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

06-01-2008 06:21 UTC-7

Star Power Abounds in $10,000 World Championship Final

[user33020]

Welcome to Day 3 of the 2008 WSOP's first event, $10,000 World Championship Pot-Limit Hold'em. Following a lengthy television-table bubble, which finally resolved when 10th-place finisher John Kabbaj was busted by Nenad Medic, the final nine shared congratulations and the prospect of a short night's sleep.

This afternoon's final table (which begins at 3pm, an hour later than originally scheduled), offers a showcase for several of the game's biggest stars. Andy Bloch, with 2,115,000 in chips, holds a lead of more than 900,000 over his nearest competitor, Nenad Medic, with Mike Sexton in a strong third place. The complete seat assignments and chip counts for the final are as follows:

Seat 1: Mike Sowers 675,000
Seat 2: Chris Bell 455,000
Seat 3: Amit Makhija 525,000
Seat 4: Patrik Antonius 230,000
Seat 5: Andy Bloch 2,115,000
Seat 6: Mike Sexton 1,130,000
Seat 7: Phil Laak 425,000
Seat 8: Nenad Medic 1,200,000
Seat 9: Kathy Liebert 285,000

Expect a big local turnout for this one, with ESPN's camera crews also on hand. We'll have the very latest reports from the final table throughout the day here on PokerNews.

Tags: WSOP

06-01-2008 15:00 UTC-7

We'll Be Starting In a Bit

[user37786]

The final table is scheduled to start at 3pm PST but what with getting the lighting right and zeroing the cameras and seating what's going to be a big crowd...it might be awhile before we get started. The bagged chips are sitting at the final table but the players have yet to make their grand appearance.

06-01-2008 15:02 UTC-7

Final Table Bios: Seat 1, Mike Sowers (675,000)

[user25067]

Known as "SowersUNCC" online, 21-year-old Mike Sowers hails from Charlotte, NC. A prolific online player, Sowers won a combined total of $319,000 from four separate tournament wins last July-September with victories in the limit hold'em WCOOP $1,050 buy-in event on PokerStars, the $1,060 $250K guarantee on PokerStars, the $109 rebuy on PokerStars, and the $1K Monday on Full Tilt. His largest live cash came when he beat Tom "durrrr" Dwan heads up to win the $5,000 NLHE event at the Borgata Winter Open this past January for a $399,000 score. Most recently, he cashed in 17th place at the EPT San Remo. This is Sowers' first WSOP final table.

Tags: Mike Sowers

06-01-2008 15:04 UTC-7

Final Table Bios: Seat 2, Chris Bell (455,000)

[user25067]

A professional poker player from Raleigh, NC, Chris Bell came into the public eye in 2005 with his final table appearance at the WPT Mirage Poker Showdown, where he finished third. He's no stranger to a star-studded final table, having finished fifth in last year's $2,500 Omaha 8/Stud 8 event, which boasted a lineup that included Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Annie Duke, David Benyamine and 2007 WSOP POY Tom Schneider. This is Bell's sixth WSOP cash and his second final table.

Tags: Chris Bell

06-01-2008 15:05 UTC-7

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

[user25067]

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

06-01-2008 15:06 UTC-7

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

[user25067]

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 15:07 UTC-7

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

[user25067]

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 15:07 UTC-7

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

[user25067]

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 15:08 UTC-7

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

[user25067]

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 15:09 UTC-7

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

[user25067]

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