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2007 World Poker Championship (Main Event)
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $10,000
Number of Entries: 6,358
Total Prize Money: $59,784,954
Date of Tournament: July 6-17, 2007
Final Standings:
1. Jerry Yang Temecula, CA $8,250,000
2. Tuan Lam Mississauga, ON Canada $4,840,981
3. Raymond Rahme Johannesburg,
South Africa $3,048,025
4. Alex Kravchenko Moscow, Russia $1,852,721
5. Jon Kalmar Chorley, Lancashire UK $1,255,069
6. Hevad Khan Poughkeepsie, NY $956,243
7. Lee Childs Reston, VA $705,229
8. Lee Watkinson Cheney, WA $585,699
9. Philip Hilm Cambridge, UK $525,934
10. Steven Garfinkle Bellingham, WA $476,926
11. Scotty Nguyen Las Vegas, NV $476,926
12. Ray Henson Houston, TX $476,926
13. William Spadea South Easton, MA $429,114
14. David Tran El Monte, CA $429,114
15. Robert Slezak Omaha, NE $429,114
16. Kenny Tran Arcadia, CA $381,302
17. Kevin Farry Manassas, VA $381,302
18. John Armburst Austin, TX $381,302
19. Scott Freeman Oak Park, CA $333,490
20. Mikkel Madsen Denmark $333,490
21. Jason Welch Ft. Collins, CO $333,490
22. Stefan Mattsson Sweden $333,490
23. Bill Edler Las Vegas, NV $333,490
24. Ryan Elson Canton, OH $333,490
25. Daniel Alaci Las Vegas, NV $333,490
2007 WSOP Main Event
The Final Table:
Seat 1: Jon Kalmar
Hometown: Chorly, Lancashire (UK )
Chip Count: 20,320,000 Jon Kalmar is a 34-year-old professional poker player, who plays mostly in clubs located in the north and the Midlands region of England. He is married with one child. Among his prior accomplishments, Kalmar was once the lead singer in a punk rock band. Before entering this year's world championship, Kalmar admitted to enduring a "terrible" run of bad fortune at this year's World Series of Poker. He failed to cash a single time in the preliminary tournaments. But everything changed the night before the main event began. Dejected, Kalmar tried to switch his airline ticket and return home early. But he was told the cost to change his departure from Las Vegas back to England would be about $600. So instead, Kalmar decided to enter the last mega-satellite at the Rio just before the start of the main event. He ended up winning a $10,000 seat. And now, here he is at the final table ten days later – third among the chip leaders. Seat 2: Lee Childs
Hometown: Reston, VA
Chip Count: 13,240,000 Lee Childs is a 35-year-old aspiring poker professional from suburban Washington, DC. He is married with no children. Childs holds a BBA in computer information systems from James Madison University, in Virginia. Just two months ago, he voluntarily took some time off from a high-tech position with a firm affiliated with the National Geographic Society. He worked on "The JASON Project," which is an educational foundation for students dedicated to scientific expeditions and research founded by the person who first located the Titantic. Childs has been on his own for a few months – and is pursuing one of his dreams which is to play in the World Series of Poker. He says that he would not be here without the love of his incredible wife, dad, and all the support of his family and friends. His is currently fifth in the chip count. Seat 3: Philip Hilm
Hometown: Cambridge, England
Chip Count: 22,070,000 Philip Hilm is the chip leader coming into the final table of the 2007 World Series of Poker. He is a 31-year-old online poker pro. Hilm is a native of Denmark, but currently lives in England. Family is very important to Hilm. He spent two years living in Poland to get to know his mother's side of the family before moving on to England. Ten years ago, Hilm earned a degree in economics from the Copenhagen Business School. He formed a company with 12 employees, but eventually went bankrupt. Just four years ago, Hilm was at his lowest point – selling coffee machines at grocery stores to make Christmas money so he could buy presents for his family. Then, Hilm discovered poker on the Internet. Before long, he was earning enough money to make a decent living. And now, he is the largest stack at the final table of the main event. Seat 4: Jerry Yang
Hometown: Temecula, CA
Chip Count: 8,459,000 Jerry Yang is a 39-year-old psychologist and social worker from southern California. He holds a Masters Degree in health psychology. Yang was born in Laos. He is married and has six children. Yang started playing poker only two years ago. He won a seat into the main event via a satellite held at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, CA. His total investment in this event is $225. The socially-conscious Yang is determined to give something back to charity. He is pledging 10 percent of his winnings from this tournament to three different charities – the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Feed the Children, and the Ronald McDonald House. Seat 5: Raymond Rahme
Hometown: Johannesburg, South Africa
Chip Count: 16,320,000 Raymond Rahme is the first person ever to appear at the final table of the main event from the continent of Africa . At age 62, he is also the senior participant at the final table. He is married to his wife Teresa, and together they have six children. Prior to his retirement, Rahme owned and operated a bed and breakfast inn. Although he played stud for three decades, Rahme has only been playing the game of hold'em for about two years. Yet, Rahme has already enjoyed significant tournament success. He's taken first and second place at major events held in South Africa. He also took fourth place in the "All Africa Poker Championship" recently, which was the largest poker tournament ever held in Africa. As part of his prize, he received a travel package to Las Vegas and an entry into the 2007 main event. And now, he is ranked fourth in the chip count at the start of the final table. Seat 6: Tuan Lam
