Great Moments from the World Series of Poker pt I

A Look Back at the 2007 WSOP

by Aaron Angerman

For 47 days, the 38th running of the World Series of Poker invaded the Rio All Suites Hotel in Las Vegas. A total of 54,288 players made the journey to the poker world's answer to the Superbowl, the largest number of registrants in the history of the WSOP. While many will remember that Jerry Yang rode prayers all the way to $8.25 million and a Main Event crown (which we will look at in a later article), the 54 other bracelet may not get the attention they deserve. Records were broken left and right. History wasted little time being rewritten, as yet another player became the youngest bracelet winner, this time in first event of the WSOP.

Steve Billirakis bettered Greg "FBT" Mueller in heads-up play to capture the Event 1 crown, $5,000 World Championship Mixed Hold'em, and $536,287. Billirakis was just 11 days removed from his 21st birthday, becoming the WSOP's youngest champion in the process. The man known online as "Mr. Smokey" shattered the record set in 2006 by Jeff Madsen, who snagged the first of two bracelets at the age of 21-years and five weeks, on his way to the 2006 Player of the Year. Billarakis saw his record broken four months later by Annette Obrestad, after the 19-year-old online prodigy conquered the WSOP Europe Main Event, earning one million-pound sterling ($2.01 million USD) on the eve of her 19th birthday.

By winning the WSOP-E, Obrestad captured the biggest tournament prize ever awarded to a female, yet more evidence that females have a bright future in the game. Want more evidence? How about the fact that 1286 females bought into Event 17, $1,000 Ladies No Limit Hold'em World Championship. Sally Anne Boyer of Midway, Utah, was able to better a final table which included Team PokerStars pro Katja Thater and the dangerous Vanessa Selbst to capture the bracelet. Thater would be the only female to grab a bracelet outside of the Ladies Event in the 2007 WSOP, after the German outlasted all challengers in Event 29, $1,500 Razz. Selbst also saw success outside of the Ladies event, narrowly missing out on the $5,000 Heads-Up World Championship final table in Event 31, instead finishing in 4th-place. World Series of Poker commissioner Jeffrey Pollack has called the Ladies Event, "one of the most anticipated events of the 55-event World Series of Poker." If last year's event is any indicator, we might be looking at another record setting turnout by the ladies in 2008.

If anything, 2007 was a year for the pros. Phil Hellmuth earned his 11th bracelet and made his 63rd cash, both all-time records. Hellmuth spent the last couple years tied with Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson at 10, before outlasting 2627 others to earn the bracelet in Event 15, $1,500 No Limit Hold'em, the largest field ever conquered by the "Poker Brat". If any player has a chance of catching Phil and his 11 pieces of WSOP jewelry, it is Allen Cunningham. The 31-year-old captured his 5th bracelet in Event 13, $5,000 Pot Limit Hold'em World Championship, just a couple days before Phil improved on his 10. Hellmuth was just one bracelet ahead of Cunningham at 31-years of age, so don't be surprised to see Cunningham accepting his 11th bracelet a few years down the road. Tom Schneider may be a little older (49-years-old), but the poker pro from Phoenix made strides towards catching Phil. Schneider picked up a bracelet in Event 5, $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better, then added to his jewelry collection in Event 46, $1,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better. The author of Oops! I Won Too Much Money: Winning Wisdom from the Boardroom to the Poker Table earned more than $350,000 for his two wins and the 2007 WSOP Player of the Year. Here are some other pros who earned bracelets this year:

Event 9 - $1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo Split 8 or Better - 2007 Main Event final tabler Alex Kravchenko defeated Bryan Devonshire in heads-up play to earn $228,446

Event 23 -$1,500 Pot Limit Omaha - Scott "Big Riskky" Clements earned $194,206 and his 2nd bracelet in as many years by defeating Eric "Rizen" Lynch for the title.

Event 24 - $3,000 World Championship Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo Split 8 or Better - Big game fixture Eli Elezra earned $198,984 and his first bracelet by outdueling Scotty Nguyen.

Event 30 - $2,500 No Limit Hold'em Short Handed - Hoyt Corkins earned $515,065 and his first bracelet in 15-years after outlasting Terrence Chan for the title.

Event 39 - $50,000 World Championship H.O.R.S.E. - Freddy Deeb earned the second biggest prize of the 2007 WSOP, $2,276,832, by defeating Bruno Fitoussi in heads-up. Deeb also had to face a final table that included, Kenny Tran, David Singer and Barry Greenstein, and perhaps the toughest field in the history of poker to grab his second gold bracelet.

Event 45 - $5,000 No Limit Hold'em Short Handed - Bill Edler's strong year began with his first bracelet and $904,672. Edler would follow that up with a 23rd-place finish in the Main Event and later in 2007, a WPT title.

Event 54 - $5,000 World Championship 2-7 Draw Lowball w/Rebuys - Erik Seidel was able to put an eight bracelet on his wrist and another $538,835 to his bankroll after besting Chad Brown in heads-up action.

Chad Brown also played his way into the record books last year. The newest member of Team PokerStars was one of two players to cash eight times during the 2007 WSOP. Michael Binger, who finished 3rd in the 2006 Main Event, joined Brown by finishing in the money eight times in the 2007 series. Brown and Binger join the aforementioned Hellmuth and the man with "de chark", Humberto Brenes, in the WSOP record books.

While the 2007 WSOP may be remembered as the year of the poker tent, or the year they tried the fancy "Poker Peek" Kem cards, which caused nearly everyone to misread the board, the series should really be remembered as perhaps the biggest in history. Some of the biggest names in the game grabbed gold and shattered records, while more people than ever made their trip to the Rio in Las Vegas with dreams of becoming a WSOP champion.

What records will be shattered in 2008? Find out for yourself by following live coverage of the entire 2008 WSOP, provided by PokerPages.com. Poker Pages will have reporters on the tournament floor, bringing you all the record breaking moments and bracelet winning action.