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Poker Tournament Results

38th Annual World Series of Poker

Event #1 - WSOP No Limit Hold'em World Championship Mixed Hold'em

June 1, 2007 at 12:00 PM
Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Tournament Schedule

Buy-In	$5,000
Prize Pool	$2,119,700
Entries	451
Report Available

Steve Billirakis

Place	Name	Prize
1	Steve Billirakis (Genoa, IL, USA)	$536,287
2	Greg Mueller AKA "FBT" (White Rock, BC, Canada)	$328,554
3	Tony George (Mesquite, NV, USA)	$218,329
4	Steven Paul Ambrose (Kingston, ON, Canada)	$146,259
5	Fred Berger (Slidell, LA, USA)	$108,105
6	Roger McDow (Foothill Ranch, CA, USA)	$84,788
7	Kirk Morrison (Boise, ID, USA)	$63,591
8	Jon Turner AKA "Pearljammer" (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$46,633
9	John Younger (San Antonio, CA, USA)	$33,915
10	Kenny Tran (Arcadia, CA, USA)	$22,257
11	Steve Buchanan	$22,257
12	Michael Martin AKA "Martine23" (Washington Crossing, PA, USA)	$22,257
13	Brett Ritchie	$20,137
14	Paul Snead (Kings Park, NY, USA)	$20,137
15	Joseph Tehan (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$20,137
16	Jimmy Tran (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$18,017
17	John Kroshus	$18,017
18	Louis Werman (Agoura, CA, USA)	$18,017
19	Matt Giannetti (Austin, TX, USA)	$15,898
20	Art Duncan (Lake Zurich, IL, USA)	$15,898
21	Patrick Pezzin (Toronto, ON, Canada)	$15,898
22	Jason Mann AKA "The Super Weez" (Hermitage, AR, USA)	$15,898
23	Jorge Arias (Caracas, Venezuela)	$15,898
24	Hieu "Tony" Ma (S El Monte, CA, USA)	$15,898
25	Todd Keikoan (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$15,898
26	Jason Strasser (New York, NY, USA)	$15,898
27	David Grey (Henderson, NV, USA)	$15,898
28	Ali Eslami (Van Nuys, CA, USA)	$13,778
29	Mark Teltscher (London, UK)	$13,778
30	Lonnie Heimowitz (Monticello, NY, USA)	$13,778
31	Johnny Chan (Cerritos, CA, USA)	$13,778
32	Aaron Kanter AKA "The Big Killer" (Elk Grove, CA, USA)	$13,778
33	Frank Sasfy (El Paso, TX, USA)	$13,778
34	Hung La (Manhattan Beach, CA, USA)	$13,778
35	Andreas Walnum (Bodo, Norway)	$13,778
36	Joe Brandenburg (Portland, OR, USA)	$13,778
37	Alex Bolotin AKA "Diesel" (Brooklyn, NY, USA)	$11,658
38	Todd Brunson (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$11,658
39	Emad Bastawnos	$11,658
40	Sirous Baghchehsaraie (Long Beach, CA, USA)	$11,658
41	Millie Shiu (Milpitas, CA, USA)	$11,658
42	Stuart Rutter (UK)	$11,658
43	Mark Gregorich (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$11,658
44	Tom Koval	$11,658
45	Cyndy Violette AKA "sweetest" (Atlantic City, NJ, USA)	$11,658

Tournament Report

The winner was Steve Billirakis from Chicago, Illinois. Billirakis becomes the youngest winner of a gold bracelet in WSOP history. He was born on May 23, 1986 which makes him 21 years and 11 days at the time of victory. This eclipses the mark set last year by Jeff Madsen -- who was 21 years, 1 month, and 9 Days when he won his gold bracelet.
Billirakis says he intends to play several more WSOP events over the next five weeks. That means an *age-related* record which was widely considered unbreakable (Jeff Madsen's two WSOP gold bracelets last year by age 21 years, 1 month, and 18 days) is now in jeopardy. If Billirakis can win any WSOP tournament prior to the main event this year, he would break Madsen's record.
The second-place finisher was Greg Mueller. The outcome was disappointing to the former professional hockey player. Mueller once played in Europe and attended training camp for the NHL's Vancouver Canucks. Now a poker pro, Mueller was the chip leader after Day One. He came to the final table ranked third in chips. He enjoyed a decisive chip lead a few times when heads-up against Billirakis. However, each time it appeared Mueller might win his first WSOP title, his rival would win a critical pot and re-take the lead. Mueller played a phenomenal tournament over the days and is surely due to win a gold bracelet in the future.
There was some concern at the start of the final table that the high betting limits (for the limit half of the event) might create a quick finish. The average chip stack was about 500,000 and with betting limits on the initial round at 30,000-60,000 this gave the players very little lee-way so far as making mistakes or suffering a bad run of cards. Tournament Director Jack Effel made the proper decision not to adjust the size of the betting limits. In retrospect, his decision turned out to be correct. The final table lasted nearly eight hours and provided plenty of play for the finalists.
WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack presented new poker champion Steve Billirakis with his first gold bracelet in a special ceremony. The new improved and more expensive design by Swiss watchmaker Corum is certain to be a big hit with poker players. All of the WSOP gold bracelets to be given away in 2007 are on display near the final table stage in the tournament room.
This event marked the debut of a new "stadium look" to the WSOP. The WSOP and ESPN jointly unveiled a large stage with stadium style seating around the final table. There is also a bar and lounge are with tables and chairs on the upper level of viewing area. For spectators, this will be the most comfortable WSOP in history. All final tables broadcast by ESPN are free and open to the public.
This is the first poker event ESPN has ever broadcast in high-definition. Giant plasma screens around the stage showed the players features in far greater detail than in year's past. The action was also much easier to follow. ESPN and Harrah's have teamed up to make this the most spectator-friendly event in poker history.
This was ESPN's first WSOP broadcast of 2007. The debut ESPN telecast of this event is expected to air on July 10, 2007.