Hometown: Mississauga, Ontario ( Canada)
Chip Count: 21,315,000 Tuan Lam was born in Vietnam on New Years Day in 1966, during the war. He eventually immigrated to Canada at the age of 19. He now lives in the Toronto area where he plays poker professionally. Prior to turning pro, Lam worked as a general laborer for a metal company. Then, he learned how to play poker from friends and has made it all the way to the final table of the 2007 main event. This is his third year to attend the WSOP. His prior cashes were 46th place in an event last year and 78th place in a WSOP tournament held in 2005. He is married with two children. Lam arrives at the final table ranked second in the chip count. Seat 7: Alex Kravchenko
Hometown: Moscow, Russia
Chip Count: 6,570,000 Alex Kravchenko is a 36-year-old businessman originally from Archangel, USSR. He has been playing poker for about eight years. He is married and has two children. Kravchenko became the first Russian citizen in history to win a WSOP gold bracelet when he was victorious in the $1,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low championship at this year's WSOP – in what was the largest Omaha High-Low field in history. Russian immigrants have won previously at the World Series. But Kravchenko's victory was clearly a milestone. Kravechenko has an impressive history of poker tournament wins in Europe. He won the Austrian Masters Pot-Limit Championship in 2001. He also won the Russian Pot-Limit Championship held that same year. His also won a Limit Hold'em title at the Helsinki Frezeout in 2002. He has cashed over 30 times in what is becoming an illustrious poker career. This is Kravchenko's fifth time to cash at the WSOP in 2007. Kravchnko faces the biggest challenge of any player in the finale, as the lowest stack at the table. Seat 8: Lee Watkinson
Hometown: Cheney, WA
Chip Count: 9,925,000 Lee Watkinson is a 40-year-old poker pro, businessman, and animal rights activist from Cheney, WA. He is one of only two players at the final table who currently owns a WSOP gold bracelet. In 2006, Watkinson won the Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship. He owns a few businesses as well, including a record company and a clothing line - which were started exclusively with his poker winnings. The Washington State native holds a degree in economics, which perhaps explains why Watkinson is so astute as an investor and poker professional. Yet, often when he is interviewed Watkinson is quick to shift everyone's attention to a greater, more humanitarian purpose. Watkins and his fiancé Timmi DeRosa share a commitment to rescuing and retiring captive chimpanzees, many of which have been used in everything from movies to research laboratories. Watkinson and DeRosa told about how chimpanzees are not as useful as they become older and are commonly discarded. So a few years ago, the couple made a commitment to rescue as many creatures as possible and eventually build an animal sanctuary. "All the animals need our help," Watkinson says. "But we really try to focus on the chimpanzees." But -- when it comes to poker, Watkinson is not monkeying around. He arrives seventh in the chip count. Seat 9: Hevad Khan
Hometown: Poughkeepsie, NY
Chip Count: 9,205,000 Hevad "Rain" Khan is a 22-year-old professional poker originally from Poughkeepsie, NY. He attended college at the State University of New York-Albany. He has since moved around the country, living in both the San Francisco bay area, and Las Vegas. Khan's claim to fame before arriving at this final table was his extraordinary ability to play multiple poker games simultaneously. In what can only be described as a prodigal Bobby Fischer-like capability, Khan has played in as many as 43 poker games all at once on his home computer. Today, he must play in just one poker game – the biggest and most glamorous event in the world for the world championship. Khan arrives eighth in the chip count at the start of the final table. End Day Five – 36 Players Remaining -- Day Five began with 112 players. Thirteen hours later, only 36 remained. -- The current chip leader is David Tran. He is the only player with over 10 million in chips. -- Six-former WSOP gold bracelet winners have survived. They include – Scotty Nguyen (4 wins), Bob Slezak (1 win), Daniel Alaei (1 win), Lee Watkinson (1 win), Alex Kravchenko (1 win), and Bill Edler ( 1 win). -- The only former world champion still alive in the tournament is Scotty Nguyen, who won the WSOP in 1998. -- Of the remaining 36 players, eight different nations are represented including – Canada, Denmark, England, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, and the United States. One-third of the remaining players (12 of 36) are non-US residents. -- California has the most remaining players, with seven. -- The last remaining woman in the tournament was eliminated late on Day Five. Maria Ho from Arcadia, CA finished in 38th place and collected $237,865 in prize money. -- On Day Six, play will continue until nine players remain. The final table will be played on July 17 th starting at 12 noon. -- End Day Four – 112 