Event 1 - $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em World Championship | 2008 World Series of Poker

Level: 21

Blinds: 15,000/30,000

Ante: 0

06-01-2008 14:24 UTC-8

Bad Karma!!

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Phil Laak walked past the pile of cash and, being Phil Laak, picked up three of the bundles and started juggling them as camera shutters clattered away. Mike Sexton said, "I can do that too," but tournament officials came by to politely discourage using the prize money as props.

Kathy Liebert walked past and gingerly touched a few of the bricks, leading to a question--isn't it bad luck to touch the cash (or, heaven forbid, the bracelet) before play begins? Not sure about the karmic rules about touching money before you've won it, but we'll see how this affects Laak's, Sexton's and Liebert's fortunes today.

Tags: Kathy Liebert Mike Sexton Phil Laak

06-01-2008 14:14 UTC-8

Money Money Money

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Every player at today’s final table has a lengthy list of major cashes on their resume. Still, there’s something about a neon-lit table piled high with bricks that catches even the most jaded eye.

Mike Sexton was chatting with World Series Media Director Nolan Dalla and said that he thinks this might be the first final table in history where four players have won a million dollars in a single poker tournament. He won a million in the 2006 Tournament of Champions, Kathy Liebert won the Party Poker Million in 2002, Nenad Medic won the WPT World Poker Finals in 2006 and Andy Bloch won over a million when he finished second in the 2006 $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event.

“Think about that,” Sexton said, “four players winning a million in a single tournament, and today first prize is $800,000.”

Dalla pointed at the pile of cash just a few feet away and said, “So this is no big deal…” and Sexton laughed and said, “Now, I didn’t say that!”

Tags: Andy Bloch Kathy Liebert Mike Sexton Nenad Medic

06-01-2008 14:09 UTC-8

Final Table Bios: Seat 9, Kathy Liebert (285,000)

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Kathy Liebert has made a living playing tournament poker for well over a decade and is #1 on the all-time women's money list, with over $4.4 million in earnings. She won her first WSOP bracelet in 2004 in the $1,500 limit hold'em shootout after coming in second in two previous tries. With 23 WSOP cashes, this is Liebert's seventh final table at the World Series. She is also one of the most successful women on the World Poker Tour with three televised final tables.

Tags: Kathy Liebert

06-01-2008 14:09 UTC-8

Final Table Bios: Seat 8, Nenad Medic (1,200,000)

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Often the most imposing figure at the table in terms of his sheer size, 6'5" Nenad Medic was a college basketball star in his native Canada. As the legend goes, he parlayed a $75 online deposit into more than $100,000 in winnings. Medic made his first televised final table when he finished sixth at the 2005 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. In November, 2006, he won the WPT Foxwoods for $1.7 million, besting a final table that included one of his opponents today, Kathy Liebert, who finished fifth. Foxwoods has been good to Medic--he returned to the same event one year later and finished third for a $483,000 payday. This is his fourth WSOP cash and his first final table.

Tags: Nenad Medic

06-01-2008 14:08 UTC-8

Final Table Bios: Seat 7, Phil Laak (425,000)

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Phil "The Unabomber" Laak first burst onto the televised poker scene with his hooded sweatshirt and wacky table antics on his way to winning the 2004 WPT Invitational. He also finished secnd to Johnny Chan in the $2,500 PLHE event in 2005, where Chan captured his tenth bracelet. With six WSOP cashes, this is Laak's second WSOP final table. Though he's a familiar face on the tournament circuit, Laak specializes in high-stakes NLHE cash games and even has his own TV show, MOJO network's "I Bet You," co-starring his best friend, Antonio Esfandiari. He's hoping to take home his first bracelet today to match the one his girlfriend, actress Jennifer Tilly, sports from her win in the 2005 WSOP Ladies' Event.

Tags: Phil Laak

06-01-2008 14:07 UTC-8

Final Table Bios: Seat 6, Mike Sexton (1,130,000)

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Mike Sexton has been one of the most instrumental figures in the poker boom, from consulting for Party Poker in the early days of the online game, to helping develop the idea of the World Poker Tour on a boat in the middle of the Amazon with Steve Lipscomb and Linda Johnson. Sexton won the 2006 WSOP Tourament of Champions for $1 million and gave half of it to charity without batting an eye. With 43 WSOP cashes, 19 final tables and one bracelet in seven-card stud, Sexton is the grizzled veteran of this formidable group of poker players. In a previous life, he was also a champion ballroom dancer.

Tags: Mike Sexton

06-01-2008 14:07 UTC-8

Final Table Bios: Seat 5, Andy Bloch (2,115,000)

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Andy Bloch is smarter than you will ever be. He attended MIT, where he was a member of their infamous blackjack team, and graduated from Harvard Law School to boot. Bloch's biggest splash at the World Series was his runner-up finish to Chip Reese in the inaugural $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. tournament in 2006 after the longest heads-up battle in the history of the WSOP. He also finished second in the 2008 "NBC National Heads-Up Championship" and finished third in the recent Full Tilt Poker $25,000 Heads-Up World Championship. With over $3.2 million in career earnings, this is Andy's sixth final table at the WSOP and he's going for his first bracelet today. Bloch goes into the final table as the runaway chip leader and... it's his birthday!

Tags: Andy Bloch

06-01-2008 14:06 UTC-8

Final Table Bios: Seat 4, Patrik Antonius (230,000)

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Don't hate him because he's beautiful. Blessed with model looks, former tennis champion Patrik Antonius comes into today's final table as the short stack, but I don't think anyone would dare count him out. Antonius dominates nosebleed-stakes cash games both live and online and has cashed 10 times at the WSOP. Antonius made the final table of last year's $10,000 World Championship pot-limit Omaha event, where he finished third. Residing in Monte Carlo, Monaco, with his girlfriend Maya and his baby daughter Mila, Antonius also makes frequent appearances on NBC's "Poker After Dark."

Tags: Patrik Antonius

06-01-2008 14:05 UTC-8

Final Table Bios: Seat 3, Amit Makhija (525,000)

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Known online as "amak316," 23-year-old Amit Makhija comes to the WSOP from Brookfield, Wisconsin. Primarily an online player specializing in high-stakes heads up sit-and-goes, Makhija has also enjoyed tournament success, winning the PokerStars $109 rebuy multiple times. Most recently, he cashed in 20th place at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo. This is Makhija's first WSOP final table.

Tags: Amit Makhija