Event #52: No-Limit Hold'em Championship - David Daneshgar from Westlake Village, CA Wins!

Tournament Notes:

-- The $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em championship (Event #52) attracted 2,693 entries, creating a prize pool totaling $3,675,945. The top 270 finishers collected prize money.

-- This is the final of seven $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em tournaments on this year's schedule. More than 18,000 players played in these events alone.

-- With this event included, the WSOP set a new record. More countries have now cashed this year than any time previously at any major tournament held anywhere in the world. A total of 104 different countries have now sent players to the WSOP who have finished in-the-money. Last year, this number was 87 nations. However, the Main Event is yet to be played in 2008, which could add even more countries to the list. For the first time ever, many nations in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East have discovered the WSOP which now reflects the international flavor of the tournament series.

-- The tournament was played over three consecutive days. The final table was played on the main stage. Coverage was provided by Bluff Media on the website ESPN360.

-- The $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em champion is David Daneshgar, from Westlake Village, CA. He is a venture capitalist and investor.

-- This was Daneshgar's eighth time to cash at the WSOP, all since 2005. It was also his first WSOP gold bracelet victory. Daneshgar collected $625,443 in prize money.

-- Daneshgar has a stellar record of tournament accomplishments for a part-time player. He has 51 cashes in live tournaments and has won over $2 million, all earned since August 2004.

-- Daneshgar once taught a poker class in college called "The Probabilities and Statistics of Gaming."

-- The second-place finisher was Scott Sitron, From Milwaukee, WI.

-- Former WSOP gold bracelet winners who cashed in this tournament included Dan Heimiller (3rd), Farzad "Freddy" Rouhani (4th), An Tran (56th), John Esposito (81st), and Michael Chu (196th).

-- Nikolay Evdakov still holds the record of "Most Cashes at the WSOP in a Single Year" – with ten.

-- Keith Carberry was the chip leader at the End of Day One in this event. He finished in 222nd place. Through Event #52, the End of Day One chip leaders have gone on to cash 79 percent of the time -- 39 of 50 occasions (the chip leader was not applicable on two events). Only thirteen of these same 50 chip leaders (26 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.

-- Corwin Cole was the chip leader at the start of this final table. He ended up as fifth-place finisher. Through Event #52, eighteen of 50 chip leaders at the start of the final table (35 percent) went on to win the event. Twenty-nine of 50 chip leaders (58 percent) went on to finish in the top three spots. Two events did not have a chip leader (Heads-Up and Shootout tournaments).

-- Winner David Daneshgar is officially listed as being from Westlake Village, CA. Through the conclusion of Event #52, the gold bracelet count by nations and states reads as follows:

12 – Nevada

10 – California

4 – New York

3—Canada

3 – Germany

2 – Italy

2 – Missouri

1 – Arizona

1 – Belgium

1 – Brazil

1 – Denmark

1 – Florida

1 – France

1 – Georgia

1 – Holland

1—Ireland

1 – Maryland

1 – Michigan

1 – Ohio

1 – Pennsylvania

1 – Russia

1 – South Carolina

1 – Wisconsin

-- Eleven different nations have produced a gold bracelet winner at this year's WSOP. This list now includes Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Russia, and the United States.

-- The Event #52 winner David Daneshgar is to be classified as a semi-pro player. He holds a full-time job in finance and plays poker part-time. However, he has also been a poker instructor and has cashed in many prestigious events over the past few years. Accordingly, the "Pro-Am" gold bracelet scoreboard currently reads:

Professionals - 37 wins

Amateurs - 12 wins

Semi-Pros - 3 wins

-- Erick Lindgren now leads the "Player of the Year" race (through the end of Event #50). Barry Greenstein, Jacobo Fernandez, David Benyamine, and John Phan are close behind, For a complete updated points list, see: http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/players/2008.asp?sort=poypts

-- Scotty Nguyen is now the leader on the 2008 prize money list, having won the most money at the WSOP, to date. His accrued winnings total $2,039,628.

-- Through the conclusion of Event #52, the total amount of prize money awarded at this year's WSOP totals $114,791,278. This is more than last year's prize pool at this same time last year.