2007 World Series of Poker

The Winners, Notable Players, And Show Stealers At The 2007 World Series of Poker

Another exciting and world-class gambling competition has come to an end, but poker fans definitely enjoyed the 2007 World Series of Poker or WSOP held on the first day of June, 2007 until the early hours of the 18th of July, 2007. The final event started last 6th of July and ended on the 18th of July. The jam-packed Rio All Suite Hotel was the perfect venue for 2007’s biggest international poker tourney. As for the final event, the crowd cheered for 2007’s WSOP main event prizewinner, American Jerry Yang, who garnered a total of more than eight million dollars as the cash prize.

The Winners

Jerry Yang, without having any previous poker tourney titles, proved to the frenzied crowd that he can definitely eliminate his opponents during the last minutes of the final game. According to Yang, his winnings, amounting to more than eight million bucks, will go to several charities that are into helping children achieve better lives. Aside from being an avid poker player who grabbed the much-coveted WSOP bracelet, Yang is also a social worker and a psychologist who is into helping orphans get a suitable home and a loving family.

Yang’s poker strategy was quite aggressive, but his style helped him survive the grueling poker tourney which lasted for more than ten hours. During the first hours of the main poker event, he got several hard hits from opponents Raymond Rahme and Alexander Kravchenko and lost most of his chip stack. Despite these hits, Yang was still able to bust Kravchenko and Rahme out of the competition as the tourney continued. Yang gained an advantage over the last opponent left on the table, Lam, because his chip stack amounted to more than a hundred million bucks while Lam only had twenty-three million dollars. Finally, when Lam’s chip stack went down to ten million bucks, he made a move that gained him an edge. But in the end, it was Yang who had the final say as his hand won the international poker tourney.American immigrant Yang may only be an amateur poker player but he definitely proved to his opponents and to the world that winning doesn’t necessarily involve flashy titles. His aggressive strategy coupled with steel-hard guts was a perfect combination that will surely inspire many amateur players to take a shot at the next WSOP.Jerry Yang’s last few minutes at the poker table were spent with Vietnammese Tuan Lam who is now based in Canada. Lam, being the second placer, won a total of more than four million dollars. Aside from Yang and Lam, the final four sitting around the final poker table at the 55th and last event of the 2007 WSOP included Russian Alexander Kravchenko known as “the barnacle”, and Raymond Rahme who came from South Africa. This international mix made the event more exciting, as their fans from all over the world poured their support for their respective players by rooting loudly as each player gained a victorious hand throughout the tourney. Each of these strong contenders were able to take home substantial amounts of cash prizes but it was Yang who captured the crowd’s attention since he got the largest cash prize and was declared as the ultimate champion. Other poker players who were able to join the last table in the final event were Philip Hilm, Lee Watkinson, Lee Childs, Hevad Khan, and Jon Kalmar. The winner in the first WSOP event was Steve Billirakis, earning a total of more than half-a-million dollars as the cash prize. Billirakis won the event at the age of 21 after beating Greg Mueller, another professional poker player who won second place.

The Notable Card Players

Other notable players who caught the attention of the crowd because of their poker-playing prowess were Bill Edler, Scotty Nguyen, and Daniel Alaei. Each of them were able to take home more than three hundred thousand bucks and were included in the top thirty winners of this year’s most awaited poker tourney, the WSOP.

Aside from the ultimate champion in the 2007 WSOP, another fellow player also won an important award. Tom Schneider was given the “Player of the Year” award due to his outstanding wins. Other players worth noting are Annie Duke, who set a mighty record for women poker players because of her cashes which amounted to a total of 33 and Phil Hellmuth who gained a total of 63 winnings.

The Show Stealers

This event was also a star-studded one as many poker-playing celebrities joined the competition. Several of the celebrities were Don Cheadle, Nelly, Janet Jones, Tobey Maguire, Hank Azaria, Shannon Elizabeth, Ray Romano, Jennifer Tilly, and Jason Alexander. Along with professional poker player Annie Duke, Don Cheadle hosted the spectacular celebrity event with a theme entitled “Ante Up For Africa.”

The 2007 WSOP had its fair share of controversy as several of the players complained about the color of the poker chips. Because a majority of the poker chips have similar colors, it was hard for several of the players to determine the amount of their opponents’ stack chips. Some of them also feared that if they ask for a stack count, their current hands might be exposed to their opponents. Another issue was regarding the effect of the anti-gambling act passed by the US Senate. As a consequence of this new law that was meant to eradicate Internet-based gambling, the number of players who were able to join the main event were significantly reduced. Moreover, just before the event, professional poker player Phil Hellmuth smashed a race car while driving through the parking area of the Rio All Suite Hotel. Fortunately, he didn’t suffer from any serious injury and was still able to play at the WSOP although he lost his chances of winning the bracelet after the 15th event. Despite these minor issues, however, all of the competitions during the 2007 WSOP were successful with more than fifty thousand registered participants.

The goal behind the events in the WSOP is to eliminate other players through a continuous play, reshuffling the players everytime someone leaves to ensure that all tables have an equal number of card players. In this year’s biggest poker tourney, many professional poker players who have earned titles from previous WSOPs were eliminated by new players, giving amateur gamblers a chance to compete for the much coveted WSOP bracelet and cash prize. Several of the previous champions who were busted out were Huck Seed, Chris Ferguson, Johnny Chan, Tom McEvoy, Chris Moneymaker, Jamie Gold, Bobby Baldwin, Carlos Mortensen, and Greg Raymer.

Even though the total cash prize for this year was less than last year’s, amateur and professional poker players from different states and countries flooded the Rio All Suite Hotel located at Las Vegas to grab a chance to compete for the multi-million dollar prize and for the WSOP title. The 2007 WSOP was certainly a thrilling and must-see event that grabbed the attention of many poker fans worldwide and made new records that will surely entice a lot of people to join in next year’s WSOP. Not to mention the newbies’ chance to try their luck and meet the pros at the final table.