John Hanson - Seat 3
John Hanson is based in New York and in a short time has already established himself as one of the premier mixed game players in the country. Hanson is best known for his 3rd place finish in the 2007 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship which was one by Freddy Deeb. Hanson secured $852,480 and since that day hasn’t managed another WSOP cash result until now. He’ll be looking to go a couple of places further here today as he starts in fourth chip position with 1.7 million chips.
Erik Sagstrom - Seat 2
Swede Erik Sagstrom enters our final table as a commanding chip leader after a huge day 4 yesterday, and all eyes and pressure will be on the 26 year old to capture his first WSOP bracelet. Sagstrom found online poker at the age of 17 and since that time has gone on to be one of the most successful online players in the world as “Erik123”. However this is Sagstrom’s biggest ever live cash result and his first WSOP cash. He’ll no doubt have the support of the fanatical Swedes on the rail to cheer him home.
Seat 1 - Ville Wahlbeck
Ville Wahlbeck is a 33-year old professional poker player from Helsinki in Finland who rose to prominence during this year’s World Series of Poker. Today’s cash is Wahlbeck’s sixth of the series, and incredibly all have come in different poker disciplines. He proved to the world his mixed game prowess with his bracelet win in the Mixed Event World Championship, and in his five other WSOP cashes his lowest finish was 13th place. Wahlbeck asserted himself during Day 3 of the H.O.R.S.E. World Championship to be amongst the chip leaders, but enters this final table with some work to do as the short stack of the field with 645,000 chips.
Welcome back to the Rio Hotel and Casino here in Las Vegas for one of the most eagerly anticipated final tables of the entire World Series of Poker.
In its short history, the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. has cemented its place as one of the most coveted poker titles on the planet. The winner carries the prestige and honor of being considered one of the greatest all-around players of our time.
The players are taking their seats and unbagging their chips, with the usual TV production circus likely to delay the restart for a few more minutes.
Stay tuned to PokerNews.com for our live coverage as our final eight play for the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy!