2007 World Series of Poker results

The 2007 World Series of Poker was the 38th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). Held in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino, the series featured 55 poker championships in several variants. As a WSOP custom since 1976, each of the event winners receive a championship bracelet in addition to that event's prize money. The series culminates with the $10,000 No-Limit hold'em "Main Event", which has attracted thousands of entrants since 2004. The winner of the WSOP Main Event, who wins a multimillion-dollar prize, is considered to be the World Champion of Poker.^[1]

Most of the tournaments played at the WSOP are variants of Texas hold'em, a game where each player may use a combination of the five community cards and two hole cards to make the best hand. Another poker variant with community cards is Omaha, in which each player is dealt four hole cards and must use two of them in conjunction with three of the five community cards to make the best possible five-card hand. In contrast to games with community cards, some variants, such as stud or draw, deal each player separate hands with no common cards. Seven-card stud deals each player two hole cards, followed by four face-up cards one at a time, and then another hidden card, with betting after each round. Other games played at the 2007 tournament included Razz, H.O.R.S.E., and Deuce-to-Seven. Prior to 2000, seven-card stud was the most common game in U.S. casinos, but today hold'em has almost totally eclipsed the once popular game.^[2]

Within each of these poker variants, a myriad of options exist. For example, depending on the betting structure, a tournament might be described as no-limit, limit, or pot-limit. Games may include other variations on the rules governing the execution of the specific game such as shootout, eight or better, or heads up.

With 54,288 total entries and a combined prize pool of $159,796,918, the 2007 WSOP was the largest series of poker tournaments ever.^[3] For many, winning a share of the prize pool was all that mattered, while others sought the glory associated with winning a bracelet. This dichotomy could not have been illustrated better than a deal negotiated at the Senior Championship event. Tony Korfman wanted the money while Ernest Bennett wanted the glory. Rather than leave their fates to chance, the two of them ensured they got what they wanted. In exchange for splitting the prize money, Korfman agreed to let Bennett win the bracelet.^[4] After winning $8.25 million in the Main Event, Jerry Yang and his wife retired.^[5] "My winning today also means a lot to me, because I know that I can use this money to do a lot of good for other people out there," Yang said^[6] before donating over a million dollars to charity.^[7] Upon winning his record eleventh bracelet, Phil Hellmuth said, "the bracelets have always been a really huge deal, to me more than the other guys, because I knew that they represented history."^[8]

Age and disability was another story line of the 2007 WSOP. At 21 years and 10 days old, Steve Billirakis became the youngest person to ever win a WSOP bracelet.^[9] At the other end of the spectrum, 94-year-old Jack Ury was the oldest person to ever participate in the Main Event.^[3] Hal Lubarsky, a blind man, finished in 197th place at the Main Event.^[10][11]