2008 World Series of Poker

The WSOP logo.

The WSOP logo.

The 2008 World Series of Poker began on May 30, 2008, with all but the main event scheduled to end by July 15. The events are being held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The World Series of Poker is being run by Harrah's Entertainment, which has run the annual event since its purchase from the Binion family in 2004.

Erick Lindgren, who won a bracelet and made three final tables, won the Player of the Year Award. Nikolay Evdakov led all players with a record 10 money finishes.

Event schedule

#	Event	Entrants	Winner	Prize	Runner-up	Results
1	$10,000 World Championship Pot Limit Hold'em	352	Nenad Medic	$794,112	Andy Bloch	Results
2	$1,500 No Limit Hold'em	3,929	Grant Hinkle	$831,462	James Akenhead	Results
3	$1,500 Pot Limit Hold'em	713	David Singer	$214,131	Jacobo Fernandez	Results
4	$5,000 Mixed Hold'em	332	Erick Lindgren	$374,505	Justin Bonomo	Results
5	$1,000 No Limit Hold'em w/Rebuys	766	Michael Banducci	$636,736	Jeff Williams	Results
6	$1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better	833	Thang Luu	$243,356	Spencer Lawrence	Results
7	$2,000 No Limit Hold'em	1,592	Matt Keikoan	$550,601	Shannon Shorr	Results
8	$10,000 World Championship Mixed Event	192	Anthony Rivera	$483,688	James Mackey	Results
9	$1,500 No Limit Hold'em Six Handed	1,236	Rep Porter	$372,929	Nathan Templeton	Results
10	$2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better	388	Freddy Rouhani	$232,911	Tom Chambers	Results
11	$5,000 No Limit Hold'em Shootout	360	Phil Tom	$477,990	Greg Mueller	Results
12	$1,500 Limit Hold'em	880	Jimmy Shultz	$257,105	Zac Fellows	Results
13	$2,500 No Limit Hold'em	1,397	Duncan Bell	$666,777	Steve Merrifield	Results
14	$10,000 World Championship Seven Card Stud	158	Eric Brooks	$415,856	Fu Wong	Results
15	$1,000 Ladies No Limit Hold'em World Championship	1,190	Svetlana Gromenkova	$244,702	Anh Le	Results
16	$2,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better	553	Andrew Brown	$226,483	Ted Forrest	Results
17	$1,500 No Limit Hold'em Shootout	1,000	Jason Young	$335,565	Mike Schwartz	Results
18	$5,000 No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball w/Rebuys	85	Mike Matusow	$537,862	Jeff Lisandro	Results
19	$1,500 Pot Limit Omaha	759	Vanessa Selbst	$227,965	Jamie Pickering	Results
20	$2,000 Limit Hold'em	480	Daniel Negreanu	$204,874	Ugur Marangoz	Results
21	$5,000 No Limit Hold'em	731	Scott Seiver	$755,891	Dave Seidman	Results
22	$3,000 H.O.R.S.E.	414	Jens Vörtmann	$298,253	Doug Ganger	Results
23	$2,000 No Limit Hold'em	1,344	Blair Hinkle	$507,563	Mark Brockington	Results
24	$2,500 Pot Limit Hold'em/Omaha	457	Max Pescatori	$246,471	Kyle Kloeckner	Results
25	$10,000 World Championship Heads Up No Limit Hold'em	256	Kenny Tran	$539,056	Alec Torelli	Results
26	$1,500 Razz	453	Barry Greenstein	$157,619	Chris Klodnicki	Results
27	$1,500 No Limit Hold'em	2,706	Vitaly Lunkin	$628,417	Brett Kimes	Results
28	$5,000 Pot Limit Omaha w/Rebuys	152	Phil Galfond	$817,781	Adam Hourani	Results
29	$3,000 No Limit Hold'em	716	John Phan	$434,789	Johnny Neckar	Results
30	$10,000 World Championship Limit Hold'em	218	Rob Hollink	$496,931	Jerrod Ankenman	Results
31	$2,500 No Limit Hold'em Six Handed	1,012	Dario Minieri	$528,418	Seth Fischer	Results
32	$1,500 No Limit Hold'em	2,304	Luis Velador	$574,734	Anthony Signore	Results
33	$5,000 World Championship Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better	261	Sebastian Ruthenberg	$328,756	Chris Ferguson	Results
34	$1,500 Pot Limit Omaha w/Rebuys	320	Layne Flack	$577,725	Daniel Makowsky	Results
35	$1,500 Seven Card Stud	381	Michael Rocco	$135,753	Al Barbieri	Results
36	$1,500 No Limit Hold'em	2,447	Jesper Hougaard	$610,304	Cody Slaubaugh	Results
37	$10,000 World Championship Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better	235	David Benyamine	$535,687	Greg Jamison	Results
38	$2,000 Pot Limit Hold'em	605	Davidi Kitai	$244,583	Chris Bell	Results
39	$1,500 No Limit Hold'em	2,720	David Woo	$631,656	Matt Wood	Results
40	$2,500 2-7 Limit Triple Draw Lowball	238	John Phan	$151,896	Shun Uchida	Results
41	$1,500 Mixed Hold'em	731	Frank Gary	$219,508	Jonathan Tamayo	Results
42	$1,000 Seniors No Limit Hold'em World Championship	2,218	Dan Lacourse	$368,832	Dale Eberle	Results
43	$1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better	720	Martin Kläser	$216,249	Casey Kastle	Results
44	$1,000 No Limit Hold'em w/Rebuys	879	Max Greenwood	$693,444	Rene Mouritsen	Results
45	$50,000 World Championship H.O.R.S.E.	148	Scotty Nguyen	$1,989,120	Michael DeMichele	Results
46	$5,000 No Limit Hold'em Six Handed	805	Joe Commisso	$911,855	Richard Lyndaker	Results
47	$1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better	544	Ryan Hughes	$183,368	Ron Long	Results
48	$2,000 No Limit Hold'em	2,317	Alexandre Gomes	$770,540	Marco Johnson	Results
49	$1,500 No Limit Hold'em	2,718	J.C. Tran	$631,170	Rasmus Nielsen	Results
50	$10,000 World Championship Pot Limit Omaha	381	Marty Smyth	$859,549	Peter Jetten	Results
51	$1,500 H.O.R.S.E.	803	James Schaaf	$256,412	Tommy Hang	Results
52	$1,500 No Limit Hold'em	2,693	David Daneshgar	$625,443	Scott Sitron	Results
53	$1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout	823	Matt Graham	$278,180	Jean-Robert Bellande	Results
54	$10,000 World Championship No Limit Hold'em Main Event	6,844		$9,119,517
55	$500 Casino Employees No Limit Hold'em

