WPT Reno World Poker Challenge Recap

Two hundred and sixty-one players ventured to Reno, Nevada for the 2008 WPT World Poker Challenge.  After day one, the one hundred and eighty-six players eliminated were probably thinking the same thing as seventy-four of the seventy-five remaining players – “Oh god, not this again!”  That’s right, coming off his first WPT win at LAPC, and an impressive final four showing at the NBC Heads-up Championship, Phil Ivey once again stood atop the chip leader board at the close of day one play (holding just under $180,000).

Day two saw the field whittled down to twenty-seven players, many of them top names.  Ivey managed to take his 180,000 stack up to 286,100, which was good enough for 5th place on the day end leader board.  Just behind him in 6th was Michael Mizrachi with 255,900.  David Pham, Lee Markholt, Bryan Devonshire, and Chau Giang filled out the top ten, with big names Erick Seidel and Tim West finishing the day just below average.
Much to the relief of the remaining players, Ivey’s streak of final-tabling-every-WPT-event-in-which-he-cashed ended.  Phil went out just short of the TV final table, busting in 10th (the first elimination in an hour following the players move to a single ten-handed table).  Earlier in the day, Erick Seidel and Tim West busted, and Michael Mizrachi earned the “Seventhbok” title, finishing in 7th place.


This set up a final table of:

Seat 1: Zach Hyman - 285,000
Seat 2: Jeff DeWitt - 249,000
Seat 3: David "The Dragon" Pham - 406,000
Seat 4: Jason Potter - 1,156,000
Seat 5: Bryan Devonshire - 674,000
Seat 6: Lee Markholt - 1,137,000


David Pham, a perennial fixture at WPT final tables these days, rounded out an impressive field that also included Lee Markholt, a player with a great deal of WPT success still looking for his first title, and Jason Potter and Bryan Devonshire, to proven, up-and-coming tournament pros.

Markholt made a big call early at the final table, sniffing out the flush draw of Jason Dewitt, to grab the chip lead.  A former bull-riding champion, Markholt then rode his chip lead to a breakthrough win on the World Poker Tour, taking home just under half a million dollars, and removing himself from the list of consistent “also-rans” on the WPT.  Bryan Devonshire finished in second place, notching his biggest live score to date with over $270,000.