It was like a cage match in which metal chairs, chainsaws, and howitzers were fair game weapons. Competing were the Pattons 21st century poker. Four of them had World Series championship bracelets. The other five have a chance at one in just a few week.
In what PokerStars billed as the World Series Tournament of Champions, part of the month-long Million Dollar Men promotion, five of six members of the PokerStars Million Dollar Men faced off against Tom McEvoy, Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, and Joe Hachem.
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Peter Eastgate, Ylon Schwartz, Darus Suharto and David "Chino" Rheem all sat down for a practice round against the best. While Ivan Demidov actually had a seat at the table, he was a little preoccupied with his time at the final two tables of the World Series of Poker Europe and couldn't fire up a laptop during the live event. Dennis Phillips had another obligation and couldn't make it.
It some blitzkrieg-style action, the whole single-table tournament took just one-hour and eight minutes during which we saw Moneymaker take out Rheem on the first hand. Hachem and Raymer fell to Peter Eastgate within the next few minutes. Eastgate and Suharto were the next to go, leaving Schwartz, Moneymaker and McEvoy to battle for the next half an hour.
When the fog of war lifted, Chris Moneymaker (fresh off a banner performance in the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker) emerged with another title.
This was just the first of many Million Dollar Men promotions, including freeroll tournaments and your chance to win a piece of the Million Dollar Men at the WSOP final table. For more information on all the new promotions, visit the the PokerStars Million Dollar Men page.
There is a pretty good chance that one of the PokerStars Million Dollar Men will be a World Series Champion in just a few weeks. Only problem is, right now, we have no idea which one it will be.
But, here's an interesting question (somewhere along the lines of whether Superman could beat up Spiderman): what would happen if you took every one of the PokerStars Million Dollar Men and put them up against four World Series Champions.
Well, as it happens, there are six Million Dollar Men at PokerStars and four former World Series Champions on Team PokerStars. It also appears PokerStars can squeeze ten people at its tables. Enter the PokerStars WSOP Tournament of Champions.
Tomorrow (Wednesday, October 1) at 13:00 ET, PokerStars' Million Dollar Men Dennis Phillips, Ivan Demidov, Peter Eastgate, Ylon Schwartz, Darus Suharto and David ‘Chino’ Rheem will face off against Tom McEvoy, Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, and Joe Hachem to see which of the ten players can beat the elite field.
You can watch the tournament by clicking TOURNEY and SPECIAL in the PokerStars lobby and looking for "WSOP Tournament of Champions."
Don't miss all the other cool Million Dollar Men promotions, including freeroll tournaments and your chance to win a piece of the Million Dollar Men at the WSOP final table. For more information on all the new promotions, visit the the PokerStars Million Dollar Men page.
In just about six weeks, we're going to see six PokerStars players sit down at one of poker's most historic final tables. PokerStars' Million Dollar Men Dennis Phillips, Ivan Demidov, Peter Eastgate, Ylon Schwartz, Darus Suharto and David ‘Chino’ Rheem will be vying for the World Series Main Event championship and the $9,119,517 first prize.
While we'll all be rooting for the Million Dollar Men, PokerStars has decided to let all of its players in on the action. Starting this weekend, we'll see freerolls, last-longer tourneys, and events that let you get a piece of whatever the Million Dollar Men win at the World Series.
The Million Dollar Men Freerolls
Starting this weekend and running through October 17, PokerStars will be hosting daily freerolls that can win you a seat in the Million Dollar Men Main Event. Seat winners will get a shot to play against the Million Dollar Men in a giant tournament with a $100,000 first place prize. You can get full information at the Million Dollar Men Freeroll page.
Get a piece!
PokerStars will also be hosting a sweet series of tournaments that gives you a chance to win a piece of the Million Dollar Men's action. The Top 100 finishers in these events will not only win some great cash prizes, but also pick up a piece of World Series action. For all you need to know, check out the Win a Share tournaments page.
Last longer, anyone?
The Million Dollar Men have already outlasted more than 6,800 players at the World Series. Now you have your chance to see if you can outlast them. PokerStars is going to be hosting special a "Outlast the Million Dollar Men" tournament for just $5.50. There looks to be $25,000 in added prizes to the October 7 event.
PokerStars has also announced it will be running single-table VIP tournaments and putting cash bounties on the heads of the Million Dollar Men.
Darus Suharto qualified on PokerStars for the World Series Main Event. His $80 win got him into a bigger qualifier and there he won his prize package to Las Vegas.
Now, Suharto is one of the November Nine, the final table players of the 2008 World Series Main Event.
Here's what he had to say in the moments after he made the final table.
Dennis Phillips told us ini the last few days of the World Series that the ESPN crews were calling him "red hat." His autographed St. Louis Cardinals baseball cap was not hard to spot in the crowd. Otherwise, the accountant from Missouri is humble enough to blend into any poker tournament.