2008 records

• In winning Event 45, Scotty Nguyen became the first player to hold both No-Limit Main Event and H.O.R.S.E World Championship bracelets.
• Brazilian Alexandre Gomes won Event 48, to become the first South American player to win a WSOP bracelet.
• Rob Hollink won Event 30, to become the first Dutch player to win a WSOP bracelet.
• Davidi Kitai won Event 38, to become the first Belgian player to win a WSOP bracelet.
• Nikolay Evdakov cashed in Event 50 to set the record for most cashes at a single World Series with 10. The previous record of 8 was held by Phil Hellmuth, Humberto Brenes, Michael Binger, and Chad Brown. Evdakov's achievement also represents the most cashes by a player at one WSOP without reaching a single final table.
• Phil Hellmuth made two final tables establishing a new record with 41 all-time final tables. Previously, he was tied with T.J. Cloutier with 39.

Main event

The $10,000 no limit Texas hold'em main event began on July 3 with the first of four starting days. After reaching the final table of nine players on July 14, the final table will be delayed until November 9. This change in schedule has been made to allow ESPN to broadcast the final table on November 11, shortly after it will be played. All final table players will be paid ninth place prize money ($900,670) in July, with the remaining prize pool distributed in November. On November 9, players will play down from nine to two players and on the 10th the winner will be decided.

Final Table

Place	Name	Prize
1st		$9,119,517
2nd		$5,790,024
3rd		$4,503,352
4th		$3,763,516
5th		$3,088,013
6th		$2,412,510
7th		$1,769,177
8th		$1,286,672
9th		$900,670

Performance of past World Champions

Name	Year Event Champion	Eliminated (day)	ITM Place	Prize
Doyle Brunson	1976 and 1977	1-d
Bobby Baldwin	1978	1-a
Tom McEvoy	1983	1-b
Berry Johnston	1986	1-a
Johnny Chan	1987 and 1988
Phil Hellmuth	1989
Brad Daugherty	1991
Jim Bechtel	1993	1-c
Dan Harrington	1995	1-a
Huck Seed	1996	1-c
Scotty Nguyen	1998
Noel Furlong	1999	1-d
Chris Ferguson	2000	1-d
Carlos Mortensen	2001
Robert Varkonyi	2002
Chris Moneymaker	2003
Greg Raymer	2004	1-b
Joe Hachem	2005
Jamie Gold	2006	1-b
Jerry Yang	2007

Celebrities in the 2008 Main Event

• Out in Day 1: Jason Alexander, Jose Canseco, Jeff Fenech, Larry Flynt, Forrest Griffin, Orel Hershiser, Chuck Liddell, Brad May, Mekhi Phifer, Sam Simon, Jennifer Tilly, David Wells.
• Still alive: Paul Azinger, Shannon Elizabeth, Sully Erna, Ray Romano, Shane Warne.