second bracelet of the 2008 WSOP. Rounding out the final six players is chipleader Gioi Luong, Shun Uchida and Ben Ponzio.
First place pays $151,896. The final table will begin at 2 pm PT. Follow all the action via the Official Live Updates and Chip Counts at WorldSeriesofPoker.com.
Event #39 ($1,500 No Limit Hold’em)
The final table of Event #39 included only one player with a bracelet, but Thom Werthmann made history in a different way. Werthmann, who won his bracelet in 2005, was one of two players eliminated on the same hand. That hand propelled David Woo into a dominating chip lead which he rode to the victory.
Prior to the win Woo was better known as being the guy who hits 70 out of 100 three-pointers to win $35,000. Keep in mind that Woo stands 5’8” and never really played competitive basketball at any level. Read more about that amazing story here. Read all about Woo’s victory here.