News / nono / 11 June 2008 / Leave a comment

The winner was Svetlana Gromenkova, from New York, NY. She was born near Moscow, Russia and immigrated to the United States about six years ago.

Gromenkova collected $224,702 in prize money for first place. She also earned her first WSOP gold bracelet. The winner was also presented with a custom-designed gold and diamond ladies watch, exclusively designed by Corum USA. WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack made the official presentation to the new champion.

Gromenkova is the friend of Las Vegas-based professional poker player Anthony Rivera, who won the Half Omaha/Half Stud championship last week. Rivera gave Gromenkova his sunglasses to wear at the table, which turned out to be good luck. Gromenkova later claimed that the lucky sunglasses were hers and that Rivera had "borrowed" them during his final table victory. The sunglasses have earned the two players about half a million dollars within the past week.

"I want people to know I'm a good player," Gromenkova said afterward. "And they will know it now."

The second-place finisher was Anh Le, from San Jose, CA. Le has been the runner up in this event before. In 2005, she finished second to actress Jennifer Tilly.

After the tournament ended, Gromenkova who was aware of her opponent's two second-place showings in this event, approached Le and said, "Nice job. I'm really sorry." Le took the gesture well and responded, "No - you played fantastic."