Tournament Notes:
-- The $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha High-Low Split championship (Event #43) attracted 720 entries, creating a prize pool totaling $982,800. The top 72 finishers collected prize money.
-- This was the largest event of its kind in poker history. The turnout topped last year's number of entries (687) by five percent.
-- This was only the second time a Pot-Limit Omaha High-Low Split tournament has ever been on the WSOP schedule. The game was introduced as a gold bracelet event in 2007.
-- The defending champion, Lukasz Dumanski from Canada, entered this tournament, but he did not cash. This brings the current streak to 43 straight non-cashes for defending champions in their respective events.
-- 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.
-- The 2008 Pot-Limit Omaha High-Low Split champion is Martin Klaser, from Rheinbach, Germany. He is a 21-year-old student, and aspiring professional poker player. Klaser has played previously in some European poker events.
-- Klaser turned 21 in April, 2008. At age 21 years and four months, he ranks as one of the youngest WSOP gold bracelet winners in history. However, at least five winners were younger than Klaser at their time of victory.
-- Klaser studied chemical engineering and aspired to work in a laboratory. However, he discovered poker and is now considering other options.
-- Before the final table began, Erik Seidel (also a finalist) had picked Martin Klaser as one of the players to watch. Seidel's instincts proved correct.
-- Klaser won $216,249 for first place. This was Klaser's first year to play at the WSOP (due to his age). This was only his third WSOP tournament entry.
-- Klaser becomes the third German national to win at the WSOP this year. He also becomes only the seventh German ever to win a gold bracelet, following Matthias Rohnacher (1997), Eddy Scharf (with two wins, in 2001 and 2003), Michael Keiner (2007), Katja Thater (2007), Jen Voertmann (2008), and Sebastian Ruthenburg (2008).
-- The second-place finisher was longtime tournament veteran Casey Kastle, from Chicago, IL
-- Kastle is owed a great debt of gratitude by all poker players. He was the first player to fight for "smoke free" poker tournaments. Years ago, the WSOP and other tournaments all permitted smoking. Kastle organized players and circulated a petition to make the WSOP "smoke free," a policy which has been in force since 2004.
-- Kastle is also one of the foremost spokespersons on the subject of tournament and player integrity. Many of his ideas over the years have been implemented into tournament rules and policies.
-- Kastle had the chip lead at one point during the final table. However, he lost momentum late in the event. In fact, Martin Klaser won 15 of the 20 heads-up hands between the two finalists.
-- The final table began at 2:30 pm and ended at 10:45 pm, which totaled about 7 hours and 15 minutes, minus a one-hour dinner break.
-- Erik Seidel just missed winning what would have been his ninth WSOP gold bracelet, ending up as the fourth-place finisher. A victory would have placed him into near-contention with the so-called "big three" the trio which includes Phil Hellmuth (11 wins), Johnny Chan (10 wins), and Doyle Brunson (10 wins). As it stands, Seidel remains with eight WSOP triumphs.
-- With his cash in this event, Erik Seidel now has 52 in-the-money finishes in his WSOP career, which ranks him sixth on the all-time list.
-- The eight-place finisher was Larry Wright, from McQueeney, TX. Wright raises deer and is the owner of the Big South Texas Ranch.
-- Former WSOP gold bracelet winners who cashed in this event included Brent Carter (22nd), Joe Hachem (35th), Berry Johnston (39th), and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (50th).
-- With his cash in this event, Brent Carter now has 45 in-the-money finishes in his WSOP career, which ranks him tied for eighth on the all-time list.
-- With his cash in this event, Berry Johnston now has 56 in-the-money finishes in his WSOP career, which ranks him tied for third on the all-time list.
-- With his cash in this event, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson now has 56 in-the-money finishes in his WSOP career, which ranks him tied for third on the all-time list.
-- Jim Geary, from Phoenix, AZ cashed in this tournament (15th). He is one of the top ranked scrabble players in the world and has previously represented the United States in the scrabble world championships.
-- 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.
-- Four players have cashed six times at this year's WSOP. This list includes Chau Giang, Rolf Slotboom, Alex Jacob, and Roland Isra.
-- Winner Martin Klaser is officially listed as being from Germany. Through the conclusion of Event #43 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
3 Germany
2 Canada
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 #43 winner Martin Klaser is to be classified as an amateur player. He is a student who is aspiring to be a professional. However, this was his first major cash in a live tournament. Accordingly, the "Pro-Am" gold bracelet scoreboard currently reads:
Professionals - 32 wins
Amateurs - 9 wins
Semi-Pros - 2 wins
-- Ed Smith was the chip leader at the End of Day One in this event. He finished as the 23rd place finisher. Through Event #43, the End of Day One chip leaders have gone on to cash 78 percent of the time -- 32 of 41 occasions (the chip leader was not applicable on two events). Twelve of these same 41 chip leaders (29 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.
-- Jon Maren was the chip leader at the start of this final table. He ended up as the fifth-place finisher. Through Event #43, seventeen of 41 chip leaders at the start of the final table (41 percent) went on to win the event. Twenty-four of 41 chip leaders (59 percent) went on to finish in the top three spots. Two events did not have a chip leader (Heads-Up and Shootout tournaments).
-- 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.
-- Through the end of Event #43, twenty-five players have now earned at least $500,000 at this year's WSOP.
