2008 was a history making year in the world of poker. Let’s take a look back.
January 2008
2008 kicked off with Alexander Kostritsyn winning the Main Event of Aussie Millions after surviving a grueling heads up duel with Erik Seidel. Kostritsyn took home the title and $1.65 Million AUD.
The Kahnawake Gaming Commission released their findings regarding the Absolute Poker cheating scandal. Absolute Poker received a $500,000 fine and refunded around $1.6 Million to players.
February 2008
The Women’s Poker Hall of Fame was instituted at Binion’s in Las Vegas. Marsha Waggoner, Linda Johnson, Susie Isaacs, and Barbara Enright were enshrined in the inaugural class.
March 2008
Chris Ferguson won the NBC National Heads-Up Championship after besting 63 other players, including Andy Bloch in the final.
April 2008
The Poker Players Alliance reached 1 Million members. The purpose of the organization is to lobby politicians in Washington, D.C. to try and forward the interests of poker.
Rep. Barney Frank and Senator Ron Paul introduced a bill to try and block the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act from being implemented. The bill was eventually voted down in committee, but the fight continues.
May 2008
The World Series of Poker announced that the final table of the Main Event would be delayed 117 days. The move was to increase exposure for the event. The final table was scheduled for November 9th.
Allen Cunningham won the WSOP Circuit Event stop in Las Vegas Nevada. He took down the gold championship ring and $499,162
Tokwiro Enterprises released a statement in late May acknowledging cheating that had occurred at the website. The incidents spanned four years and involved 88 different accounts. The incidents were discovered by users who determined that the win rates by certain accounts were unnaturally high. The amounts won by the accounts exceeded $16 Million.
June 2008
The World Series of Poker was the only tournament of consequence during June. Many stories topped the headlines at the series. Perhaps the most reported and criticized was Scotty Nguyen’s win in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Event. His actions at the final table were criticized by many but in the end, nobody could deny his ability at the table. Scotty received the first ever Chip Reese Memorial Trophy, the bracelet, and $1.243 Million in prize money.
John Phan was the only multi-bracelet winner of the 2008 World Series of Poker. He first took Event #29, the $3,000 No-Limit Event. This event was memorable for three hands being played “all-in blind” between Phan and Johnny Neckar. Phan would then win his 2nd bracelet in Event #40, the $2,500 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw event.
The 2008 World Series of Poker was known as the “Year of the Pro” as several pro’s won a bracelet. Erick Lindgren, Mike Matusow, Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Max Pescatori, Layne Flack, David Benyamine, Dario Minieri, and Vanessa Selbst all won bracelets.
July 2008
The Main Event of the World Series of Poker took center stage as 6,844 players took their shot at the top prize. While Tiffany Michelle garnered a lot of headlines both for her deep run and the controversy around her dealings with PokerNews, she fell just short of true poker immortality. The “November Nine” was finally reached with Ivan Demidov, Scott Montgomery, Peter Eastgate, Ylon Schwartz, Dennis Phillips, Darus Suharto, David Rheem, Craig Marquis and Kelly Kim all hoping to get their shot in November at poker immortality.
August 2008
Chan Poker shut down operations in August, a casualty of the UIGEA and a shaky economy. The World Poker Tour also announced that they would be restructuring their business and nearly became delisted on NASDAQ before the market suspended delistings due to the economic climate of the country.
September 2008
Kentucky Govenor Steven Beshear had a seizure order drawn up for 141 online poker domain names in a move to have the sites removed. Sites such as DoylesRoom.com and many others were being threatened with domain name seizure. Many sites enacted measures to block TN residents from accessing the sites. A stay was granted to the order and an appeal is expected to be ruled upon sometime in early 2009.
October 2008
John Juanda took the Main Event of the World Series of Poker Europe. A final table that boasted Daniel Negranu, November Nine participant Ivan Demidov, and Scott Fischman, came down to a heads up match that lasted 242 hands. After 22 hours of play at the final table, Juanda walked away with the bracelet and £868,800.
November 2008
The final table of the WSOP Main Event kicked off on November 9th and was played down to a final two of Peter Eastgate and Ivan Demidov. They returned on the10th and put on a heads-up match for the ages. In the end, Peter Eastgate came out on top and became the first true professional to win the WSOP Main Event since 2001. He took home $9,152,416 for first and became the youngest WSOP bracelet winner in history.
December 2008
PartyGaming co-founder Anurag Dikshit cut a deal with the U.S. Dept of Justice where he forfeited $300 Million for violating the 1961 Wire Act. The move drew heavy criticism for Dikshit (Ya that’s his name), including chastising from Doyle Brunson who said that Dikshit fits his name.
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