No one\’s got a better collection of WSOP factoids than Nolan Dalla (no offense, KevMath, you\’re also a fact gathering machine) … and here are the WSOP media director\’s notes about Day 6 (money, players, storylines, countries, stats, etc.) with potentially relevant info about the field moving forward:
[Hmm, maybe it is still the Year of the Pro, even though most of these pros are relatively unknown outside their home casinos?]
Tournament Notes from Day Six:
Ten days ago, the World Series of Poker Main Event began on Thursday, July 3rd, 2008. The official Day Six was played on Sunday, July 13th.
This is the 46th of a 47-day span which comprises the vast majority of the 2008 WSOP schedule (not including WSOP-Europe, which takes place September 19th through October 2nd and the Main Event final table to be played November 9-10).
Day Six began with the \”Shuffle Up and Deal\” announcement at 12:15 pm PST.
The number of players who started Day Six was 79.
ESPN designated two \”feature\” tables. However, all tables remaining on the tournament floor were given intensive coverage. Every all-in situation was filmed and recorded for possible airing. The table on the main stage started with 11-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth. The secondary feature table was located off to the side and included three of the biggest stacks in the tournament when the day started Mark Ketteringham (Los Angles, CA), Jeremy Joseph (Buffalo, NY), and Brandon Cantu (Las Vegas, NV).
All seat assignments and re-draws at the WSOP are completely random. However, ESPN selects \”feature\” tables each day, which are presumably tables with the greatest public interest. Those two tables are then transferred to the main and secondary stages.
The average stack at the start of the day was 1,732,000 in chips.
The average stack at the end of the day is 5,070,000 in chips.
1989 world champion Phil Hellmuth was the only former Main Event winner still alive when Day Six began. However, he was eliminated late in the afternoon and finished in 45th place. This marked Hellmuth\’s highest championship finish since 2003, when he took 27th place that year. This marked his sixth in-the-money finish in the world championship.
The number of players remaining of the initial 79 players who started on Day Six is 27. This means only 34 percent of the field survived from the start of the day.
The chip leader coming into the start of Day Five was Jeremy Joseph (Buffalo, NY). He was eliminated on this day and ended up as the 56th-place finisher.
The chip leader coming into the start of Day Six was Mark Ketteringham (Los Angeles, CA). He was eliminated on this day and finished in 52nd place.
The chip leader at the start of Day Seven is Dennis Phillips (St. Louis, MO). He is one of only two players in the tournament with greater than 10,000,000 in chips. Phillips\’ chip count is currently 11,910,000.
Craig Marquis is currently in second place with 11,460,000.
Brandon Cantu was the first player to cross the 10,000,000 mark in chips. However, he lost back some of his stack towards the end of the day and currently sits in 14th place.
Day Six started with only two female players still alive in the tournament. Lisa Parsons (Franklin, TN) was eliminated and finished in 76th place. Tiffany Michelle (Los Angeles, CA) remains very much alive and is currently third in the chip count, with 9,755,000. It is estimated that 209 female players participated in the 2008 WSOP Main Event.
Tiffany Michelle appears primed to be the highest female finisher in the Main Event since Annie Duke\’s 10th-place showing in 2000. The year before, Susie Isaacs also finished in 10th place. The best finish ever by a woman in the WSOP Main Event was by Barbara Enright, who finished 5th in 1995.
In previous years, Tiffany Michelle worked as a media representative covering the WSOP for various outlets. Last year, Michelle was the on-camera poker hostess for PokerNews.com.
Former WSOP gold bracelet winners who were eliminated on this day included – Thomas \”Thunder\” Keller, Phil Hellmuth, and Mike Matusow.
Only two former WSOP gold bracelet winners are still in contention. This very short list includes – Phi Nguyen and Brandon Cantu.
All players who started play on Day Five were guaranteed at least $77,200 in prize money. All players who begin Day Six are now guaranteed at least $257,334.
WSOP Academy instructor Alex Outhred played on this day. He ended up finishing in 54th place.
