2008 World Series of Poker

The 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) main events were held from May 28th to July 17th, 2008 at the RIO All-Suites Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, where the contestants were reduced to the final 9. Final table play that determined the winner was held at the Rio on November 9th, 2008.

The WSOP is the culmination of a series of WSOP qualifying poker tournaments held throughout the year, which included:

1. Twelve circuit tournaments, the first of which was at the Grand Casino Tunica in August of 2007, and the last of which was held at Harrah's, New Orleans in May 2008.
2. A WSOP Europe tournament that was held at the London Club International from Sept. 19 to Oct. 1, 2007.
3. A separate satellite series that was held at the RIO from May 28 to July 1, 2008.
4. A Mega HORSE (Hold'Em, Omaha, Razz, Seven Card Stud, and Eight or better.) tournament (with a $50,000 buy in) that was held at the RIO from May 31st to June 21st, 2008.

The WSOP main event took place from July 3 to July 16, 2008. The main event reduced the field to 9 players , who met back at the RIO on Nov. 9 to determine the 2008 world poker champion. The four month delay was something new in 2008, to further increase hype and suspense.

In 2007, 54,000 players registered for the various WSOP events, and the total prize pool reached almost $160 million. Almost 5600 players participated in the main event, with Jerry Yang, of California, taking home the $8.25 million top prize.

In 2008 the WSOP consisted of 55 events with a total prize pool of $180 million. First prize was worth $9.1 million. Ninth place got $900 thousand.

During the competition at the RIO up to July 16, 2008, the field was reduced to the final 9 as shown below.

Final 9

2008 World Series of Poker Final 9 - See table below.

2008 World Series of Poker Final 9

Seat	Name	Occupation	No. of Chips
1	Dennis Phillips	Trucking account manager	26,295,000
2	Ivan Demidov	Semiprofessional poker player	24,400,000
3	Scott Montgomery	Professional poker player	19,690,000
4	Peter Eastgate	Professional poker player	18,375,000
5	Ylon Schwartz	Professional poker player	12,525,000
6	Darus Suharto	Accountant	12,520,000
7	David Rheem	Professional poker player	10,230,000
8	Craig Marquis	College student	11,210,000
9	Kelly Kim	Professiona poker player	2,620,000

This group met on November 9th at the RIO and reduced the field to two, which were Denmark's Peter Eastgate and Russia's Ivan Demidov. Peter Eastgate won the final table play and became the 2008 world poker champion, taking home the $9.1 million first prize.

ESPN broadcasts World Series of Poker events as edited programs. The final table play was broadcast by ESPN on Nov. 11, 2008.

Both the WSOP and the RIO All Suites Hotel & Casino are owned by Harrah's Entertainment Inc. Harrah's obtained the rights to the Word Series of Poker when they purchased the Binion's Horeshoe Casino in 2004.

Past World Series of Poker Champions

The winners of the World Series of Poker over the years from 2000 to 2008 are shown below.

World Series of Poker Champions

Year	No. of Entrants	Champion	Top Prize, $
2008		Peter Eastgate	9,100,000
2007	6358	Jerry Yang	8,250,000
2006	8773	Jamie Gold	12,000,000
2005	5619	Joe Hatchmen	7,500,000
2004	2576	Greg Raymer	5,000,000
2003	839	Chris Moneymaker	2,500,000
2002	631	Robert Vorkonyi	2,000,000
2001	613	Juan Carlos Mortensen	1,500,000
2000	512	Chris Ferguson	1,500,000