2007 World Series of Poker

Event 55 - $10,000 World Championship No Limit Holdem
Event Info

2007 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
88
Prize
$8,250,000
Event Info
Buy-in
$10,000
Prize Pool
$59,784,954
Entries
6,358
Level Info
Level
36
Blinds
400,000 / 800,000
Ante
100,000

The Maria Staredown

Maria Stares Down Kevin
Maria Stares Down Kevin
Jeff "Mr. Rain" Banghart raises to 125,000 in the cutoff, and Maria Ho on the button reraises to 350,000. Kevin Farry in the small blind three-bets all in for 2,000,000. Banghart folds and Ho stares Farry down for several minutes. She finally lays it down.

Mr. Rain now has 1,040,000. Ho has 700,000. Farry has 2,700,000.

Tags: Jeff BanghartKevin FarryMaria Ho

Markus Gonsalves Eliminated in 48th Place ($190,053)

Markus Gonsalves - 48th Place Finisher
Markus Gonsalves - 48th Place Finisher
A pair of vicious back-to-back hands sent Markus Gonsalves home in 48th place.

The hand that knocked him down was a heads-up pot against Scott Freeman. On a {6-Hearts}{4-Clubs}{5-Spades} flop, Gonsalves checked to Freeman who made it 250,000 to go; Markus made the call.

Gonsalves took control of the hand when the {9-Diamonds} fell on the turn, by leading out with a 450,000 bet; Freeman just called.

When the {K-Spades} came on the river, Gonsalves fired off one last bullet, this time for 500,000 and again, Freeman called. Gonsalves was hesitant to show his cards on the river and Freeman went ahead and revealed his set of sixes, which was good enough to take down the pot. Gonsalves was left with 2,800,000 after the hand.

Gonsalves was eliminated on the very next hand, by way of Ray Henson. All the money got in on the {7-Hearts}{8-Clubs}{6-Hearts} flop. Gonsalves held {8-Hearts}{9-Hearts} for top pair with an open-ended straight flush draw; Henson revealed {7-Diamonds}{6-Clubs} for bottom two pair. The turn and river came {Q-Diamonds} and {K-Diamonds}, bringing no help to Gonsalves who would settle for a $190,053 payday for his 48th-place finish.

Tags: Markus Gonsalves

The Problem With Chip Colors

What is this player's chip count?
What is this player's chip count?
If you glance at the photo on the right, you'll notice two different chip colors -- dark orange and a lighter color.

If you look more closely, you'll notice that there are actually *three* different chip colors, as one of the lightly-colored chips has dark orange highlights, and the other has green highlights.

Now imagine that you're not this close to the chips, but staring at them from across the table with hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money on the line. To be sure, you'll have to ask your opponent how many chips he or she has, or the exact size of the bet, but doing so could potentially reveal information about your hand.

We don't know why such similar colors were chosen, but they are not popular -- with the players, with ESPN, or with the members of media who have to count them and post updates (that's us). If the stacks are dirty (you might notice a single green-tinted chip at the bottom of the top stack of light orange), it gets even tougher.

The stack pictured here belongs to Steven Garfinkle. When asked about the chips, he said, "I'm a little shade blind, so it's killing me. I have to actually read the numbers on the chips, or if they're too far away, I have to ask."

Earlier today, Huckleberry Seed was talking to someone at his table, and he felt that the chip colors were something that should have been fixed before the Main Event -- the problem was noticed early in the Series. "How hard can it be to make new chips?" he asked.

Oh, in case you're wondering ...

The dark orange chips with black highlights on the bottom are worth 5,000 each. The light peach with dark orange highlights on the top left are worth 25,000 each. The light pink with green highlights on the top right are worth 50,000 each.

Tags: ChipsWSOP

Adam White Eliminated in 49th Place ($190,053)

Adam White
Adam White
Board: {J-Spades}{10-Diamonds}{5-Diamonds}{6-Clubs}{7-Spades}

Preflop, Hevad "Rain" Khan raises in the small blind and Adam White shoves for 470,000 in the big blind. Khan calls with {Q-Diamonds}{Q-Clubs}. White has {A-Clubs}{K-Spades}. The race is on, and the queens hold up.

Khan has 6,600,000 and Adam White is eliminated. Immediately afterward, Khan went wild and lifted his chair onto his head. "How do you like my new hat?!" Khan shouts. "Does it fit good??!"

