The largest turnout in the five-year history of the World Series of Poker Circuit at Harvey's Lake Tahoe generated $1,418,132 in prize money spread over 13 tournaments. The annual attraction on the south shore of Lake Tahoe attracted 2,163 entries, surpassing last year's record of 2,128 entries.
The ten-day tournament series concluded with Michael Binger winning the $5,000 buy-in championship event, when he overcame a severe chip disadvantage while heads up at the final table. He collected first place prize money totaling $181,379. Following his victory, Binger was presented with a gold ring, the coveted token of achievement for all WSOP Circuit championship tournaments.
Binger also received a buy-in to the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event, plus $1,000 in spending money. Binger is perhaps best known publicly as the third-place finisher in the 2006 WSOP main event when he won more than $4 million. With his victory at Lake Tahoe, Binger now has more than $5.7 million in career tournament earnings, all within the last three years. Not just a poker player, Binger also holds a PhD in physics from Stanford.
HARVEY'S LAKE TAHOE
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT 11 11/16/08
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
CHAMPIONSHIP
BUY-IN $5,000 + $150
PLAYERS 132
PRIZE POOL $640,200
1. Michael Binger . . . $181,379
2. Ty Stewart . . . . . . . $112,675
3. Jake Solis . . . . . . . . . $77,464
4. Michael McClain . . $53,777
5. Tay Nguyen . . . . . . . $40,653
6. Allen Kessler . . . . . . $31,370
7. Travis Erdman . . . . $24,968
8. Bill Bostick . . . . . . . $18,566
EVENT 13 11/16/08
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 150
PRIZE POOL $43,650
David Adams
1. David Adams . . . . . . $13,117
2. Andrew Miller . . . . . $7,682
3. Jeff Rubic . . . . . . . . . $5,282
4. Zak Gilbert . . . . . . . . $3,667
5. Roman Canepa . . . . . $2,772
6. Stephen Baxter . . . . . $2,139
7. Rick Herrera . . . . . . . $1,702
8. Cathy Hiatt . . . . . . . . $1,266
EVENT 12
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 144
PRIZE POOL $69,840
Ed Yang
1. Ed Yang . . . . . . . . . . $20,985
2. Chad Vitale . . . . . . . $12,292
3. Stuart Spear . . . . . . . $8,451
4. Stephen Knapp . . . . . $5,867
EVENT 10 11/12/08
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
6-HANDED
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 87
PRIZE POOL $42,831
1. Loc Hoang . . . . . . . . $13,290
2. Glenn Uchibori . . . . . $8,228
3. Mark Bonsack . . . . . . $5,274
4. Monte Gilley . . . . . . . $3,587
EVENT 9 11/12/08
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 125
PRIZE POOL $60,625
Dominic Terreri
1. Dominic Terreri . . . $18,218
2. Lance Oliver . . . . . . $10,670
3. Gholam Fakhimi . . . $7,336
4. William Kyle Orvis . $5,093
EVENT 8 11/11/08
H.O.R.S.E.
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 88
PRIZE POOL $25,608
Tim Vance
1. Tim Vance . . . . . . . . . $9,348
2. Zak Gilbert . . . . . . . . $5,045
3. Chris Dombrowski . . $3,431
EVENT 7 11/11/08
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 107
PRIZE POOL $51,895
Aaron Kanter
1. Aaron Kanter . . . . . . $15,594
2. Victor Campana . . . . $9,134
3. Steve Lewis . . . . . . . . . $6,279
4. Gino Cavallini . . . . . . $4,359
EVENT 6 11/10/08
LIMIT OMAHA HI-LO
BUY-IN $300 + $30
PLAYERS 114
PRIZE POOL $33,174
Alec Martin
1. Alec Martin . . . . . . . . $9,966
2. Woody Malin . . . . . . $5,839
3. Jason Stern . . . . . . . . $4,014
EVENT 5 11/10/08
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 106
PRIZE POOL $51,410
Dave Costain
1. Dave Costain . . . . . . $15,448
2. Vineet Sharma . . . . . $9,048
3. Lance Greenberg . . . $6,221
4. Ernest Hernandez . . $4,318
EVENT 4 11/9/08
LADIES-
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $200 + $30
PLAYERS 145
PRIZE POOL $28,130
Michelle Murillo
1. Michelle Murillo . . . . $8,453
2. Lisa Darling . . . . . . . $4,951
3. Sheryl Nicholls . . . . . . $3,404
4. Joline Burnside . . . . . $2,363
EVENT 3 11/9/08
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 146
PRIZE POOL $70,810
Jonathan
Schwartz
1. Jonathan Schwartz . $21,277
2. Joe Fernandez . . . . . $12,463
3. Baron Weller . . . . . . . $8,568
4. Galen Peiskee . . . . . . $5,948
5. Kenneth Fitzgerald . $4,496
6. Chad Vitale . . . . . . . . $3,470
7. Tom DeJong . . . . . . . $2,762
8. Bill Haynes . . . . . . . . $2,053
EVENT 2 11/8/08
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 314
PRIZE POOL $152,290
Shoaib Makani
1. Shoaib Makani . . . . $39,677
2. JT Anderson . . . . . . $23,986
3. Tooraj Agahi . . . . . . $16,067
4. Ray Eberlin . . . . . . . $10,813
5. Roger Byrne . . . . . . . $8,071
EVENT 1 11/7/08
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 505
PRIZE POOL $146,955
Freddy Podesta
1. Freddy Podesta . . . . $36,290
2. Charlie Melton . . . . $22,337
3. Kieng Lieng . . . . . . . $14,696
4. Bradford Jensen . . . . $9,773
5. Craig Hutchison . . . . $7,127
6. Dustin Espindula . . . $5,584
