David Bach Wins WSOP H.O.R.S.E World Championship

Date: Wed, Jul 1, 2009

The WSOP H.O.R.S.E World Championship event is widely considered to be the most difficult tournament at the WSOP, as the large $50,000 buy-in and mixed-game format usually results in only the best players in the world entering. This year, 95 players put up the cash for a chance at the $1,276,820 first-place prize money and the opportunity to call themselves the best all-around poker player in the world, and in the end it would be David Bach in the winners circle.

Bach had to endure an 18 hour and 44 minute final table that also included a seven-hour heads-up match against John Hanson, making it the second longest WSOP final table in history. “I never wanted to touch one until I earned it,” said Bach.

Here’s are the final standings from the event:

1. David Bach – $1,276,802
2. John Hanson – $789,199
3. Erik Sagstrom – $522,394
4. Vitaly Lunkin – $368,813
5. Huck Seed – $276,610
6. Ville Wahlbeck – $219,655
7. Chau Giang – $184,087
8. Erik Seidel – $162,382

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WPT Announces Season VIII Stop and Dates

Date: Tue, Jun 30, 2009

Time to reread your favorite poker books and polish your chip protectors as the World Poker Tour has revealed the twelve stops for their eighth season. Vegas residents should note that a record four events will be held at the Bellagio this year, so plan your season accordingly.

Bellagio Cup V
July 13-19, 2009 Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV
Buy-in: $15,400

Legends of Poker
August 22-26, 2009, Bicycle Casino, Los Angeles, CA
Buy-in: $10,000

Borgata Poker Open
September 19-24, 2009, Borgata Hotel, Atlantic City, NJ
Buy-in: To be determined

Festa al Lago
October 20-26, 2009, Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV
Buy-in: $15,400

Foxwoods World Poker Finals
November 5-10, 2009, Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, CT
Buy-in: $10,000

Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic
December 13-19, 2009, Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV
Buy-in: $15,400

Southern Poker Championship
January 24-27, 2010: Beau Rivage, Biloxi, MS
Buy-in: $10,000

L.A. Poker Classic
February 20-25, 2010, Commerce Casino, Los Angeles, CA
Buy-in: $10,000

WPT Celebrity Invitational (at L.A. Poker Classic)
February 27 - March 1, 2010: Commerce Casino, Los Angeles, CA
Invitation-Only Event

Bay 101 Shooting Star
March 8-12, 2010, Bay 101, San Jose, CA
Buy-in: $10,000

Hollywood Poker Open
March 20-24, 2010: Hollywood Casino, Lawrenceburg, IN
Buy-in: $10,000

WPT Championship
April 17-24, 2010 Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV
Buy-in: $25,500

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Tilt Hangover

Date: Mon, Jun 29, 2009

Some people say that they go on tilt after playing bad. They say that just knowing that they made a mistake is enough to send them over the edge. I’m from a totally different way of thinking. I know I’m not a perfect poker player, and that mistakes are inevitable. I accept that, and do my best not to make mistakes. However, when mistakes happen I am grateful that I’m able to pick up on them and learn to (hopefully) never make the mistake again. The thing that really irritates me is when I’ve made the right moves, the right read, have the player right where I want him, and inevitably they catch up and take my chips. Since I like to think that poker is a game of skill, it truly puts me on tilt when I play well and still lose. At least when I play bad and lose, I’ve invested money into my poker education.

The other day I went to play one of the DeepStack Tournaments at the Venetian in Las Vegas. I went into it thinking if I busted out it was no big deal and I would just go play cash game. Since the cash games were so juicy looking I knew I could easily get my buy in back if I busted and still make a profit for the day. I had nothing to lose…or so I thought.

