World Series of Poker Event #53, Limit Hold'em Shootout, 30 June - 2 July 2008

Entrants: 823
Buy in: $1,500
Prize pool: $1,123,395

Final results:
1. Matt Graham, $278,180
2. Jean-Robert Bellande, $173,564
3. Joe DeNiro, $107,845
4. Brandon Wong, $69,088
5. Danny Wong, $33,701
6. Spencer Lawrence, $20,221
7. John Kranyak, $13,480
8. Andrew Prock, $10,335

The $1,500 buy-in Limit Hold’em Shootout championship (Event #53) attracted 823 entries, creating a prize pool totaling $1,123,395. The top 90 finishers collected prize money.

This was the final event on the schedule before the WSOP Main Event, and was won by is Matt Graham. He is a 24-year-old professional poker player from Las Vegas, NV.

This was his fifth time to cash at the WSOP, and fourth time this year. Graham collected $278,180 for first place. He also earned his first WSOP gold bracelet.

Even before this victory, Graham had been deemed by some poker media as a “rising star.” He emerged on the tournament scene only a few years ago, but some top pros have commented on his play in various blogs and poker forums.

The second-place finisher was Jean-Robert Ballande, from Los Angeles, CA. In addition to succeeding with many tournament cashes and in the money finishes in recent years, Ballande appeared on the CBS television show “Survivor.”

Former WSOP gold bracelet winners who cashed in this tournament included Mike Wattel (26th), Hoyt Corkins (41st), Blair Rodman (56th), and Kevin Song 90th).

Nikolay Evdakov now holds the record of “Most Cashes at the WSOP in a Single Year” – with ten.

Dave Orvis was the chip leader at the End of Day One in this event. He finished 20th. Through Event #53, the End of Day One chip leaders have gone on to cash 70 percent of the time -- 40 of 51 occasions (the chip leader was not applicable on two events). Only thirteen of these same 51 chip leaders (25 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.

Jean-Robert Bellande was the chip leader at the start of this final table. He ended up in second place. Through Event #53, eighteen of 51 chip leaders at the start of the final table (34 percent) went on to win the event. Thirty of 51 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).

Erick Lindgren now leads the “Player of the Year” race (through the end of Event #53). 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 #53, the total amount of prize money awarded at this year’s WSOP totals $115,914,673. This is more than last year’s prize pool at this same time last year.

All WSOP images are supplied by "IMPDI for the 2008 WSOP"