Event 28 - $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha w/ Rebuys | 2008 World Series of Poker

06-16-2008 15:06 UTC-7

Final Table Bios: Seat 8, Adam Hourani (300,000)

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Hailing from East Lansing, Michigan, Adam Hourani's largest live tournament cash came in at the 2006 Bellagio Cup where he won a $1,000 buy-in NLHE event for over $87,000. He has one previous WSOP cash in a NLHE event and this is his first final table.

Tags: Adam Hourani

06-16-2008 15:04 UTC-7

Final Table Bios: Seat 7, Brian Rast (1,176,000)

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Brian Rast is best known as the online superstar "tsarrast," crushing high-stakes cash games and now finding live tournament success. Though this is only his second WSOP cash and his first final table, he's made three final tables in Bellagio Five-Star Classic events and recently collected an $80,000 payday for finishing third in the Poker Stars Sunday Million.

Tags: Brian Rast

06-16-2008 15:04 UTC-7

Final Table Bios: Seat 6, Daniel Negreanu (460,000)

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Daniel Negreanu has already won four WSOP bracelets, his most recent one coming in last week's $2,000 limit hold'em event. Today marks Negreanu's 16th career WSOP final table appearance, and his 30th cash. With over $10 million in career tournament earnings, Negreanu is also one of the most successful players on the World Poker Tour, holding two championship titles and ranking #1 on their all-time money list. If he wins today, Negreanu stands to rake in an additional bonus from fellow pro Phil Ivey. The two men have a standing "Bracelet Bet" this year, in which one pays the other $200,000 for each bracelet won.

Tags: Daniel Negreanu

06-16-2008 15:03 UTC-7

Final Table Bios: Seat 5, Phil Galfond (1,393,000)

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Phil Galfond is perhaps better known by his cheeky online handle "OMGClayAiken." Galfond is a regular in the highest-limit online cash games where he primarily plays $200-$400 and above NLHE and pot-limit Omaha. Galfond's reputation as an online star earned him a seat on Season 4 of GSN's "High Stakes Poker." Though he didn't get a tremendous amount of face time on television, he did leave the game a small winner. Used to daily swings in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, Galfond is also a member of the "Ship it Holla Ballas" crew-- a group of young players who unabashedly enjoy the "good life" their online poker success has afforded them. Today marks Galfond's sixth WSOP cash and his first final table appearance.

Tags: OMGClayAiken Phil Galfond

06-16-2008 15:02 UTC-7

Final Table Bios: Seat 4, Kirill Gerasimov (558,000)

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After finding much success on the European tournament circuit, Kirill Gerasimov came into the public eye with his runner-up finish at the 2003 World Poker Tour Championships. A native of Moscow, Russia, Gerasimov has made 18 cashes at the WSOP as well as two final tables on the European Poker Tour. Gerasimov can also be found playing high-limit cash games both live and online, where his favorite poker discipline is (naturally) pot-limit Omaha. Today marks Gerasimov's third WSOP final table appearance.

Tags: Kirill Gerasimov

06-16-2008 15:01 UTC-7

Final Table Bios: Seat 3, David Benyamine (1,041,000)

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Paris native David Benyamine turned to poker after a back injury forced him to cut his successful professional tennis career short. He's a regular in the highest-stakes cash games in the world, both at the Bellagio in Las Vegas and online at Full Tilt Poker, where he can often be found sitting at $200-$400 pot-limit Omaha and $1,000-$2,000 H.O.R.S.E. cash games. Though Benyamine holds a World Poker Tour title from winning the 2003 Grand Prix de Paris, he's still in the hunt for his first WSOP bracelet. No stranger to a stacked final table, he most recently finished 7th in last week's $5,000 no-limit Deuce to Seven Draw event. Benyamine is as lucky in life as he is at the tables-- he's engaged to fellow poker professional Erica Schoenberg.

Tags: David Benyamine

06-16-2008 15:00 UTC-7

Final Table Bios: Seat 2, Phil Hellmuth (119,000)

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Phil Hellmuth is a man who needs no introduction. He is the proud winner of a record 11 WSOP bracelets and has made the most WSOP cashes of any player in history with 64 in the money finishes. Today is Hellmuth's 40th WSOP final table-- another new record. Despite over $10 million in career tournament earnings, Hellmuth still has one monkey to get off his back. All of his WSOP bracelets are in hold'em events and he'd certainly like to change that today. He has his work cut out for him-- he enters play today as the final table's shortest stack.

Tags: Phil Hellmuth

06-16-2008 14:59 UTC-7

Final Table Bios: Seat 1, John Juanda (694,000)

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Indonesian-born John Juanda has been playing poker professionally since 1996. The owner of three WSOP bracelets, he's finished in the money an astounding 43 times at the series and has amassed nearly $7 million in career tournament earnings. He's already cashed three times at this year's WSOP,making the final table in the $5,000 NLHE shootout where he ultimately finished 7th. Juanda also has made 15 cashes on the World Poker Tour as well as five televised final tables. A former high school track star, Juanda also holds an MBA from Seattle University and believe it or not, once worked as door-to-door bible salesman.

Tags: John Juanda

06-16-2008 06:30 UTC-7

Final-Table Seat Assignments Announced

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Phil Hellmuth has reached his record-setting 40th WSOP final table

A powerful finale is in store for Monday in Event 28, $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha w/ Rebuys. Beyond the first-place prize money of $817,781 at stake, there are several interesting side stories, from the Internet pros (Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond, Brian "tsarrast" Rast) at the top of the board, to the star-laden power of the rest of the table, including Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, Johnny Chan and Phil Hellmuth. Hellmuth squeezed into this final on a very short stack, outlasting Chris Ferguson, and it's Hellmuth's 40th final table, breaking his tie for that mark that he had shared with TJ Cloutier.

Hellmuth, though, has a tough road to bracelet #12, while Chan sits with mid-pack stack as he seeks his own 11th bracelet, which would tie Hellmuth's mark established just last year.

Today's seating assignments:

Seat 1: John Juanda (Las Vegas, Nevada) -- 694,800
Seat 2: Phil Hellmuth (Palo Alto, California) -- 119,000
Seat 3: David Benyamine (Las Vegas, Nevada) -- 1,041,000
Seat 4: Kirill Gerasimov (Moscow, Russia) -- 558,000
Seat 5: Phil Galfond (Madison, Wisconsin) -- 1,393,000
Seat 6: Daniel Negreanu (Las Vegas, Nevada) -- 460,000
Seat 7: Brian Rast (Las Vegas, Nevada) -- 1,176,000
Seat 8: Adam Hourani (East Lansing, Michigan) -- 300,000
Seat 9: Johnny Chan (Las Vegas, Nevada) -- 624,000

Action gets underway at 3pm PDT Monday on the ESPN feature-table stage.

Tags: Johnny Chan Phil Hellmuth