That all changed this week when Phillips emerged as the chip leader in the 2008 World Series. Now, plans to go back to work for four months and plan for what will be one of the biggest days of his life.
Here's what he told our video blog team as he got ready to go home.
Perhaps better known online as TenthPlanet, Ylon Schwartz is no stranger to live poker. A regular on the East Coast live scene, Schwartz has been around long enough to have paid his dues. Now the chess expert, lover of all games, and PokerStars is looking to get away for a while.
In his own words, he was "bugging out" when he finally made the final table. He took a few minutes to talk to us before escaping to places unknown in preparation for the November final table.
It's one thing to be one of the top five cash game players from your home country. It's another thing to be at the final table of the 2008 World Series of Poker. PokerStars player Peter Eastgate happens to be both of those things.
In the blur that followed the minutes after making the final table, a stunned Eastgate talked to our video blog team. Here's what he had to say.
David "Chino" Rheem is a young up-and-comer in the poker world. The PokerStars player had a big contingent of famous players on the rail cheering him on as he made the final table of the 2008 World Series.
The player from California talked to the PokerStars video blog team as he stepped away from the World Series for a 117-day break. Here's what he had to say.
In minutes that followed PokerStars player Ivan Demodov's making it to the 2008 World Series final table, he was still in shock. After coming all the way from Moscow to compete in his first major live tournament, Demidov could barely find the words to explain what had just happened to him.
Now, Demidov is set to become a superstar in Russia and around the poker world. Here is what he had to say in the moments after making the final table.
In the Rio Amazon Room, there is no Monday. There is no July. Time and date are irrelevant. There is no news from around the world, lamentations about the economy, or even the usual banal discussion of the weather. It took rain in the desert to get anyone to notice the sky. In the thunderdome that is the World Series of Poker, all that matters is life and death at the World Series of Poker table. Once the fallen are carried out and given their due seconds of respect, all that remains is hope for the living.
This has been the case during the days that are defined by number instead of name. Through four day ones, two day twos, and the subsequent days three, four, five and six, even numerologists were stymied. Here, the calendar read Day 7 and that meant only 27 people remained with their life-blood chips. Everyone knew that two-thirds of that number would walk away with at least a quarter million bucks, but a lifetime of what-ifs about what could've been. Nobody could predict or control who would be here at the end of the night. All we knew is that nine people would be able to walk out of this room tonight with their chins up and their eyes set on a $9 million prize.
From here on out, they will be known as the November Nine--the final nine of 6,844 runners who started the 2008 World Series Main Event and emerged tonight with the right to come back in four months and fight for the championship bracelet. Among those players are the PokerStars Six, a tough combination of PokerStars players and qualifiers who will be part of history in November.
In all, PokerStars players have already cashed for more than $9 million combined in the Main Event. The PokerStars Six will have their chance at a total of another $32.6 million that's up for grabs in November.
Here is a look at the PokerStars players who will return to compete for poker's biggest prize.
Dennis Phillips (26,295,000)--Dennis Phillips is an accountant from St. Louis, Missouri who has done his home town proud. His has not yet been seen without an autographed St. Louis Cardinals cap and speaks fondly of his Show-Me State roots. Phillips is a regular at Harrahs St. Louis and plays live there as often as he can. It cost him $200 to get into this Main Event. He plans to leave Vegas and go back to his job for the four months between now and the final table in November. That, and he said, "play a lot of poker." Not a bad plan for the World Series chip leader.
Ivan Demidov (24,400,000) -- Ivan Demidov is from Moscow Russia. "We're having a good year," he says of himself and his countrymen. This year, he placed 11th in the $1,000 rebuy event. Both a tournament and cash game player, Demidov is a 27-year-old online semi-pro. A friend and backer helped him raise the $10,000 to get into the event. The 2008 World Series is his first major live tournament. Demidov has a degree in math and is looking to bring home the big numbers for mother Russia.
Peter Eastgate -- (18,375,000) -- Peter Eastgate is a 22-year-old PokerStars player. He is known as a fearless but volatile player, among the top five online pros in Denmark. He mainly plays high-stakes cash games - $200-400 short-handed or heads-up. Jacob Rasmussen, who came 5th at EPT4 Dortmund, was asked if Peter Eastgate was the next Gus Hansen. He said, "Not really. It's more like Gus Hansen is the first Peter Eastgate." Eastgate has said all along he won't think about the final table until he makes it. Now, he has.
Ylon Schwartz -- (12,525,000) -- A native New Yorker -- born in Manhattan and now living in Brooklyn -- Ylon Schwartz is a chess whizz and a poker player with 11 previous cashes in World Series events dating back to 2005. He's equally at home playing chess in the super-competitive games in New York's Washington Square Park, idling the time in Golden Nugget low limit ring games or tearing up the major poker tournaments in the east coast casinos of Atlantic City and Foxwoods. You can find him playing as TenthPlanet on PokerStars.
