WSOP Event #39

World Series of Poker Event #39, No-limit Hold’em, 21-23 June 2008

Entrants: 2,720
Buy in: $1,500
Prize pool: $3,712,800

Final results:

1. David Woo, $631,550

2. Matt Wood, $389,844

3. Eric Beren, $278,460

4. Habib Khanis, $233,906

5. Thom Werthmann, $191,209

6. Curtis Early, $150,368

7. Thanh Dat Tran, $113,240

8. Michael Glasser, $85,394

9. Jim Paras, $58,290

The $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em championship (Event #39) attracted 2,720 entries, creating a prize pool totaling $3,712,800. The top 270 finishers collected prize money.

This is the fifth of seven $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em tournaments on the 2008 WSOP schedule. This game and buy-in level has consistently proven to be the most popular draw on the schedule in recent years, aside from the Main Event.

This was the second-highest turnout of the year, so far. Only Event #2 ($1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em) attracted more entries – with 3,929.

The 2008 $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em champion is David Woo, a.k.a. “The Magnificent.” He is a 30-year-old poker pro from Atlanta, GA. Woo has been playing poker full-time for about five years.

Woo won $631,656 for first place. This was also his first WSOP gold
bracelet victory. This marked his fourth time to cash at the WSOP, all
since 2005.

Woo was born in South Korea, and graduated from Georgia State University. Woo owned an operated a small coffee shop before taking up poker. He played poker recreationally at night and then woke up early each morning to open his store. After awhile, Woo was making more money with his poker game, so he decided to give up the small business.

Woo enjoys gambling. He once made a $50,000 side wager with a friend on a basketball court. Incredibly, Woo made a bet that he could make at least 80 of 100 three-pointers. Since Woo stands no more than about 5’5” tall and does not look like much of a basketball player, the wager seemed hopeless. Woo, who perfected a three-point shot while a student at Georgia State, ended up making more than 80 percent of the shots and collected on the bet.

Woo was given his nickname “The Magnificent” by none other than Josh Arieh, a two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner from Atlanta. Arieh plays regularly with Woo in home games and gave him his complimentary moniker.

Woo finished in the money at the 2006 WSOP Main Event. He took 132nd place. He had a serious shot at going much deeper what stands as the biggest poker tournament of all time, as he was one of the chip leaders after Day Four. Unfortunately, when second in chips to Jamie Gold, he lost a huge pot and was never able to recover his stack.

“Every time I play poker is a learning experience,” Woo said afterward. “I would have been sick with anything less than first place,” Woo said. “I really expected to win.”

Only one former WSOP gold bracelet winner made it to the final table. That player was Thom Werthmann, from suburban Detroit. Werthmann, who won the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha championship in 2005, finished in fifth place.

Seventh-place finisher Curtis Early had an interesting experience at the WSOP. He was on his way from moving his personal belongings from Dallas to Seattle, when he decided to stopover for a few days in Las Vegas. In fact, his U-Haul trailer was hitched to his car in the Rio parking lot, while Early collected $113,240 in prize money in this event.

Former WSOP gold bracelet winners who cashed in this event include Mike Carson (22nd), Minh Nguyen (24th), Barry Greenstein (108th), Hasan Habib (126th), Hilbert Shirey (163rd), Humberto Brenes (184th), and John Hom (214th).

This marked Humberto Brenes’ 52nd career WSOP in-the-money finish. The Costa Rican now ranks fifth on the call-time cashes list.

David Benyamine is now the leader on the 2008 prize money list, having won the most money at the WSOP, to date. His accrued winnings total $941,651.

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