A sign of things to come?

News / Editor / 06 June 2008 / Leave a comment

The World Series of Poker is very much underway in Las Vegas and if the first event is anything to go by, then players and spectators alike are in for a veritable feast, writes Rob Eddy.

The opening event marked the first time that a $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em had been included on the schedule, and with a field of 352 players, it also created the highest ever prize pool, $3,308,800, for a Pot-Limit Hold'em event.

The talent on show was pretty impressive too, with 84 former WSOP gold bracelet winners (and a combined tally of 143 bracelets) starting the event, which of course made up just under a quarter of the field.

It was a positive who's who of the poker world that made up the final table as well, with luminaries such as Andy Bloch, Mike Sexton, Phil Laak, Kathy Liebert and Patrik Antonius still with chips in play.

However, it was perhaps lesser-known Nenad Medic, a 25-year-old Canadian poker professional from Niagara Falls, who emerged triumphant to land the top prize of $794,112 and his first coveted gold bracelet.

"It's amazing. I came in here with big goals. But I didn't think it would all happen this quickly," Medic said (perhaps stating the obvious). "My expectation is always to win. That's why I play all the tournaments. It was a really tough field the whole way."

There were fireworks with the very first hand, maybe a sign of things to come, on the final table when Laak went all-in with pocket jacks, only to run into Antonius' cowboys, but the eventual winner played a patient game and waited for his opportunity.

Eventually, when play was three-handed, Medic's pair of queen's held up against Bloch's pair of nines, while they eliminated Kathy Liebert (who had sixes) in the process and it did not take long from there - given the 5-2 chip lead - to determine the WSOP 2008's first champion.