Tags: Adam WhiteHevad Khan

Current Seating Assignments

2 1 Mikkel Madsen
2 2 Stig Tap Rasmussen
2 3 Ray Henson
2 4 Scott Freeman
2 5 Bob Slezak
2 6 [open]
2 7 Ayaz Mahmood
2 8 Markus Gonsalves
2 9 Jon Kalmar

3 1 Jason Welch
3 2 Paulo Loureiro
3 3 Philip Hilm
3 4 Philip Yeh
3 5 William Spadea
3 6 Jeff Bryan
3 7 Kevin Kim
3 8 Christian Togsverd
3 9 Alex Kravchenko

4 1 Kenny Tran
4 2 Rep Porter
4 3 Raymond Rahme
4 4 Robin Bergren
4 5 Nicolas Atlan
4 6 Peter Darvill
4 7 Lee Watkinson
4 8 Roy Winston
4 9 [open]

5 1 Dag Martin Mikkelsen
5 2 Avi Cohen
5 3 David Tran
5 4 Hevad "Rain" Khan
5 5 Adam White
5 6 Jerry Yang
5 7 Ronald Kluber
5 8 Reagan Silber
5 9 [open]

6 1 Hoa Nguyen
6 2 Steven Garfinkle
6 3 Jeff "Mr. Rain" Banghart
6 4 Maria Ho
6 5 Kevin Farry
6 6 Lee Childs
6 7 Senovio Ramirez, III
6 8 [open]
6 9 Bill Edler

7 1 Ryan Elson
7 2 John Armbrust
7 3 [open]
7 4 Jason Koshi
7 5 Tuan Lam
7 6 Allan W. King
7 7 Daniel Alaei
7 8 Scotty Nguyen
7 9 Stefan Mattsson

Hilm and Bryan Clash Twice

Hand #1
Board: {5-Spades}{8-Clubs}{2-Diamonds}{J-Spades}{8-Diamonds}

Alex Kravchenko raises to 120,000 and Philip Hilm and Jeff Bryan call. On the flop, Bryan checks. Kravchenko bets 175,000. Hilm calls. Bryan check-raises to 475,000 and Kravchenko folds. Hilm calls. They check it the rest of the way down. Hilm has {8-Clubs}{6-Spades} and is up to 4,500,000 and Bryan has 10-10 and is down to 1,200,000.

Hand #2:
Board: {8-Hearts}{7-Diamonds}{J-Hearts}{6-Hearts}{9-Spades}

Bryan raises to 120,000 under the gun and Hilm calls. On the flop, Bryan bets 175,000 and Hilm calls. They check the turn. Bryan checks the river and Hilm bets 450,000. Bryan calls and shows Q-Q. Hilm mucks. Bryan is at 1,800,000 and Hilm is down to 3,600,000.

Tags: Jeff BryanPhilip Hilm

Ken Smith Eliminated in 50th Place ($190,053)

Hevad "Rain" Khan has assumed the role of the Amazon Room's most animated character; he just let out a series of primal yells after eliminating Ken Smith from the tournament.

Khan had made it 120,000 to go from early position and was called by Jerry Yang, before Ken Smith pushed all-in for a total of 1,375,000. After some thought, Khan made the call, saying, "I hope I read him right!" Yang got out of the way, and Khan turned over his pocket Jacks. After Smith revealed his pocket 10's, Khan yelled, "I read him right!"

The board filled out {A-Clubs}{4-Spades}{3-Clubs}{2-Hearts} and as he waited for the river to be dealt, Khan yelled "Come on . . . Come on!" When the {A-Diamonds} came on the river, Khan threw both of his arms into the air, screaming, "Yeeeahhh!"

The win improved Khan's chip stack to 5,800,000, while Smith picked up $190,053 for his 50th place finish.

Tags: Ken Smith

Lamar Wilkinson Eliminated in 51st Place ($190,053)

Lamar Wilkinson (Photo From 2 to 7 Lowball Event)
Lamar Wilkinson (Photo From 2 to 7 Lowball Event)
On a board of {K-Clubs}{6-Hearts}{6-Spades}{J-Spades}{7-Diamonds}, Lamar Wilkinson was all in by the river against Lee Childs. Wilkinson bet his last 450,000 chips and Childs insta-called. Wilkinson showed {A-Clubs}{K-Diamonds}, but Childs's {K-Hearts}{K-Spades} had him crushed. Lamar Wilkinson was eliminated in 51st place and earned $190,053 for his efforts. Lee Childs is now a force with 6,500,000 chips.

Tags: Lamar Wilkinson