During the 2008 World Series of Poker, the theme, by and large, has been the “Year of the Pro.” In fact, through the conclusion of 26 events, 20 of them (or 77% for you math whizzes out there) have been won by professionals. This is a far cry from previous WSOP events, which have featured amateur after amateur capture gold bracelets. Remember that the 2003 Main Event was won by an amateur with a highly-appropriate last name, Chris Moneymaker. His victory spurned the poker boom as we know it. Five years later, perhaps the tide of amateur domination has subsided.
In Event #26, the $1,500 Razz tournament, PokerStars pro and longtime poker veteran Barry Greenstein took home his third World Series of Poker bracelet. It was Greenstein’s first since 2005, when he won a $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament. His very first gold bracelet came in a $5,000 No-Limit Deuce to Seven Draw tournament in 2004. His first WSOP cash was 12 years earlier, in the 1999 World Series of Poker. He’s also the owner of two World Poker Tour titles: the World Poker Open during Season II and the WPT Invitational during Season IV. He’s won well over $2 million at WPT events and has consistently been one of the well-respected names in poker.
Full Tilt Poker pro Erick Lindgren won his first WSOP bracelet in Event #4, vaulting himself to over $1 million in WSOP winnings. It’s still hard for me to believe that he just captured his first bracelet. This rising star stormed onto the poker scene during Season II of the World Poker Tour, when he won not one, but two events. He won the Ultimate Poker Classic for $500,000 and then followed that win up with another in the PartyPoker Million. His bracelet win was his fourth of the 2008 WSOP. Lindgren recorded his first WSOP cash in 2003. Perhaps he’s catching his second wind.
David Singer, another member of Team Full Tilt, won his first WSOP bracelet in Event #3 and then his wife gave birth to a child. He recorded his first WSOP cash in 1983, which makes it even more of a feat that he avoided the WSOP spotlight until 2008. He made final tables each in each of the past three years in Las Vegas. On the World Poker Tour, he made two final tables during Season IV: the Borgata Poker Open, in which he took sixth for nearly $250,000, and the PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure, where he took third for $436,200. I’m sure the real highlight of Singer’s 2008 WSOP was the birth of his child, however.
Daniel Negreanu won his fourth WSOP bracelet in the $2,000 limit event. It was his first since the 2004 WSOP and he won his first bracelet back in 1998 when he was just 23 years old. He’s another player that has dominated the poker world for the past decade, taking home victories in the WPT’s Borgata Poker Open and Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic during Season III. He’d become WPT Player of the Year for his $3.3 million in cashes that season. His lifetime WPT take tops $5.5 million. Negreanu recently became a face of PokerStars and launched his own poker training site.
Mike Matusow won his third WSOP bracelet in the No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball rebuy tournament. It was his first since the 2002 WSOP and his third overall. Matusow’s WSOP earnings amount to over $2.7 million during his poker career. In the most recent season of the World Poker Tour, Matusow has seen a resurgence of sorts, finishing sixth in the Borgata Poker Open for $271,600 and placing second in the Bellagio Cup III for $671,320. His lifetime WPT winnings are $1.3 million. The Mouth has also eased his fiery temper, perhaps leading to better results in live play.
Can the pros finally dominate at the World Series of Poker? Who will win the 2008 Main Event? Keep checking back to MacPoker.net to find out.