The tournament started off kind of slow. I won a few small pots and lost a few small pots. I was able to limp into a five way pot when blinds were 75/150. I had 5h 3h, and the flop came out 5d 2d 3c. It was checked to me and I led out for 600. The big blind called and everyone else folded. The turn brought a 9d. He checked to me, and I bet 1100 . He looked down at his cards and made the call. I was pretty sure at this point that he probably had a flush. The river came a fourth diamond. He shot me a look and then checked. It seemed as though he didn’t like that fourth diamond hitting the river, and with no diamond in my hand I knew the only way I could win was to bet. If he hit the flush on the turn, he probably had low diamonds in his hand. It was highly likely that I could get him off his hand with a decent size bet. I assumed that a bet of 1850 would be enough to get him off his hand. After some pondering he decided to call and turned over 2c 7d. “Wow,” is all I could say as I sent my cards to the muck.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about the hand. One, I made a good read on my opponent knowing that he was weak, but I couldn’t figure out how he could make the call there. It was the first time I have been so frazzled in a tournament that I literally had to walk away for a few hands to cool off. After clearing my head, I returned ready to play again.

The next few rounds were up and down. I lost a few races with the short stacks on my table, but was able to chip up to above average. Then I got moved to another table with Tommy Vu who had the chip lead on the table. Seat two was a guy in his late twenties or so, who was boasting to the table about his recent cash in a WSOP event. This guy quite obviously had an ego, and this irritated me right away.
The blinds were 400/800, and I looked down at pocket kings in the highjack. Seat two raised to 2200 in early position. I made it 6300 to go, and he called. It was heads up, and the flop came 9 6 8 rainbow. He grabbed a stack of chips and bet, and I immediately moved all in for 15k. I was sure that I was ahead at the time, and wasn’t worried about a set or a straight. He called and turned over Ad 7d. Instead of him hitting an ace or his open ender, he went runner runner diamonds to knock me out. This was a real blow to me because I had been playing well all day with minimal mistakes, and had I won the hand I would have had the chip lead at the table, and in contention for the chip lead of the tournament.

So my fun in the tournament was over, and I should have been putting my name on the list to play cash game and make some money for the day. Instead, I walked over a slot machine, pulled out a hundred dollar bill, and proceeded to take my frustrations out on the max bet button. Before I knew it, that hundred was gone and I was off to the next machine. I realize now, that there was no amount of money short of hitting $100,000 or more that could have satisfied me. It took five machines and five hundred dollars to convince myself that my day of fun and excitement was over. I went home with the worst tilt hangover I’ve ever experienced.

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My Trip To The WSOP

Date: Fri, Jun 26, 2009

After much anticipation, I finally made my way down to the 2009 World Series of Poker last week from Thursday, June 18th to Monday, June 22nd, as I have done for the past four years or so as a way of celebrating my birthday. I’ve been lucky enough to attend the WSOP during the huge expansion years where the attendance has jumped up to unprecedented heights, and although last year was a bit of a let down overall, the feeling around the 2009 Series was that it could once again put the WSOP back on an upward swing in terms of attendance and prestige.

I once again elected to stay at the Rio Hotel, the current home of the WSOP, as it is easily the best way to fully enjoy the event, as you can just walk downstairs from your room at any time and check out an event, play in a satellite or two, and just watch the masters at work.

After a perfect Italian meal at Café Martorano inside the Rio, I headed down to the main WSOP floor to check out the satellite action. I don’t know exactly why I was looking to play in a satellite event since I had zero plans or intentions to actually participate in a large buy-in tournament, but I guess the single tournament format of the satellites appealed to the online SnG player inside me.

I ended up buying into a $125 satellite, with 1st place (all satellites were winner take all) awarding $120 in cash and $1,000 in tournament chips, which can be applied to a normal WSOP tournament. I wasn’t surprised when I sat down at my table and noticed that most of the other players were of the standard tourist fair with limited poker knowledge and almost no single-table tournament experience.

