WSOP Event #11

World Series of Poker Event #11, No-Limit Hold’em Shootout, 6-8 June 2008

Entrants: 360
Buy in: $5,000
Prize pool: $1,692,000

Final results:

1. Philip Tom $477,990

2. Greg Mueller $298,638

3. Leo Wolpert $187,812

4. Sirous Jamshidi $118,440

5. Timothy West $63,450

6. Thomas Roupe $38,070

7. John Juanda $16,920

8. John Murphy $16,920

9. Elton Beebe $16,920

The $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Shootout attracted 360 entrants. Chalk one up for the amateurs as the winner was Phillip Tom, from Las Vegas, NV who is a 55-year-old financial advisor and investor. The total prize pool amounted to $1,692,000, with the top 36 places (which included all players who progressed to the second round) each collecting prize money.

Phillip Tom made the following remarks in his post-tournament interview: “I really think this sort of format (the Shootout) fit my playing style. I have to eliminate players as I go along, and the seats are not re-filled. So, you can concentrate on the task at hand, which is focus on your opponents who are actually at the table.”

“It’s a great feeling. This is what it’s all about – to win at the World Series.”

The second-place finisher was Greg Mueller, from Vancouver, BC (Canada) who is beginning to feel the effects of going deep in many tournaments without a major win.

“If they gave away gold bracelets for finishing high but not winning, I’d be Erik Seidel”, the good-natured former pro hockey player remarked afterward.

“Mueller could be proud of his performance as lesser players would have certainly busted out earlier. He also remarked: “Overall, I was very happy with the way I played. All day, I really did not get too many hands. I thought I played good. But I just didn’t close the deal.”

This was the first all North American final table of the 2008 WSOP. There were five Americans and one Canadian amongst the final six players. All other 11 events so far this year included a multinational final table composition.

All players started with an equal number of chips at the beginning of each round. Hence, there was no “chip leader” at the start of the final table.

There were a number of notable finishes in this tournament. Places 7-36 were essentially equal in stature, since all players in those places on the official money list performed equally – winning the first round, but losing in the second.

Bill Edler won this event last year. He entered this year’s tournament but did not cash.

Eight-time gold bracelet winner Erik Seidel finished in-the-money. This was his 47th career WSOP cash. He now ranks seventh on the all-time list in that category.

Three-time gold bracelet winner John Juanda finished in-the-money. This marked his 40th career WSOP cash. He is now tied for 12th place on the all-time list with Thor Hansen.