July 6th, 2008 6:02 am EST
Some of The Biggest Winners and Losers of the 2008 World Series of Poker (So Far)
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53 World Series of Poker bracelet events are now in the books. Some of the big names that have done extremely poorly at the 2008 World Series of Poker still have a chance to redeem themselves in the Main Event, but the odds are stacked against them. Some of the names that have done well this year will have a chance to build on their strong showings by going deep in the main event, and possibly making the November final table.
Here is a list (by no means complete) of the biggest winners and losers of the 2008 World Series of Poker (so far):
WINNERS
1. Erick Lindgren. Tough to argue with this choice. "E-Dog" is currently sitting atop the 2008 POY race, 10 points ahead of Barry Greenstein. Lindgren started by winning his first ever World Series of Poker bracelet in the $5k Mixed Hold'em event, permanently shedding the title of the best player in the world without a bracelet. He then went on to cash four more times, including a 3rd place finish in the $50k H.O.R.S.E. championship for $781k. In total, Lindgren has five cashes, three final table appearances, 1 final table bubble (in the $1500 Limit Hold'em event) and one victory. Lindgren also has an extremely healthy stack heading into the second day of play in the main event. No one has had a better World Series of Poker than Lindgren.
2. Mike Matusow. Starts off the World Series of Poker by winning a $100,000 weight loss bet with Ted Forrest. Takes down the No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball event for a score of $537k. Makes the final table of the $10k Omaha Hi/Lo World Championship. Still alive in the main event.
3. John Phan. Only multiple bracelet winner this year (so far). Took down the $2500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball event for $151k, and the $3k No Limit Hold'em event for $434k.
4. Nikolay Evdakov. Shattered the record for most WSOP cashes in one year by cashing in a ridiculous 10 events. Evdakov didn't make any final tables though, so he can't be too overjoyed with his performance. His highest finish came in the $5k No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball event - he finished 13th. Still, ten cashes is extremely impressive, and will be very hard to beat.
5. Jacobo Fernandez. Seven cashes in the 2008 World Series of Poker. Three final table appearances, including a second place finish in the $1500 Pot Limit Hold'em event. Is currently third in the POY race.
6. David Benyamine. Took down $535k and his first ever bracelet in the $10k Omaha Hi/Lo Championship. Finished third in the $5k Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys event, and 7th in the $5k No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball event. Not only that, but according to HighstakesDB.com, Benyamine has won almost $1.4 million in high stakes NLHE and Pot Limit Omaha cash games on Full Tilt Poker since the start of the 2008 World Series of Poker. After a rough stretch last year, Benyamine has turned things around.
7. Barry Greenstein. Prior to the World Series of Poker, Greenstein was publicly grumbling about his lack of recent success in tournaments. This has all changed now, as Greenstein has cashed six times in this year's installment of the WSOP, including three final tables and a bracelet win in the $1500 Razz event. Greenstein likely also banked a significant amount of extra money in bracelet sidebets.
8. Scotty Nguyen. Anybody who takes down the $50k H.O.R.S.E. event is going to get an automatic spot in the Winners list. Nguyen took down $1.99 million dollars for his victory in this event, overcoming an extremely stacked field and winning his fifth World Series of Poker bracelet in the process. Also finished 7th in the $2500 NLHE event for $50k.
9. J.C. Tran. One of the best tournament players alive finally took down his first World Series of Poker bracelet when he won the $1500 No Limit Hold'em event for $631k. Has a total of seven cashes so far as well, and three final table appearances.
10. Daniel Negreanu. Five cashes, including a bracelet in the $2k Limit Hold'em event. We're including Negreanu in the top ten because he has also won a substantial amount of money in bracelet sidebets, including a $200,000 per bracelet bet with Phil Ivey (assuming that Ivey doesn't win the main event).
11. Phil Galfond. "OMGClayAiken" has to be included in this list. Took down the stacked $5k PLO w/ Rebuys event for $817k. Handled himself extremely well at an intimidating final table which was loaded with well-known pros.
LOSERS
1. Phil Ivey. Sure he's cashed three times, but this World Series of Poker has reportedly been a financial trainwreck for Ivey. He reportedly dropped two million dollars betting on the Lakers to win the NBA Championships, and will likely lose millions more in bracelet sidebets. Has about $200k in total cashes this year, but has easily spent that and more on buy-ins, rebuys and add-ons.
2. Greg Raymer. Only one cash, which was an 11th place finish in the $2500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball event. Was so tilted in one event that he actually ripped a card in half when he was eliminated.
3. Chad Batista. Has already been eliminated from the main event, which ensures that Batista will have zero cashes at the 2008 World Series of Poker. Batista, one of the most successful online tournament players of the past few years, was obviously hoping for a stronger showing.
4. Jamie Gold. Zero cashes, plus an early departure from the main event.
5. Joe Hachem. Not to pick on recent World Series of Poker main event champions here, but Hachem only has two mini-cashes at this year's event. I put Hachem on this list because I've been flooded with stories about how grumpy Hachem has seemed this year. If I had almost $11 million in cashes over the past few years, I'd probably have a perma-smile on my face, but that's just me. I know he's ultra-competitive, but life can't be that bad.
6. Shannon Elizabeth. I've seen her name in many 2008 World Series of Poker events so far, but she has zero cashes.
7. Gavin Smith. Zero cashes.
8. Scott Fischman. See above.
9. T.J. Cloutier. Zero Cashes.
10. Dave "Devilfish" Ulliot - just $7k in total cashes this year
Filed Under: The World Series of Poker
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