I decided to play the satellite much like I would any of my usual online SnG tournaments, sticking to a fairly tight strategy to begin with and then amping up the aggression and “steal” mentality as the blinds went up. Well, as it turned out I didn’t need to put too much effort into my strategy, as on the third hand I received pocket 8’s in early position and decided to just limp to try and flop big. Three other players limp in behind me and the flop came K-J-8 with two diamonds. I made a pot sized bet and was immediately raised by the player to my left, which was then followed by a call by the player to his right. Figuring I was up against A-K and maybe a diamond draw, I pushed all-in and to my surprise was called by both players.

My first opponent turned over K-J for two pair and the other turned over A-6 of diamonds for the flush draw. With two cards to come I had to dodge a king, jack and any diamond and was lucky enough do so, eliminating both players and tripling myself up very early in the match. From that point on I was able to pick off a number of pots, as simple tournament strategies including continuation bets and betting in position were able to work very effectively against my relatively weak table. Considering that there was never a check-raise throughout that entire satellite, it became very obvious that everyone was going to check a weak hand and fold to a bet.

Overall I ended chipping my stack up comfortably by stealing pots and blinds and didn’t have to show my hand more than twice throughout the entire game, just when I tripled up and then again when I knocked out the 8th player from the table with my pocket 4’s against his Q-10. Once it got to heads up the other player and I decided to make a deal, which ended up resulting in us each taking home $60 in cash and a single $500 tournament chip, which I then quickly sold for $400 on my way out the door.

One satellite down, and I have more than $300 in profit to show for my efforts. Not a bad way to start my WSOP weekend!

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Jeff Lisandro Wins Bracelet Number Two

Date: Thu, Jun 25, 2009

Jeff Lisandro won his first bracelet of the year in Event 16 $1,500 Seven Card Stud, but his bracelet in Event 37 $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo Championship was well deserved. On Day 3 of Event 37, twelve players returned at their chance at a World Series bracelet. Of those returning, the field was tough with Doyle Brunson, Scotty Nguyen, Justin “Boosted J” Smith, and Perry Friedman still in.

Lyle Berman was the first to drop from Day 3, and one by one they continued to fall. Doyle Brunson finished the event in 7th place. He had lost a big pot to Abe Mosseri after check calling Mosseri all the way down to 7th street. Mosseri was able to made a flush, while Brunson only had a pair of jacks with no low to be seen.

Brunson was crippled and committed a few hands later when he was the bring in showing a deuce. Farzad Rouhani was eager to get his chips and raised to put Brunson all in. With not much of a choice, Brunson made the call. Rouhani was able to boat up, and Brunson missed his low draw on 7th street to knock him out.

The knockouts continued until the final table was left with only two. This is the order in which players were eliminated from Day 3:

12. Lyle Berman - $33,668
11. Scotty Nguyen- $33,668
10. Perry Friedman- $41,885
9. Anthony Rivera- $41,885
8. Justin Smith- $54,896
7. Doyle Brunson- $62,234
6. Abe Mosseri- $74,258
5. Yan Chen- $93,513
4. Frank Mariani- $124,684
3. Mike Wattel- $176,605

Then it was down to two. Farzad Rouhani and Jeff Lisandro started their heads up play around 12:45 am. Rouhani had a slight chip lead over Lisandro, but they started heads up at 80,000/160,000 limits which made it fairly even stacked. After an hour or so of heads up play, Rouhani had Lisandro four to one in chips. It looked as though the final table wouldn’t last as long as everyone expected.
A crowd of people began to gather at the final table, and Lisandro’s supporters were making more noise than Rouhani’s which must have boosted Lisandro’s confidence. The tides began to turn, and within a few hands Lisandro had fought his way back. Rouhani began to be over powered by Lisandro, and Rouhani was unable to regain his chip lead.

After more than three hours of heads up play, Rouhani became critically low on chips and was essentially all in on every hand. For several hands Rouhani was all in, and it looked like it was going to be over, but the two contenders kept splitting the pot. Finally, the moment came. Rouhani was all in and the hands ran out:

Rouhani: (As 5s) 2c 3c Ts 2h (Kd)
Lisandro: (2s 6d) 6s Tc Th Kh (5h)

With Rouhani unable to complete a low, and Lisandro taking the high, it was all over. This final table was athe longest match in the 2009 World Series so far. Both players played extremely well and fought hard, but ultimately it was Jeff Lisandro that would take home the gold. Rouhani took home $266,804 for his 2nd place finish. Jeff Lisandro takes home the bracelet and $431,656.

