2008 World Series of Poker Events 1-4

This week, 5th Street recaps the final tables of the 2008 WSOP events 1-4

June 6, 2008

By Jake Gosselin
Bodog Nation Contributing Writer

Event No. 1 $10,000 World Championship Pot Limit Holdem

The first final table at the 2008 World Series of Poker also happened to be the first final table for a championship event that isn't the classic No Limit Holdem Championship. Event No. 1, the $10,000 Pot Limit Holdem tournament, set a great precedent for this year's WSOP with a final table packed with some of the top names in poker.

We hadn't seen Laak at a final table in a while, so it was a shame to see him go home first. Damn jacks.

The final table started out with Phil Laak having trouble with jacks. In the very first hand, he ended up all-in against Antonius, who was holding pocket kings. The flop gave Laak a taste of hope with jack for a set, but as is often the case, the flop giveth and the river taketh away, as a king fell on Fifth Street, giving Antonius the bigger set. Laak was then eliminated only four hands later, again while holding jacks. He ran into a bigger pocket pair: Nenad Medic's bullets. Laak earned $74,448.

Next out would be internet phenom Mike Sowers, who got too pushy against Mike Sexton and his pocket queens after the flop. Sowers pot-committed himself with 9h-4c, and Sexton pushed all-in. Sowers got no help from the board and was sent packing. Sowers earned $99,264.

A few hands later, Antonius went home after he pushed with Kh-10h and got called down by Andy Bloch with Ac-4c. The ace out-kicked the king on a board of 9d-9c-5h-7s-5c, and Antonius went home in seventh, $124,080 richer.

Chris Bell went next when his Ah-3c had the expected result against Medic's pocket jacks. Bell earned $157,168 for sixth place.

As dinner break approached, Bloch bounced Amit Makhija to take a huge chip lead. Makhija earned $198,528 for fifth place.

Play tightened up after the break until Kathy Liebert knocked Mike Sexton out after flopping two pair while he held top pair with aces. Sexton was cheered on by the crowd as he left the table to collect his $248,160.

Liebert's exit came when she got all her chips in pre-flop with pocket 6s. Bloch called with pocket 9s and Medic also called while holding queens. A queen on the flop gave Medic a set which wouldn’t get beaten on the turn or river. Liebert earned $306,064 for third place.

Going into heads-up play, Medic held a significant lead with $4,940,000 in chips to Bloch's $2,100,000. The final hand came in about an hour of heads-up battling.

Nenad Medic, flush with cash.

Bloch opened it up with a pre-flop raise while holding 9h-9d and Medic called with 5h-7h.The board fell 8h-5s-4h and Bloch bet again. Medic raised it up and Bloch made the call for the rest of his chips. Medic's flush came home on the turn with the Jh, but Bloch was left with outs heading into the river, as any heart (except the 6) would give him the better flush. However, the 5c on Fifth Street told a different story, and Bloch was awarded $448,048 for second place, while Medic took home his first bracelet and the $794,112 that went with it.

Event No. 2 $1,500 No Limit Holdem

Event No. 2 broke a WSOP record with the largest non-Main Event field in history at 3,929, which must have made it that much sweeter for Team Bodog's Grant Hinkle when he won the whole damn thing!

Hinkle, a 27-year-old marketing manager from Kansas City, Mo., hadn't expected to go too deep in the tournament, let alone win the $831,462 first prize.

Team Bodog's Grant Hinkle took his first bracelet with quad 10s.

"I actually booked my flight to come to Las Vegas last Friday and return on Sunday," said Hinkle, "I actually had to reschedule my flight five times during the course of this tournament. In fact, I have a 6:58 p.m. flight that I don't think I'm going to make, so I have to reschedule again."

Hinkle's final table appearance brought out friends and family from back home to cheer him on. Grant's brother, Blair Hinkle, is a well-regarded poker pro who offered his brother some advice during a break.

"He told me that early in the day, everyone is pretty tight, so just go in there as the short stack and start firing away," Hinkle said. "That helped me build up to over 1 million in chips."

Chris Ferguson failed to produce one of his patented miracles this time around.

After outlasting a tough crew that included Chris Ferguson, Hinkle found himself heads-up against U.K. poker pro James Akenhead. It looked bad for Hinkle when Akenhead called Hinkle's bluff pre-flop, and Hinkle was stuck with a weak hand. However, that weak hand ended up turning into quad 10s, and Hinkle won his first bracelet.

Event 3 $1,500 Pot Limit Holdem

David Singer has won a lot of money playing poker and has made more than his share of WPT and WSOP final tables. But of all those WSOP final tables, he has never clinched a bracelet... until now.

Here's the tale of how Singer went from second fewest chips at the final table to putting on his first bracelet:

It started with Glen Bean getting cocky with his short stack and J-8 offsuit and calling off all his chips to Zachary King's raise with Ah-Qh.

Poker News quoted him as saying pre-flop, "I'm going to win this one."

There are some very logical reasons that psychics don't dominate the WSOP.

Bean must've felt like Nostradamus when the flop and turn came 9c-8s-3d-9h. But, like Nostradmus, he was just full of shit as an ace fell on the river. Bean went home with $19,464.

Al Barbieri was next to go. With a crippled stack, he pushed with Kh-6d and was called down by Singer's Ac-Qd. Singer paired his ace, and Barbieri left with $26,764.

Next out was Zachary King, who got short-stacked, then pot-committed and then molested by Greg Alston's pocket aces. King earned $34,063 for seventh place.

