The World Poker Tour Championship Event held at the Bellagio is one of the year’s biggest and best, and in 2008 attracted no fewer than 545 entries, despite its hefty buy-in of $25,000. An international array of top players makes the luxurious pilgrimage to Las Vegas to test their luck against one of the toughest fields going every year, with their eyes on a prestigious title and a top prize in the millions. With a prize pool of over $13 million, this year was no exception.
It was David Chiu who came out on top, after nearly a week’s play. No amateur, Chiu already boasts an impressive string of results in a wide variety of games, and holds WSOP bracelets in Limit Holdem (two of those), 7 Card Stud, and Omaha Hi/Lo. The American all-rounder just added one of the biggest NLHE titles to his list, having defeated the Great Dane Gus Hansen heads up in what turned out to be a very hard-fought battle. The rest of the final table was made up of Gus Hansen, John Roveto, Tommy Le, Cory Carroll and Jeff King.
While Hansen started out in the lead, and proceeded to eliminate almost single-handedly the entire final table, the heads up was not destined to go his way, as Chiu first evened the gap and then took the lead, and finally the last of his opponent’s chips, in one of the most dramatic comebacks seen on a WPT final. To be fair, Gus has already won four WPT titles (if you allow the Bad Boys of Poker to count, which I do). It seems that it is sometimes the unexpected reversals of fortune in poker which make the most fascinating watching, and undoubtedly add to the drama of the game. Expect this one to be eagerly awaited when it eventually graces our televisions.
Their final standings:
David Chiu -- $3,389,140
Gus Hansen -- $1,714,800
John Roveto – $923,355
Cory Carroll – $593,645
Tommy Le – $395,725
Jeff King -- $263,815
Flying some European flags pretty successfully were Andy Black (16th) and John Kalmar (21st) – both boasting a pretty good track record on the other side of the Atlantic having made WSOP Main Event final tables. Praz Bansi also made the money for the second year running (this time not flying over with four hours to spare before start of play like last year), as did Alan Smurfit, while Martin de Knijff, Marcel Luske and Nicolas Levi were among a few other Europeans cashing in this very US-dominated event. With the dates already out for the next season of the World Poker Tour, expect more of the same high-rollery drama in 2008/9.