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Doyle Brunson Misses Out On 11th Bracelet

Date: Wed, Jun 24, 2009

He may be the godfather of Texas Hold’em, but Doyle Brunson, at least for the time being, is going to remain just one bracelet under Phil Hellmuth’s record-setting 11 WSOP bracelets. The Texas Dolly made the final table (his 24th overall) at the $10,000 seven-card stud eight-or-better world championship event, but was quickly eliminated in seventh place. Brunson remains tied for second overall on the WSOP bracelet list with Johnny Chan.

Here is a recap of the ten bracelets Brunson has one thus far in his career.

1976: $5,000 deuce-to-seven draw

1976: $10,000 no-limit hold’em main event

1977: $1,000 seven-card stud split

1977: $10,000 no-limit hold’em main event

1978: $5,000 seven-card stud

1979: $600 mixed doubles

1991: $2,500 no-limit hold’em

1998: $1,500 seven-card razz

2003: $2,000 H.O.R.S.E.

2005: $5,000 six-handed no-limit hold’em

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Phil Ivey Wins Seventh WSOP Bracelet

Date: Tue, Jun 23, 2009

Just a few days ago we reported that Phil Ivey had won his sixth WSOP bracelet when he took down the Event #8 $2,500 NL Deuce-to-Seven lowball tournament on June 4th, and now just over a week later he’s already done it again, winning a second 2009 WSOP event. Ivey took down the Event #25 $2,500 Omaha eight-or-better/seven-card stud eight-or-better, netting $220,538 and a seventh gold bracelet in the process.

With this win, Ivey now sits tied in sixth on the all-time bracelet list with Billy Baxter. He owns bracelets for wins in Omaha eight-or-better/seven-card stud eight-or-better, S.H.O.E., seven-card stud, pot-limit Omaha, no-limit deuce-to-seven lowball events and seven-card stud eight-or-better.

Here are the final table results from the Event #23 $2,500 Omaha eight-or-better/seven-card stud eight-or-better tournament:

1. Phil Ivey – $220,538
2. Ming Lee – $136,292
3. Carlos Mortensen – $89,342
4. Dutch Boyd – $69,919
5. Jon Turner – $45,237
6. Eric Buchman – $34,747
7. Tom Koral – $27,993
8. Peter Gelencser – $23,600

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Physical Strains Of Heads Up

Date: Mon, Jun 22, 2009

When playing heads up poker, there is a whole new element of physical anxiety and psychological warfare compared with multi person play. This causes physical reactions which play a role in the way that a person might react to their opponent. For this reason, a player should be in tune with what their body is going through with the constant mental strain of heads up.

One common physical response to playing heads up is an influx of anxiety. While playing heads up, there isn’t a chance to fold and take a breather while the other players play together. Instead, it is a constant battle to either retain or build on your chips. Your brain is in survival mode, and the goal is to kill your opponent before they kill you. Most players experience a rise in blood pressure or jittery nerves due to the strain of playing heads up. This is natural reaction that happens when a person is under fluctuating brain stimulus. Some people may not notice they are having this reaction, but it tends to manifest itself in some pretty gruesome ways.

Patience is one of the first things to go while playing heads up. When playing heads up in a structure that allows for plenty of time and chips, there is no reason to get frustrated and push all in with 30 big blinds. Losing patience usually happens when you have had to let go of hand after hand to your opponent. Sometimes it is frustrating when you look down at 7 3 off suit five hands in a row, you open, and are forced to fold to a re raise from your opponent. It is easy to get the mindset of, “I’m not going to let him push me around anymore,” and then move all in with some substandard hand even though you have plenty of chips to play with.