Joe Tehan knew he was in trouble next as his stack kept shrinking to the point where he went all-in with Jh-10h. Singer made the call with pocket 9s and with no help from the board, Tehan left with $43,796.

Russ Harriman must've been pretty happy to see pocket queens since his stack had shrunk down to around $85,000. He was probably still quite happy when Greg Alston called his all-in push with Ah-Js. Undoubtedly he became significantly less happy when the flop came 2d-3s-Ad. The 5c-5s on the turn and river did nothing to improve his mood, and he was sent home in fifth place with $55,474.

Robert Lipkin found out the hard way that Singer wasn't bluffing when he raised from the button. Lipkin reraised all-in while holding 7d-5d, and Singer called and showed pocket jacks. The board gave Lipkin nothing, and he left in fourth place with $67,640.

With play, three-handed Alston moved all-in with pocket jacks. Fernandez called with pocket 8s and it looked like smooth sailing for Alston until an 8 showed up on the turn and he was sent home in third with $82,725.

Heads-up play started with Fernandez in the lead with $1,245,000 over Singer's $935,000. At first, things balanced out to near even stacks, but then over the course of four hours, Singer suffered hit after hit until it looked like he was about leave. However, Singer rallied and brought his stack back up to within striking distance.

The second last hand saw both players all-in: Singer with Ah-Kd and Fernandez with 5h-5d. The board of Ks-Ad-10s-8d-4h gave Singer top two pair and huge chip lead with $1.7 million.

David Singer got his bracelet that was due.

The next hand proved to be the last when after the turn, the board showed 3d-5s-7d-6c and Singer bet $40,000. Fernandez raised to $180,000 and Singer bumped it to $480,000 to cover Fernandez's stack. Fernandez called and showed two pair with 7c-3h, but it would be a serious dog to Singer's Qs-4s giving him a straight. The jack on the river failed to give Fernandez the boat that he needed, and he was eliminated in second place receiving $136,643. Singer took down his long-awaited bracelet and the $214,131 that went with it.

Event No. 4 $5,000 Mixed Limit/No Limit Holdem

Justin Bonomo showcased his trademark aggression.

What a final table this was. With 332 of the toughest, most versatile players in the world, it wasn't too surprising when pretty much everyone at the final table was a household name. OK, OK, maybe yours and my households, but still...

Bodog Nation was particularly excited to see two Bodog Poker pros, David Williams and Justin Bonomo, representing the black and red at this tough table.

Isaac Hexton would be the first to go after the second hand of final table play. Haxton started the betting with $18,000 and Erick Lindgren raised it to $60,000. Haxton pushed all-in and Lindgren called to show pocket queens. Haxton held the overcards with Ac-Ks, and with no help from the board, Haxton left with $35,109.

Pat Pezzin would be next to go when he pushed with Ah-Qs and was called down by Andrew "good2xu" Robl's big slick. The board didn’t help him, and Pezzin went home in eighth place with $46,812.

David Williams was denied his second bracelet... for now.

Team Bodog's David Williams would be next to go when David Rheem opened with a raise and Williams reraised. Rheem reraised and Williams pushed all-in. Interestingly, Rheem called with Kc-10d and caught top pair on a board of 10h-5c-8d-6c-7c, beating Williams' As-3s. Williams made $58,515 for seventh place.

"Flops? We don't need no stinking flops!"

After getting short-stacked and then doubling up twice in a row, Howard Lederer was finally eliminated in an exciting hand with Bonomo. Lederer raised from the cutoff with pocket 4s and Bonomo reraised with Ac-Qc and Lederer called. Then, before the flop was dealt, Bonomo bet in the dark. Lederer immediately pushed all-in also in the dark, and Bonomo called. The flop came 5d-2d-Ks. The turn showed a 5s and the river a Kc, which gave Bonomo the better hand with two pair and an ace kicker. Lederer's sixth place finish paid $74,119.

Rheem was out next after getting into a hand with Roland De Wolfe. Rheem moved all-in on the river with a board of 4h-10h-As-9h-8s. De Wolfe insta-called and showed Qh-Jc for the nut straight. Rheem mucked and left in fifth with $96,624.

De Wolfe would be next to go after getting check-raised by Bonomo's all-in push with a flop of 8s-6s-2h. De Wolfe called with Kc-8d, and Bonomo showed overcards and a flush draw with As-9s. The turn was a Jc and the river a Qs, giving Bonomo the nut flush and De Wolfe a fourth place finish worth $117,030.

Andrew Robl went next when he pushed all-in with Ad-2c and got called by Bonomo holding Qd-5c. Bonomo caught a queen on the flop and Robl failed to recover. He left in third for $144,337.

Going into heads-up play, Bonomo had the lead with $1,983,000 against Lindgren's $1,340,000.

Lindgren had often been called the best player without a WSOP bracelet. You can't call him that anymore.

After a slow start, Lindgren started to put the pressure on, taking five pots in a row and the chip lead. Lindgren made yet another bet for the pot with $80,000 and Bonomo called. The flop came 10c-5c-3d and both checked. The turn was a 4h, prompting Bonomo to bet $80,000, and Lindgren called. The 8h on the river led to Bonomo betting $80,000 again and Lindgren raised it to $160,000 which Bonomo called for the last of his chips. The players flipped them and Bonomo showed 5s-4s for two pair while Lindgren showed Ah-2d for a straight. Team Bodog's Justin Bonomo made $230,159 for second place while Lindgren received a well-deserved first bracelet and $374,505.

TOP PHOTO: Team Bodog's Justin Bonomo and David Williams.