Tournament Notes:
-- The $1,000 buy-in Seniors World Championship (Event #42) attracted 2,218 entries, creating a prize pool totaling $2,018,380. The top 198 finishers collected prize money.
-- This was the largest seniors' event in poker history. The turnout shattered last year's record of 1,882. The 2008 figure represents an 18 percent increase over 2007.
-- To be eligible for entry into the Seniors championship, the entrant must be age 50 or older which means the player had to have been born prior to June 23, 1958.
-- The Seniors World Championship was first played in 1993. It was spread at various locations in California and Nevada during the first eight years. Then, in 2001 the seniors event was added to the WSOP schedule. Jay Heimowitz won the first official seniors gold bracelet.
-- The tournament was played over three consecutive days. The final table was played on the ESPN main stage and was broadcast live by Bluff Media on ESPN360. Play-by-play announcer Howard David was joined by color commentators "Oklahoma Johnny" Hale and Max Shapiro on the broadcast.
-- Ernest Bennett, who won this event in 2007, entered this tournament but did not cash. This brings the current streak to 42 straight non-cashes for defending champions in their respective events.
-- The 2008 Seniors World Champion is Dan LaCourse, from Toledo, Ohio. He is a 56-year-old retired police detective.
-- LaCourse also administered polygraphs as an examiner during his work as a detective. In a post-tournament interview, he stated that his training as a detective and examiner helped him at the poker table. LaCourse stated that most people reveal themselves (through subtle gestures and mannerisms) within three seconds of being of being confronted with a question or decision.
-- When it appeared that LaCourse would end up at the final table, he called his wife late at the end of Day Two, which was early morning back home in Ohio. His wife packed quickly, drove to the airport, and arrived at the Rio just as players were taking their seats at the final table. In fact, she pulled a suitcase through the crowd and took her seat. The long trip turned out to be worth the effort.
-- LaCourse stated that senior players are not as aggressive as younger players, in general. But he observed that seniors tend to be more patient at the poker table.
-- LaCourse was thrilled to win his first WSOP gold bracelet. "It's an honor I wanted my entire life," he said. "I have always wanted this and to be standing here with a gold bracelet and this moment is very special to me."
-- LaCourse won $368,832 for first place. This was the highest poker prize ever paid out to any winner of a senior event.
-- The second-place finisher was Dale Eberle. He was a firefighter for 25 years before his retirement in 2002.
-- Oddly enough, the heads-up match included a firefighter versus a policeman, two traditional civic rivals in most communities. Both players were also from Ohio Toledo and Akron respectively, which are also rivals in college football.
-- Former WSOP gold bracelet winner Fred Berger (2003 Pot-Limit Hold'em champion) finished in fifth place.
-- The sixth-place finisher was Charles Wood, a disabled Vietnam veteran. This was his highest cash ever at the WSOP.
-- "Mad Marty" Wilson took ninth place in what was his first-ever WSOP final table appearance. Wilson is a master of trivia and has won many contests in England.
-- For the second consecutive year, poker legend and 1972 world champion "Amarillo Slim" Preston cashed in this event. He finished 91st. When Preston busted out late on Day Two, the entire room stopped play, and burst into a spontaneous ovation which collectively paid tribute to the master showman and poker promoter.
-- Other former WSOP gold bracelet winners who cashed in this event included Tom McEvoy (28th), Men "the Master" Nguyen (45th), "Captain" Tom Franklin (64th), John Esposito (107th), and Tony Ma (186th).
-- With his cash in this event, Tom McEvoy has now finished in-the-money 39 times in his WSOP career. He is currently tied for 17th place on the all-time list.
-- With his cash in this event, Men "the Master" Nguyen has now finished in-the-money 58 times in his WSOP career. He ranks second on the all-time list, behind only Phil Hellmuth.
-- Through Event #42, only two players have made three final table appearances Jacobo Fernandez and David Benyamine.
-- Nikolay Evdakov, from Moscow, Russia is the only player at this year's WSOP who has cashed seven times just one off the all-time record mark. Evdakov is positioned to break the record set for "Most WSOP Cashes in a Single Year," shared by five players -- Michael Binger (2007), Chad Brown (2007), Phil Hellmuth (2006), Richard Tatalovich (2006), and Humberto Brenes (2006), with eight.
-- Winner Dan LaCourse is officially listed as being from Toledo, Ohio. Through the conclusion of Event #42 at this year's World Series of Poker, the gold bracelet count by nations and states reads as follows:
10 Nevada
7 California
4 New York
2 Canada
2 Germany
2 Italy
2 Missouri
1 Belgium
1 Denmark
1 Florida
1 France
1 Georgia
1 Holland
1 Maryland
1 Michigan
1 Ohio
1 Pennsylvania
1 Russia
1 South Carolina
1 Wisconsin
-- Nine different nations have produced a gold bracelet winner at this year's WSOP. This list now includes Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Russia, and the United States.
-- The Event #42 winner Dan LaCourse is to be classified as an amateur poker player since he retired recently. Accordingly, the "Pro-Am" gold bracelet scoreboard currently reads:
Professionals - 32 wins
Amateurs - 8 wins
Semi-Pros - 2 wins
-- Duane Gerleman was the chip leader at the End of Day One in this event. He finished as the 23rd place finisher. Through Event #42, the End of Day One chip leaders have gone on to cash 77 percent of the time -- 31 of 40 occasions (the chip leader was not applicable on two events). Twelve of these same 40 chip leaders (30 percent) made it to the final table. Only one chip leader went on to win the event. That lone wire-to-wire winner was Vanessa Selbst in Event #19.
-- Dale Eberle was the chip leader at the start of this final table. He ended up as the second-place finisher. Through Event #42, seventeen of 40 chip leaders at the start of the final table (43 percent) went on to win the event. Twenty-four of 40 chip leaders (60 percent) went on to finish in the top three spots. Two events did not have a chip leader (Heads-Up and Shootout tournaments).
-- It should be noted that the Milwaukee's Best Light "Player of the Year" rankings will now include points accrued from the $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. championship.
-- The Milwaukee's Best Light "Player of the Year" standings currently shows Jacobo Fernandez as the current leader, with David Benyamine close behind. Here are the top five ranked players:
1. Jacobo Fernandez 222 points
2. David Benyamine 220 points
3. John Phan 200 points
4. Barry Greenstein 190 points
5. Erick Lindgren 185 points
For a complete "Player of the Year" points list, see: http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/players/2008.asp?sort=poypts
-- David Benyamine is now the leader on the 2008 prize money list, having won the most money at the WSOP, to date. His accrued winnings total $941,651.