James McManus, from Dublin, Ireland was the 70th-place finisher. It should be noted this is not the same Jim McManus who wrote \”Positively Fifth Street.\”
Tim Loecke, from Highland Park, IL appears to be this year\’s \”Chris Moneymaker.\” He is still alive in the tournament, currently in 23rd place. Most interesting is the fact that this is Loecke\’s first-ever live poker tournament. He qualified to play in this event by winning a $63 satellite.
There are seven different nations represented among the Day Six survivors. Nations still alive with players include: United States (19), Canada (2), Denmark (2), England (1), Romania (1), Russia (1), and Sweden (1).
There are eight non-American players out of the remaining 27 in the field, which means 30 percent of the players still in contention are international players.
Players from several nations were represented in the top 100 of the Main Event for the first time ever. Brazil enjoyed its highest world championship finish ever as Rafael Caiaffa, from Belo Horizonte, Brazil took 55th place.
Venezuela enjoyed its highest world championship finish ever in this event as Jamal Kunbuz from Valencia, Venezuela cashed on Day Six.
Romania enjoyed its highest world championship finish ever in this event as Cristian Dragomir, from Bucharest, was eliminated in 29th place. Romania still has another player alive in the Main Event as Judet Toni Cristian currently ranks tenth in chips.
One of the most interesting rags-to-riches stories of the Main Event was the success of Alfredo Fernandez, from Miami, FL. He qualified to play in the WSOP via a mega-satellite tournament series at the website www.games.com, which is owned by America Online (AOL). Fernandez entered a free online tournament series, which was played over several weeks. In fact, he defeated 2,396 other players and won his $10,000 entry into this year\’s Main Event. Fernandez made it all the way to 51st place, which paid $135,100 in prize money.
Play was suspended about midway through Level 28. Day Six concluded at 11:45 pm PST.
Day Seven begins Monday, July 13th at 12:00 noon.
This is one of the youngest final-27 fields in WSOP history. The youngest player remaining is 21. The oldest player remaining is 53. The average age of the surviving players is 29. Eighteen of the final 27 (two-thirds) are in their 20s.
There are three players of the final 27 who are of Korean decent – Albert Kim, Kelly Kim, and David Rheem.
Here is a list of the final 27 players, along with some basic biographical information (if known):
Gert Andersen (Herning, Denmark)
— Age 25
— Controller
— Earned a degree in economics, specializing in accounting
Joe Bishop (Cincinnati, OH)
— Age 35
— Salesman
— Married, with two children
— Graduated from Manchester College in Indiana, with a degree in history
— Won a seat to play at the WSOP by winning a series of small buy-in tournaments at his local poker club
Michael Carroll (Carson, CA)
— Age 29
— Professional Poker Player
— Has played in cash games at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles for a living since the 1990s
Brandon Cantu (Las Vegas, NV)
— Age 27
— Professional Poker Player
— Won the $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold\’em event at the 2006 WSOP
Judet Cristian (Bucharest, Romania)
— Age 29
— Professional Poker Player
— Plays cash games and sit n\’ goes at casino in downtown Bucharest
Owen Crowe (Halifax, NS – Canada)
— Age 25
— Professional Poker Player
Ivan Demidov (Moscow, Russia)
— Age 27
— Professional Poker Player
Peter Nicolas Eastgate (Odense, Denmark)
— Age 22
— Professional Poker Player
Niklas Flisberg (Stockholm, Sweden)
— Age 36
— Managing Director for a Consultancy Company
— Earned a Masters Degree in science
— Finished 65th in the WSOP Main Event in 2005
Aaron Gordon (Brighton, England)
— Age 21
— Student
— Currently studying business at university
— Won his way into this event by winning satellite played at the Rio
Dean Hamrick (East Lansing, MI)
— Age 25
— Professional Poker Player
Albert Kim (Staten Island, NY
— Age 26
— Professional Poker Player
— Born in Korea
— Earned a degree in economics from the University of Michigan
— Graduated with a law degree from Hofstra University, in 2007
— Won seat into tournament via mega-satellite played at the Rio
Kelly Kim (Whittier, CA)
