2008 WSOP Event #2: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em

You would think that a $1,500 buy-in tournament with 3,929 players would almost certainly have a final table full of no-name poker players. After all, this field size shattered the record for the largest WSOP event not taking Main Events into account. The previous record was last year's version of this event, which had 2,998 players.

At one point late in the tournament, Chris Ferguson lost a huge pot and was left with just a couple of big blinds. Against all odds, Ferguson survived a series of all-ins and managed to arrive at the final table with an average stack. For a time, it appeared Ferguson might win the whole thing. However, his good luck eventually ran short. He was knocked out in 3rd place for $388,000.

When Grant Hinkle and James Akenhead got heads-up, Akenhead made a re-raise preflop. When Hinkle moved all-in, Akenhead immediately called and showed Ace-King. Hinkle was on a stone bluff: Ten-Four suited. The bracelet was all but his when the flop came Ten-Ten-Four. Unnecessarily, he made quad Tens on the turn. In a post-tournament interview when asked about his questionable play with Ten-Four, Hinkle said, "but it was sooted!!"

Okay, maybe he didn't really say that.

For his efforts, Akenhead won $520,000. Hinkle's win netted him a WSOP bracelet and a cool $831,000; not bad for a $1,500 investment.

Other Notable Finishes:

Perry Friedman - 11th $52,000
Minh Nguyen - 12th $52,000
Johannes Strassmann - 59th $11,000
Shane Schleger - 95th $5,800

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