Jan 15, 2009 - The 2008 World Series of Poker was an event to remember. Not only did Harrah’s embark on what was said to be a pinnacle point in the history of poker, but the title was won by a 22 year old player from Denmark, making him the youngest player in WSOP history to win a Main Event championship.
During the middle part of 2008, Harrah’s Entertainment announced they would be delaying the final table to give players the chance to recoup from five gruelling days of the initial tournament. It was also meant to increase the public appeal over the World Series of Poker by allowing ESPN and Harrah’s to publicize the event further then it already was. For the most part, the average player loved the idea however it was quickly criticized by the pros who felt that this was a mistake and would present problems down the road. According to many of the pros the WSOP is all about stamina and allowing the delay defeats that purpose. Harrah’s went through with their initial plans and it ended up being a huge success both in the number of people who tuned it to watch the series unfold on television and the players who participated and watched.
The final table was later dubbed “The November Nine”, since there were nine players and the event would commence on November 9th at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. While the players were on a “break” they were allowed to seek out any coaching they felt was necessary and of course would end up receiving sponsorships from the online card rooms. The only drawback to the November Nine was the microscope the media placed these players under.
The November Nine's Chip Counts:
Dennis Phillips - Cottage Hills, Ill. - $26,295,000
Dennis Phillips is from St Louis Missouri and went to the final table as the chip leader with 26,295,000 in chips . He won his way into the main event through a WSOP satellite held at Harrah’s Casino and played for Team PokerStars.
Ivan Demidov - Moscow, Russia - $20,400,000
Ivan Demidov is from Moscow, Russia and is 27 years old. This was his first World Series of Poker where he also finished 11th in $1,000 NLH Re-buy event. Ivan is one of 6 players at the final table sponsored by PokerStars.
Scott Montgomery - Perth, Ontario, Canada - $19,690,000
Scott Montgomery is from Perth, Ontario in Canada and is 26 years old.
Peter Eastgate - Denmark - $18,375,000
Peter Eastgate is from Odense, Denmark and is 22 years old. He’s a high school grad and is ranked one of the top 5 players from Denmark. Peter was also sponsored by PokerStars.com
Ylon Schwartz - Brooklyn, N.Y. - $12,525,000
Ylon Schwartz is from Brooklyn NY and is 38 years old. He used to play chess at a professional level and was reported to have hustled other players in the game. He has cashed 12 times in various WSOP events including a 15th place finish in the $2,000 Limit Holdem event at the 2008 WSOP. Ylan also played for Team Pokerstars
Darus Suharto was born in Indonesia but now lives in Toronto, Canada. He paid $80 for a seat in a satellite tournament on PokerStars and won his seat to the Main Event to play with Team Pokerstars. Darus has his MBA and works as an accountant.
David Rheem - Los Angeles, Calif. - $10,230,000
David “Chino” Rheem lives in Los Angeles, and is 28. He’s a pro poker player with 10 years experience. During the 2008 WSOP final table delay, Rheem made headlines not only for his game but his past. Rheem played for Team Pokerstars during the final table.
Craig Marquis - Arlington, Texas - $10,210,000
Craig Marquis is from Arlington Texas and is 23 years old. During the 2008 WSOP he was still in college and had only been playing poker for just over a year.
Kelly Kim - Whittier, Calif. - $2,620,000
Kelly Kim was born in Korea and moved to California. Kim is 31 years old and has cashed three times during the 2007 World Series of Poker as well as the L.A Poker Classic and other events.
On November 9, th 2008 , each of the nine players made their way to the final table and it didn’t take long before the Craig Marquis was eliminated followed by the shortstack coming into the table, Kelly Kim.
Following Kim’s elimination was David “Chino” Rheem who pushed with AK and was defeated by Eastgate’s AQ. The table would eventually see both Canadian players make their exits, Montgomery knocking out Suharto with his AQ, and Eastgate eliminating Montgomery with his A3.
Schwartz was next to go, and again it was Eastgate who knocked him out with a full house against Schwartz’s Ace high. Finally David Phillips who was the chip leader at the start of the day was eliminated after 14 hours of play.
At 10 pm on November 10th, Eastgate and Demidov began battling it out heads-up for the title and with a close chip count between them. Eastgate’s chips totalled 79,500,000 while Ivan Demidov was sitting with 57,725,000.
It took another three hours before Eastgate would blow Demidov’s chip stack when he hit a set on the turn and full house on the river. By this point Eastgate was sitting with 117 million chips to Demidov’s 20 million.
During the final hand Eastgate limped on the button and Demidov checked. The flop dealt K-3-2 and was checked to Eastgate who bet 1.25 million. Demidov called only to see a 4 on the turn. Again Demidov checked it to Eastgate and this time Eastgate bet 2 million. Eastgate was then check raised to 6 million by Demidov. The river brought a 7 and Demidov pushed all in and Eastgate called.
Demodiv flipped over two pair and was overcome by Eastgate’s straight to the 5 giving Peter Eastgate the win and the coveted Main Event Championship bracelet on top of the $9,119,517 in winnings. This win would make Peter Eastgate the youngest player to ever win a WSOP Main Event title.
Payouts for final table players in 2008 World Series of Poker
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