players remaining -- Friday the 13th (Day Four) began with 337 players and played down to the final 99. Play lasted approximately 12 hours, as play adjourned at midnight . -- Several players jockeyed for the chip lead on Day Four. Among them were Hevad Khan, Adam White, Josh Evans, and Dario Minieri. However, the latest chip leader is Dag Martin Mikkelsen, from Stavanger, Norway. He has 3.7 million in chips at the start of Day Five. Charis Anastasiou ranks second with 2.7 million. -- There are two former world champions remaining in the field – Huck Seed (1996) and Scotty Nguyen (1998). -- There are ten former WSOP gold bracelet winners remaining in the field including – John Spadavecchia, Allan King, Lee Watkinson, Humberto Brenes, Diego Cordovez, Alex Kravchenko, Huck Seed, Kirk Morrison, Bill Edler, and Scotty Nguyen. -- Two survivors won their gold bracelets this year – Bill Edler (in Short-Handed No-Limit Hold'em) and Alex Kravchenko (in Omaha High-Low Split). -- Two former world champions went bust on Day Four. Robert Varkonyi (2002) was the first casualty – finishing 177th On the final hand of the night, Berry Johnston (1986) busted out – which meant a 113th place finish. -- Poker is certainly a game for everyone. Hal Lubarsky, from Las Vegas, NV proves it. The legally blind man from Las Vegas, NV entered the WSOP for the first time and ended up going out in 197 th place. He collected $51,398 in prize money. -- Three celebrities began play on Day Four. All three were eliminated, but did finish in-the-money:
Tobey Maguire (actor – Spiderman, Seabiscuit) – 292nd
Sully Erna (songwriter and singer from Godsmack) – 237th
Sam Simon (television producer – Taxi, Cheers, The Simpsons) – 329th -- There are two women remaining in the field:
Kelly Jo McGlothlin ( Palmdale, CA)
Maria Ho (Arcadia , CA) -- There are 17 different nations represented among the final 112 players in the main event. Hence, about 27 percent of the field (at the start of Day Five) are international players. Countries represented include:
United States
Cyprus
Denmark
Holland
Norway
Canada
Costa Rica
Monaco
Russia
Sweden
Italy
Wales
Germany
France
South Africa
South Korea
-- There are eight Texans in the remaining field of 112 – the most of any state.
-- End of Day Three -- -- The 806 players who started Day Three played down to the final 337 over the course of about 12 hours. On Day Three, play ended at 12:30 am. Day Four will play 4.5 levels and will end at approximately midnight. -- The current chip leader is Dario Minieri, from Rome Italy. He enjoyed an amazing day – rocketing up from 343,700 in chips from the start of play to 2,398,000. -- The first player to cross the one-million chip threshold was Kenny Tran, from Arcadia, CA. He is currently ranked seventh in chips. Chip leader Minieri exceeded the two-million mark at about 11:30 pm near the end of the day. -- Another former world champion hit the rail. Ex-champ Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (2000) was eliminated during the first hour of play during Day Three. -- There are five former world champions still alive in the main event. They include: Huck Seed (544,000),
Robert Varkonyi (424,000),
Scotty Nguyen (321,000),
Carlos Mortensen (284,000),
Berry Johnston (203,000) -- Players entered the money spots about half an hour into the second round of Day Three. The unfortunate nine "bubble" players (those nine spots who were eliminated just outside the money) will compete in a special "Bubble Event" sponsored by Milwaukee's Best Light beer. The winner of the nine-player event will officially be qualified as "Entrant Number 1" into the 2008 WSOP main event – with the entry fee posted by Milwaukee's Best Light. The winner will also receive a year's supply of beer. -- The ensure that all players had a shot at prize money, play went hand-for-hand for nearly two full hours. It took 16 hands to eliminate 12 players to finally get into the money. -- The official 622nd place finisher (one spot out of the prize money) was John Sigan, from Strongsville , OH. -- The most extraordinary feat of the tournament thus far has been the incredible success of Hal Lubasky, from Las Vegas, NV. Lubasky is legally blind. He has a degenerative eye disease causing him to lose most of his eyesight, except for blurred colors. At the poker table Lubasky uses a "reader" – which means a person sits behind him at tableside and whispers the hole cards into Lubasky's ear. From that point forward, all table decisions are dictated by Lubasky, so as not to violate the "one player to a hand" rule. His reader is named Jason, who works at a local bar frequented by Lubasky. In what is his first-ever WSOP event, Lebarski has now been guaranteed prize money. Currently, he has 409,000 in chips. Poker has given me back my life," Lebarski told an ESPN interviewer. -- One celebrity was eliminated on Day Three: Todd Phillips (film director) – finished in 380th place The celebrities are still playing at the start of Day Four: Tobey Maguire (actor) – 131,900 in chips
Sully Erna (songwriter and singer from Godsmack) – 135,000 in chips
Sam Simon (television producer) – 172,000 -- There are six women still playing in the main event. -- The World Series of Poker has become a truly international spectacle. There are 27 different nations represented among the final 337 players in the main event. About 20 percent of the field 74 players of the remaining 337 (at the start of Day Four) are international players.
