The 2008 World Series of Poker, so far one of the largest poker tournaments ever held, was in full swing on Tuesday night, with a pair of events reaching their final tables. In Event 30, the mammoth $10,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em World Championship, Rob Hollink emerged victorious from a field of 218 entrants en route to a payday of nearly half a million dollars. In Event 29, John Pham took down a $3,000 no limit hold’em tournament, cashing for $434,789. Their victories marked the 22nd and 23rd wins by professionals in the 2008 WSOP, which means that the pros have dominated 77% of events so far.
If you’ve checked out the multitude of articles and strategy guides we have on MacPoker.net, you know that Hollink was the champion of the inaugural PokerStars European Poker Tour Monte Carlo Grand Final back in 2005. The 10,000 Euro buy-in tournament attracted the cream of the crop to one of the most scenic places on the face of the Earth. In Monaco, Hollink’s competition was fierce. In fact, the second and third place finishers in the Monte Carlo event (Brandon Schaefer and Alexander Stevic) had each taken down an EPT title during its first season. On Tuesday night at the World Series of Poker, Hollink also faced a tough final table that included WSOP bracelet winner Aaron Katz, 2006 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker champ J.C. Tran, and Full Tilt Poker pro Andy Bloch. In order to claim victory, Hollink had to outmaneuver some of the best poker pros on the circuit today.
Tran has been a monster in live and online play. Besides his win during the 2006 WCOOP, he has racked up over $1 million in WSOP and Circuit Event cashes during his lifetime. Tuesday night marked his second final table of the 2008 WSOP; he finished seventh in Event #7 for nearly $100,000. His largest cash came in 2005, when he finished second in the Paris/Bally’s WSOP Circuit Event for a quarter of a million dollars. Joining Tran among the names who cashed in Event 30 included Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, who finished 15th. On the World Poker Tour circuit, he’s been on a tear, taking home victories in the L.A. Poker Classic during Season III and the Borgata Poker Classic during Season IV. His lifetime WPT earnings top $4 million.
In a bizarre ending to Event 29, Pham and Johnny Neckar went all in blind on three straight hands. Although none of those hands determined a winner, it was one of the most unusual events ever witnessed in a World Series of Poker tournament and had the large crowd gathered calling for cards as hands like seven high dominated hands like four high. Afterwards, Pham said that “gambling is what it’s all about” (I personally thought that was the Hokey Pokey). Pham took home $434,789 for his efforts, his largest WSOP cash by far.
Full Tilt Poker pro David Singer, who won his very first WSOP bracelet in Event #3, finished in fifth place and cashed for $112,641. It was his fourth cash of the 2008 WSOP, which brought his lifetime WSOP and Circuit Event earnings to over $1.4 million. He made two final tables during Season III of the World Poker Tour at the Borgata Poker Open and PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Like Mike Matusow and Erick Lindgren, he’s experienced a resurgence of sorts sparked in the 2008 WSOP.
Others who cashed in Event 29 included Don Mullis, who finished 16th. During an eight month stretch in 2005, he made the final table of eight WSOP Circuit Events at Harrah’s New Orleans and Lake Tahoe. Bracelet winner Kathy Leibert finished 39th.