This happened recently to Nathanael Poysti in the $10,000 Heads Up Championship and the World Series 2009. He was in the third day of the heads up match against Alec Torelli. They were in the third round of the match, and Poysti had plenty of chips to play with. He started getting frustrated, as Torelli had been chipping away at him. Poysti open shoved for 75k with Q 10, which was roughly 35 big blinds. Torelli called with A J and was able to eliminate Poysti. Or rather, Poysti eliminated himself.

Understand that when playing heads up, that anxiety and frustration will occur more frequently, and make sure it doesn’t get the best of you. If you find yourself starting to feel the strain, take a few deep breaths. This will help calm your anxiety and ease some tension. Just like everything else related to poker, think it through. You might have lost 7 out of the last 10 hands, but if you have chips there isn’t a need to go into panic mode. It’s a back and forth game of trying to get inside your opponents head, not letting them get into yours.

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Roland De Wolfe Completes Triple Crown

Date: Fri, Jun 19, 2009

Famed English poker pro Roland De Wolfe beat out a final table stacked with notable players including Andy Black, Antony Lellouche and Scott Clements to take home first place honors during the Event #27 $5,000 PLO Hi/Lo event at the WSOP. The win represents De Wolfe’s first ever WSOP bracelet, and also earns him the honor of being only the second player ever to win poker’s “Triple Crown”.

Along with Gavin Griffin, De Wolfe has won an EPT, WSOP and WPT title, putting him into the most elite club in poker. For his first place finish in the $5,000 PLO Hi/Lo event, De Wolfe also picked up $246,616. Only a handful of players have victories in any two of the three Triple Crown qualifying series, so it’ll be interesting to see just how much time passes before the third Triple Crown inductee is named.

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WSOP Player of the Year Standings

Date: Thu, Jun 18, 2009

There’s a lot of WSOP play left to go, but already the leaderboards for the Player of the Year race are heating up, with forerunner Ville Wahlbeck maintaining an impressive lead with 255 points. By comparison, when Erick Lindgren won the WSOP Player of the Year award in 2008 he only had 235 points. Here’s how the rest of the top ten pans out thus far:

1. Ville Wahlbeck 255

2. Brock Parker 220

3. Phil Ivey 220

4. Pete Vilandros 175

5. Steve Sung 160

6. Daniel Negreanu 155

7. Jeff Lisandro 150

8. Jason Mercier 147

9. Roland De Wolfe 145

10. Scott Clements 135

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Final Table Recap of the WSOP No Limit Deuce to Seven Draw

Date: Wed, Jun 17, 2009

The day started out with ten hopefuls waiting to be condensed to the final table of the Deuce to Seven NL Event 23 at the World Series of Poker. Roland De Wolfe was the first to fall which was not much of a surprise being that he was the short stack. Then Justin Smith took the fall, and players were down to the final table.

The day started out with a lot of excitement as two more players were unable to build their chips. Michael Binger was a short stack and moved all in from early position. John Juanda made the call. To everyone’s surprise, Binger opted to draw two cards. This seemed to perplex Juanda as well, and he took a moment to decide how many he was going to draw. He decided to stand pat, which turned out to be the right decision. Juanda turned over 10-8-6-4-2, and Binger was out pairing his nine for 9-9-K-7-2.

David Benyamine would be the next to go out after he moved in over the top of Sung’s raise. Sung made the call and stood pat, leaving Benyamine to draw one card. It wasn’t the card he need as it paired his nine to make 9-9-6-5-4 against Sung’s J-8-7-3-2.

At this point, six were left. Vince Musso started off the day as the chip leader, but John Juanda and Ville Wahlbeck were the favorites to win the event. Nick Schulman had been riding his short stack to stay alive, and Steve Sung had been gaining momentum with his aggression. Archie Karas was the silent contender at the table.

Vince Musso has lost the chip lead, but was able to double up through Juanda. After Musso raised to 36k from the small blind, Juanda pushed him all in. Musso called and each player drew a card. Musso showed an 8-7 low which was good against Juanda’s 9-8 low.

