2008 was a truly momentous year in poker. We review the ups and downs of a crazy 12 months

Best of 2008

Record-breakers and poker firsts

Peter Eastgate, at 22, became the youngest ever winner of the WSOP Main Event, beating Phil Hellmuth’s 19-year record. Gavin Griffin scooped the first live ‘triple crown’ (WPT, EPT and WSOP titles) when he won the WPT Borgata in January. Jesper Hougaard became the first player to win WSOP bracelets in America and Europe in the same year.

And Ivan Demidov shot to stardom by final-tabling both the WSOP and WSOPE Main Events in the same year – probably the first (and last) player to do so. Yes, 2008 was truly a year of poker firsts and records being set. Next year has got a lot to live up to.

The year of the pro

With so many online players entering the ‘live’ domain and taking down big events, there’s been a noticeable absence of high-profile star players winning major titles in recent years. But all that changed in 2008. In particular, the WSOP was dominated by some of poker’s biggest stars – Lindgren, Negreanu, Matusow, Greenstein – which certainly put a bit of romance back in the game.

WSOP Main Event final table delay

The 117-day break in play was always going to be controversial, but whether you’re a fan of it or not, it certainly helped push poker further into the mainstream. The TV viewing figures were well up on last year and it helped raise the profile of at least nine players who would have been virtual unknowns otherwise.

Brits winning big

It wasn’t a great year for British players in major tourneys, but two of Britain’s best – and nicest – won two big titles. The UK’s most consistent tournament player in the last 12 months was Neil Channing, who finally got his hands on a $ 1m pay cheque after he beat 666 players in the prestigious Irish Open. And Northern Ireland’s Marty Smyth was Britain’s only WSOP bracelet winner in Vegas this summer, taking down the $ 10,000 World Championship Pot-Limit Omaha for $ 859,549. Good work, chaps.

Health and growth of poker

With the GUKPT and GCBPT tours attracting top players and big fields, and Dusk Till Dawn offering the best poker club facilities in Europe, the UK has plenty to shout about. And the same is true in Europe, where PokerStars qualifiers and sponsorship has helped make the EPT the biggest-growing live tour in the world. Not content with Europe though, Stars has launched Asian (APPT) and Latin America (LAPT) tours in the last 12 months. Poker is truly becoming a worldwide phenomenon.

Worst of 2008

Scandals

It’s been a tough year for online poker. In addition to high-profile players being banned for multi-accounting and ghosting (Brian ‘sbrugby’ Townsend, Sorel Mizzi, JJProdigy), the industry was further damaged by the emergence of the UltimateBet ‘superuser’ scandal. After millions of dollars were effectively stolen by accounts that had the ability to see other players’ hole cards, it later emerged that UB founder Russ Hamilton was linked to one of them. Whether or not he is eventually prosecuted remains to be seen, but at least UltimateBet has accepted responsibility and made refunds to players affected that could exceed $10m.

UIGEA

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which was announced back in September 2006, was eventually enacted in November 2008. This ridiculous piece of legislation, pushed through just before Bush and the Republicans leave the White House, has already resulted in many online sites pulling out of the US market during the last two years. However, it will now make it even harder for American players to get their money in and out of their poker accounts, with the credit card firms and financial institutions effectively barred from allowing people to transfer money from/to sports betting and poker accounts.

Could this mean the end for sites like PokerStars and Full Tilt? Let’s hope not. The light at the end of the tunnel is incoming President Obama, who is said to be a fan of poker. Watch this space…
 
Bad behaviour

When Scotty Nguyen won the $ 50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event at the 2008 WSOP, he made poker history as the first winner of both WSOP Main Event and $ 50k H.O.R.S.E. world championships, and was seemingly a very popular champion. But then it emerged that during his epic win he drunkenly abused dealers and players, swore profusely, showed his hole cards to the crowd, and may have even soft-played one or two hands. When it all came out on the ESPN broadcast Norman Chad said he ‘lost a lot of respect for Scotty’, a view which was echoed by most of the poker community.

Tiffany Michelle

PokerNews’s roving reporter Tiffany Michelle was riding the crest of a wave after her 17th-place finish in the WSOP Main Event. But after being staked in the tourney by Pokernews owners Tony G and Jeff Lisandro, she turned her back on them to take a sponsorship deal with UltimateBet. A dramabomb ensued with both parties writing blogs blasting the other. In the end it all died down but the whole sorry affair left a bitter aftertaste. However, that wasn’t the end of it for Tiffany…

When the Main Event aired on ESPN she was portrayed as a villain for calling a clock on a player when she wasn’t in a hand and generally being a condescending, obnoxious player. She tried to defend herself on the forums but got flamed by virtually the whole community. And so perhaps the best thing to happen for women’s poker in years quickly became the worst. What a shame.

WSOP Main Event final table delay

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That seems to be the general consensus on the biggest, most prestigious poker tournament in the world. But in its infinite wisdom WSOP owner Harrah’s decided to try adding a bit of extra glamour and interest in the final table by delaying it for 117 days and televising the whole affair in a two-hour show a day after it played out, thereby creating media personalities of the ‘November Nine’.

While it worked to some extent – more viewers, more mainstream awareness of poker – ultimately, we here at PokerPlayer feel that nearly four months later the impetus of the tournament had been lost and it made a sham of an event which has a lot of tradition. The Main Event is an epic week-long affair where only the best, luckiest and fittest players survive. It shouldn’t end with a deep-stacked sit-and-go that the nine players involved have had months – and some professional poker tuition – to prepare for. Having said that, it was a TV success, so it looks like we’ll have to put up with it for another year at least.

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