Darus Suharto -- (12,520,000) -- Darus Suharto is from Toronto, Canada. He is an accountant who loves his job so much, he would find it hard to quit, even if he won the World Series Main Event. He would like to find more time to play poker, but because he spends so much time working, most of his tournament poker experience comes from playing online. He qualified for his seat on PokerStars and has already forgotten about his modest cash from the World Series in 2006.
David “Chino” Rheem -- (10,230,000)-- David “Chino” Rheem has had a great year, taking 5th place in the $5k NL tournament in June for $93,624. The 28-year-old from Miami, Florida has enjoyed a string of tournament successes recently including five WSOP cashes in the last three years. This includes $327,981 in the 2006 $1,000 NLHE event. In the main event David was among the chip leaders each day, and rallied superbly when a series of bad hands almost eliminated him in the latter stages but bounced back to make the November Nine.
More than a thousand PokerStars qualifiers competed in this year's 39th World Series Main Event, including 45 who had paid nothing at all to get to Vegas after winning their seats in PokerStars Frequent Player Point (FPP) tournaments. The highest FPP finisher was American Doug Ashmore who turned his 4,000 FPPs into $41,816 with a 124th place finish. Other notable qualifiers included Tim Loecke, from Illinois, who made it to 24th place for $257,334. He won his seat in a $63 satellite and was playing in his first-ever live poker tournament. Online pros Chris "SLOPPYKLOD" Klodnicki came 12th for $591,869 and Owen "ocrowe" Crowe, made it to 15th place and a $463,201 payout. Both spent just $215 to win their WSOP seats via PokerStars satellite tournaments.
Team PokerStars Pros were also out in force at this year's WSOP, including former world champions Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer and Joe Hachem, as well as poker legends Daniel Negreanu and Barry Greenstein. Team PokerStars Pro Victor Ramdin lasted longest with a 64th place finish for $96,500. Three other Team PokerStars Pros also cashed - Hevad Khan (240th) for $35,383; Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier (370th) for $28,950 and Vanessa Rousso (625th) for $21,230.
Kara Scott, presenter of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour, was sponsored into the main event by PokerStars and was thrilled - in her first ever WSOP - to make 104th place for $41,816. Kirill Gerasimov from Russia and Jan Heitmann from Germany, also both backed by PokerStars, both cashed in 439th and 585th place respectively. PokerStars also sponsored celebrities such as Jason Alexander from "Seinfeld", Simpsons co-creator Sam Simon, "ER" actor Mekhi Phifer, MMA fighter Chuck Liddell, MLB greats David Wells and Orel Hershiser and Indy stock car racer Gualter Salles.
As well as their $10,000 buy-in to the main event, spending money and luxury hotel accommodation at the Palms hotel, PokerStars qualifiers also enjoyed the spectacular PokerStars WSOP party at Rain nightclub, featuring scores of celebrities, star poker players and the burlesque artist Dita Von Teese.
This feels at the same time a conclusion and delayed satisfaction. We will all leave this giant convention center tonight with a feeling that we are finished. Yet, we all know that in four short months the real contest will begin with the biggest money and fame on the line.
To close out our coverage, here's the final wrap, for now, from the PokerStars video blog team...
So, at this hour we cannnot say goodbye. We can only say goodnight and see you later. It's been yet another astounding World Series for PokerStars and the PokerStars Blog. Over the course of the next several months you can expect to see a lot more on the PokerStars Six. Until then, thanks for reading and congratulations to all the PokerStars players for their performance here at the 2008 World Series.
Be sure to check out all of our video blogs from Day 7 and before on PokerStars.tv.
If you would like to see PokerStars Blog World Series news in another language, be sure you take a look at all the other coverage on our German, Swedish, and Brazilian blogs.
Here's a look back at all the coverage from Day 7.
Those of us here at the PokerStars Blog--Brad Willis, Howard Swains, and Stephen Bartley--would like to take this last chance to publicly thank everyone who put in countless hours of work on covering the PokerStars players here at the World Series. We couldn't have done any of it without the help of Mad Harper, our statistician and all-around utility writer/researcher; Joe Giron and the entire team at Image Masters; Hass, Rury, and Jamie, the video blog team; Klaus, Robin and Alex from the PokerStars German Blog; Lina from the PokerStars Swedish Blog; Maria from the PokerStars Brazilian Blog; and Nolan Dalla from the World Series of Poker. Thanks to all of you for your dedication to the job and your efforts to champion the players from the world's number one online poker site.
It was like a cage match in which metal chairs, chainsaws, and howitzers were fair game weapons. Competing were the Pattons 21st century poker. Four of them had World Series championship bracelets. The other five have a chance at one in just a few week.
It only cost him $80. 