Musso wasn’t able to hold onto his chips though. He jammed once again, and Ville Wahlbeck called. Wahlbeck stood pat, and Musso decided to draw one. Walkbeck table a perfect 7-5-4-3-2 leaving Musso drawing dead with a 9-5 low.

Archie Karas was the next victim and moved in against Steve Sung who called. Both players rapped pat, but it was Sung who came out on top with 10-9-8-7-3 against J-10-8-5-2.
John Juanda, who was once the chip leader at the final table, had lost some substantial pots. He lost a big one to Steve Sung when Juanda put Sung in for his tournament life. Sung called after tanking for a few minutes and both players stood pat. It was a close showdown as Juanda showed 9 8 6 5 4 for low, and Sung showed 9- 5- 4- 3- 2 to best him. This was a critical pot, and after losing this Juanda was the short stack with only 250k left.

Juanda did end up moving all in against Nick Schulman who made the call. Each player drew one card and Juanda turned over 9- 6- 5- 4- 3, but Schulman had the best of it with 8- 7- 5- 3- 2. Juanda became the 4th place finisher of this event.

Nick Schulman was playing incredibly well at this point. Despite the aggression coming from Steve Sung, he was able to take down a few nice size pots without a showdown . In a three way pot, Schulman was able to bet his way to winning over 500k. Then Sung decided to stand up against Schulman after he raised to 60k. Sung came over the top for 170k, and Schulman insta shoved on Sung. It was a decision for his tournament life, and the chance at another bracelet for Sung, so he went into the tank. Ultimately he decided to call. Sung stood pat, and then it was Schulman’s time to tank. He decided to stand pat as well. It was extremely close. Sung turned over T-8-5-4-3 against Schulman’s T-8-5-4-2. It turned out to be a very good pat from Schulman.

In the heads up match between Nick Schulman and Ville Wahlbeck, it became an uphill climb for Wahlbeck very quickly. Schulman had Wahlbeck 3:1, and Schulman was a strong contender at this point. He was aggressive, and he was getting great hands against Wahlbeck. In smart heads up play, Schulman was patiently cautious about lending Wahlbeck too many chips. In the end, it all came down to a bluff and a perfect hand.

Schulman opened for 75k, and Wahlbeck came over the top for 250k. Schulman called and each player drew one card. Wahlbeck quickly moved all in. Even more quickly, Schulman made the call. Wahlbeck knew he was crushed when he turned over a busted low with 9-9-8-5-2 against Schulman’s perfect 7-5-4-3-2.
In a dramatic ending, Nick Schulman became the champion of the No Limit Deuce to Seven Draw tournament for 2009. He took home an impressive $279,742 for 1st place and the most sought after bracelet in the world.

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Weekly Sit & Go Tip: Laziness

Date: Tue, Jun 16, 2009

Try as we may, eventually when playing in an S&G tournament we are going to get tired, distracted and just downright lazy. Although you may be able to perform most tasks up to typical standard when tired and uninterested, in poker it can lead to bad decision making and losing money.

It’s easy to preach and just tell you to never be exhausted whenever you play, but that’s not a realistic expectation. Instead, here are some suggestions for how to get your attention and focus back on the S&G at hand.

1. Remove the distractions – Are you watching a movie or TV while trying to play? You need to get the major distractions out of your mind and out of eye sight when playing otherwise you won’t be paying attention to the game and could be missing out on important information.

2. Promote blood flow – Often times, just the act of sitting in a chair for a few hours can leave your body restless and tiresome. If you can afford to, sit out for a few hands and stand up and walk around the room for a little bit. This will get the blood circulating back through your body and should raise your alertness enough to be able to focus on your hands.

3. Instant energy – Personally, energy drinks make me jittery, but I have been known to take some supplements in order to get some kick boosts when I know I might be playing some long sessions or a number of S&G’s. Grab your favorite energy supplier of choice and always have it within reach when you start to feel less than optimal at the online tables.

