WSOP Event #28

World Series of Poker Event #28, Pot-Limit Omaha with Re-Buys, 14-16 June 2008

Entrants: 152
Buy in: $5,000
Prize pool: $3,085,930

Final results:

1. Phil Galfond, $817,781

2. Adam Hourani, $493,748

3. David Benyamine, $316,307

4. Johnny Chan, $246,874

5. Kirill Gerasimov, $192,870

6. John Juanda, $154,296

7. Daniel Negreanu, $123,437

8. Phil Hellmuth, $100,292

9. Brian Rast, $84,863

The $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament attracted a star-studded field of 152 entries. Another 483 re-buys increased the total prize pool to $3,085,930. The top 18 finishers (final two tables) collected prize money.

The final table included four former WSOP gold bracelet winners, with a combined 28 victories between them. This eclipsed the previous all-time record set in the 2006 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship when there were a combined 27 victories between the nine finalists.

A potential dream heads-up matchup between the two all-time WSOP record gold bracelet winners Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan never materialized. Hellmuth ended up busting out in eighth place. Chen ended up fourth.

The winner was Phil Galfond, from Madison, WI. He is 23-years-old. He is a poker pro who concentrates mostly on cash games.

Galfond collected $817,781 for first place. He also earned his first WSOP gold bracelet. This was his fourth time to cash at the WSOP. This was the second-highest top prize ever paid to the winner of a Pot-Limit Omaha tournament.

“I had a big chip lead and I did not want to blow it,” Galfond said afterward. “So, the first thing I feel is relief that I did not blow the lead.”

Prior to taking a seat at the final table Galfond stated that winning a WSOP gold bracelet would mean a great deal to him. “It commands respect from your peers,” he said.

“It was such a tough final table lineup,” Galfond stated when asked about playing amongst so many big poker names. “That’s what makes winning this so much better.”

Daniel Negreanu made the most re-buys in this event, with 16. He invested $85,000 in entry fees in this tournament and collected $123,437 in prize money.

Other former WSOP gold bracelet winners who cashed in this event included David Williams (16th), Ted Lawson (17th), and Eli Elezra (18th).

All WSOP images are supplied by “IMPDI for the 2008 WSOP”