-- End Day Two --
-- The $10,000 buy-in championship event attracted 6,358 players. This qualifies as the second-largest live poker tournament in history. Only the 2006 main event attracted more entries (8,773). -- Former World Series of Poker Champions who played in the main event included: T.A. "Amarillo Slim" Preston, 1972 (eliminated on Day One)
Doyle Brunson, 1976, 1977 (eliminated on Day One)
Bobby "the Owl" Baldwin, 1978 (eliminated on Day One)
Tom McEvoy, 1983 (eliminated on Day Two)
Berry Johnston, 1986 (217,900 in chips starting Day Three)
Johnny Chan, 1987, 1988 (eliminated on Day One)
Phil Hellmuth, Jr., 1989 (eliminated on Day One)
Brad Daugherty, 1991 (eliminated on Day One)
Jim Bechtel, 1993 (eliminated on Day Two)
Dan Harrington, 1995 (eliminated on Day Two)
Huck Seed, 1996 (280,500 in chips starting Day Three)
Scotty "the Prince" Nguyen, 1998 (107,800 in chips starting Day Three)
Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (160,900 in chips starting Day Three)
Carlos Mortensen, 2001 (254,700 in chips starting Day Three)
Robert Varkonyi, 2002 (182,700 in chips starting Day Three)
Chris Moneymaker, 2003 (eliminated on Day Two)
Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, 2004 (eliminated on Day One)
Joe Hachem, 2005 (eliminated on Day Two)
Jamie Gold, 2006 (eliminated on Day One) -- Defending world champion Jamie Gold, of Malibu, CA was eliminated on Day 1-D. He sat at the ESPN feature table and played about four levels (two-thirds of the day) before busting out. -- This year's main event attracted several celebrities. The following notables were eliminated on Day One: Antonio Tarver (World Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion)
Nelly (singer and four-time Grammy Award winner)
Shannon Elizabeth (actress)
Jose Canseco (former Major League Baseball star)
Jennifer Tilly (actress)
Norm McDonald (actor and comedian)
Ray Romano (actor and comedian)
Tommy Vu (real estate tycoon and infomercial guru) These celebrities were eliminated on Day Two: Montel Williams (talk show host)
Brad Garrett (actor and comedian)
Jason Alexander (actor and comedian)
Rick Tocchet (former NHL star)
Hank Azaria (comedian/voice of "The Simpsons") -- This year, two players -- Barbara Enright and Phil Hellmuth, Jr. -- were inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. Both were eliminated on Day 1-D. -- The second annual $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. championship was included on this year's schedule. Both winners from the previous two years busted out on Day One. Chip Reese and Freddy Deeb were eliminated from the main event. -- The oldest player ever to enter the WSOP in its 38-year history participated in this year's tournament as 94-year-old Jack Url, from Terre Haute, IN survived the first day, but was eliminated on Day Two. -- Michael Binger came very close to setting a new WSOP record for the "Most Cashes in a Single Year." He had eight in-the-money finishes this year. However, he busted out on Day Two of the main event, about 300 spots short of the money. He is tied for the record with Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (2003), Humberto Brenes (2006), and Phil Hellmuth (2006) – all with eight cashes in a single year. -- On Day 1-A, the first elimination of the 2007 WSOP took place when a player was dealt A-A and lost to another player with the A-K of clubs. Three clubs flopped making a flush, which meant the first casualty of the World Series went out just moments after the start of the tournament. -- A total of 621 places will receive prize money. Payouts start at $20,320. The top prize is $8,250,000. By Nolan Dalla
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