Katja Thater at the 2007 WSOP(credit: Poker Stars Blog)
The World Series of Poker is over, everyone. Sure, we know – that’s hardly news, but we really wanted to revisit some of the hot happenings from the summer of poker love. This year’s WSOP had 55 tournaments, featuring new bling-bling courtesy of Corum.
The payouts were bigger for those who cashed at the lower levels and more equitable all-around. The Main Event winner, Jerry Yang, gave away 10% of his 8 million plus to charities such as the Ronald McDonald House. Ante Up for Africa was a special event featuring celebs and poker pros, all benefiting Darfur. The two finalists gave all their winnings to stop the genocide.
Steve Billirakis became the youngest person ever to win a bracelet. He was only 21 years, 1 month and 9 days old when he took down the $5,000 buy-in mixed limit/no-limit hold’em event.
Sally Boyer, a former opera singer turned real estate agent, earned the ladies’ championship after completing a special WSOP Academy seminar. She defeated the likes of Poker Stars’ own Katja Thater, who went on to win a bracelet in the Razz World Championship. Katja became part of an exclusive club of ladies who own bling-bling in open events.
All in all, the pros made a strong showing at the WSOP. Freddy Deeb earned his second bracelet. He was victorious in the $50,000 buy-in HORSE event, winning $3.5 million. That’s the third-biggest payday for a single player during a single event in WSOP history. Eli Elezra finished first in Event #24, the $3,000 buy-in Seven-Card Stud Hi/Lo tournament after drinking up a storm with fellow final table mate, Scotty “I’m a bad influence, baby” Nguyen.
Of course, the biggest story of the WSOP might just be Phil Hellmuth. The Poker Brat not only took down his record-setting eleventh bracelet, he also made history with his 60th cash. He surprised no one by making it into the Poker Hall of Fame.
However, it was Tom Schneider who was the WSOP Player of the Year. This previously unknown fella received two bracelets, one in seven-card stud eight or better (#46) and another in mixed-Omaha and seven-card stud eight or better (#5). He also sat at the final table of the $2,500 HORSE tournament, finishing in fourth place.
Overall, the 2007 WSOP gave us some great stories, new folks to root for and allowed us the opportunity to see some of our favorites make history. The summer series also demonstrated that poker is NOT dead despite rumors to the contrary. It’s definitely here to stay.
Long live the WSOP! We can’t wait ‘til next year.