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Brock Parker Wins Second Bracelet in a Week

Date: Mon, Jun 15, 2009

Some players dream that when they play the World Series of Poker, they will be able to cash in an event. Some players dream of winning a WSOP bracelet one time in their lives. If your Phil Ivey, you dream of two or three bracelets in the course of the whole series. If your Brock Parker, you dream of winning two bracelets within a week of each other…and you actually do it.

Brock Parker first found an interest in poker through the card game Magic. The card game Magic, like Poker, is a game that depends on strategy, reading opponents, and having a little luck on your side. Through Magic, Brock was able to find an appreciation of Poker and started playing online. He has cashed in several other events, but this year he really proved what he was made out of.

The first Six Handed Limit Event 14 of the Series, and it was taken down by Brock. He beat out 367 players to make it to the final table. Once he got to the final table of the event, he was not the favorite to win. Daniel Negreanu led the final table, and once it got to heads up Negreanu had Parker at a 3 to 1 disadvantage in chips. Parker never gave up though. He played solid, caught cards, and was able to over take Negreanu for the win.

Parker then went on to play the Six Handed NL Event 19. Parker again played solidly as the final table dwindled down to just two players. Joe Serock and Brock Parker were heads up for the money, the bracelet, and all the glory. Parker started hitting cards, and Serock lost some key hands. Serock eventually jammed with pocket tens, but ran into Parker’s queens to bust out.

It has been quite an accomplishment for Brock Parker to come into the World Series as a relatively unknown player, and then come out with a World Series bracelet. Not only has he won a bracelet, but he has won two within days of each other. He will definitely be a player to watch in upcoming tournaments.

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The 28 WSOP Main Event Winners

Date: Fri, Jun 12, 2009

If you’re one of the many players that first got into poker thanks to the Chris Moneymaker 2003 WSOP poker boom era, you’ve missed out on a lot of the history behind the World Series of Poker. There have been 28 WSOP Main Event champions, stretching as far back as 1970. Take a moment to brush up on some of the biggest names in poker you’ve probably never heard of. Also, take a look at the dramatic difference in the 1st place cash as early as just seven years ago.

2008: Peter Eastgate - $ 9,152,416

2007: Jerry Yang - $8,250,000

2006: Jamie Gold - $12,000,000

2005: Joseph Hachem - $7,500,000

2004: Greg Raymer - $5,000,000

2003: Chris Moneymaker - $2,500,000

2002: Robert Varkonyi - $2,000,000

2001: Carlos Mortensen - $1,500,000

2000: Chris Ferguson - $1,500,000

1999: J. J. "Noel" Furlong - $1,000,000

1998: Scotty Nguyen - $1,000,000

1997: Stu Ungar - $1,000,000

1996: Huck Seed - $1,000,000

1995: Dan Harrington - $1,000,000

1994: Russ Hamilton - $1,000,000

1993: Jim Bechtel - $1,000,000

1992: Hamid Dastmalchi - $1,000,000

1991: Brad Daugherty - $1,000,000

1990: Mansour Matloubi - $895,000

1989: Phil Hellmuth - $755,000

1988: Johnny Chan - $700,000

1987: Johnny Chan - $625,000

1986: Berry Johnston - $570,000

1985: Bill Smith - $700,000

1984: Jack Keller - $660,000

1983: Tom McEvoy - $580,000

1982: Jack Strauss - $520,000

1981: Stu Ungar - $375,000

1980: Stu Ungar - $385,000

1979: Hal Fowler - $270,000

1978: Bobby Baldwin - $210,000

1977: Doyle Brunson - $340,000

1976: Doyle Brunson - $220,000

1975: Sailor Roberts - $210,000

1974: Johnny Moss - $160,000

1973: Puggy Pearson - $130,000

1972: Amarillo Slim Preston - $80,000

1971: Johnny Moss - $30,000

1970: Johnny Moss n/a

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