— Age 31
— Professional Poker Player
— Born in Korea
— Used to work as a business analyst
— Earned his college degree from the UC-San Diego
Chris Klodnicki (Voorhees, NJ)
— Age 23
— Professional Poker Player
— Graduated from Lehigh University with a degree in finance
— Was the runner up in the Razz championship at this year\’s WSOP
Tim Loecke (Highland Park, IL)
— Age 37
— Director of Sales
— Works at Staples retail store
— Graduated from Drake University
Scott Montgomery (Perth, Ontario – Canada)
— Age 26
— Professional Poker Player
Craig Marquis (Arlington, TX)
— Age 23
— College Student
Tiffany Michelle (Los Angeles, CA)
— Age 24
— Actress and On-Camera Host
— Was home schooled from kindergarten through grade 12
— Plays the piano, sings, and writes music
— Helps to run various poker charity tournaments
— Has worked in the poker media at recent WSOPs
Phi Nguyen (Hawaiian Garden City, CA)
— Age 42
— Professional Poker Player / Casino Host
— Works at Hawaiian Gardens Casino
Dennis Phillips (St. Louis, MO)
— Age 53
— Commercial Account Manager for a Trucking Company
— Gained entry by winning a WSOP satellite held at Harrahs Casino in St. Louis
Jason Riesenberg (Las Vegas, NV)
— Age 25
— Professional Poker Player
— Earned degree in sports management from Iowa State University
— Brother is in the Army and is currently serving duty in Iraq
David \”Chino\” Rheem (Los Angeles, CA)
— Age 28
— Professional Poker Player
Ylon Schwartz
( No Information Available)
Anthony Scherer (Truckee, CA)
— Age 35
— Has duel citizenship, both American and Swiss
— Once attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Nicholas Sliwinski (Las Vegas, NV)
— Age 23
— Recent College Graduate
— Earned his degree from the University of Pittsburgh in psychology
— Won his entry by winning a WSOP satellite at the Rio
Paul Snead (Kings Park, NY)
— Age 42
— Certified Public Accountant
— Married, with three children
— Earned a college degree from Hofstra University
Darus Suharto
(No information available)
When play resumes on Day Seven, Level 28 will continue with blinds set at 40,000-80,000 and antes at 10,000.
An interesting side note: The tournament has now reached the point where a single ante represents half of a player buy-in for the Main Event. Players started with 20,000 in chips. Antes are now 10,000.
Seats are re-drawn at the point at which 27 players are reached, 18 players are reached, and 10 players are reached (once all ten players are positioned at one table). However, only the last nine players constitute the official \”final table.\”
Day Seven is scheduled to play down to the final nine players. This means play will end at the point when the tenth-place finisher has been determined.
Players who have made it to the final 27 have now played a total of 55 tournament hours, not counting breaks or end of day recesses.
The players who survive Day Seven have been designated as the \”November Nine.\” The nine finalists will come back to Las Vegas to compete for the world championship in November.
This is the largest World Series of Poker in history. A grand total of 58,720 players entered into 55 gold bracelet events surpassed last year\’s number of entries, which was 54,288. These figures represent an 8 percent increase over 2007.
This was the richest World Series of Poker in history. A grand total of $180,676,248 in prize money awarded in 2008 makes this the richest event in all of sports. Note: This figure does not include the upcoming four events to be played at WSOP-Europe. These figures represent an increase of 13 percent over 2007.
This ranks as the second-largest live poker tournament in history. This year\’s turnout surpassed 2007 attendance (6,358) by 7.4 percent. Only the 2006 WSOP Main Event was larger than this tournament — with 8,773 entrants.
This is the second-largest tournament prize pool in history. The total prize pool amounts to $64,333,600. The top 666 finishers will collect prize money.
There were at least 118 different nations and territories represented by all players who entered the 2008 Main Event. By contrast, there were 87 different countries present last year. This represents a 36 percent increase in international participation.
The 2008 WSOP Main Event winner will collect $9,119,517 in prize money. The minimum payout is $21,230.
