Results of the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem Event of the 39th Annual WSOP in 2008

The $1,500 No-Limit Holdem event of the 39th Annual World Series of Poker transpired at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Scheduled as a four-day spectacle, the event followed a no re-buy/no add-on tournament format. From May 31 to June 3, 2008, a total 3,929 outstanding poker players played for the right to earn another major poker title plus a hefty cash prize. Tagged as Event 2 of the 2008 WSOP, the total prize pool for this event totaled $5,363,085.

At the last day of the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem event, only nine of the finest poker players in the competition qualified to play for the final table. The first half of the group was comprised of Melvin Jones, Theo Tran, Joe Rutledge, Chris Ferguson, and Grant Hinkle. In the meantime, the other half included David Bach, Aaron Coulthard, Mike Ngo, and James Akenhead. Right from the start, all of the poker finalists showed that they truly belong to be part of the final table.

With much anticipation for the 39th Annual World Series of Poker, the finalists for the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem poker tournament were truly the best of the best, with all the players showing no signs of giving in to their equally talented opponents. However, no matter how good all the poker players are, only one winner is to be crowned the champion of this particular event. As the action continued, the first one to be eliminated from the final table was Rutledge, whose crucial errors proved very costly at this part of the event. By finishing ninth overall, he took home $83,127.

As the action continued, some of the players inched more closer to win the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem event, while the chances of others slowly slipped away. After he committed some very crucial mistakes, Bach was also eliminated, taking home with him a huge prize valued at $117,987. After a few more rounds, Jones was booted out of the competition as well, taking home a hefty sum of $158,211 for a seventh place finish. Coulthard, Ngo, and Tran soon followed, finishing sixth, fifth, and fourth respectively. Coulthard won $211,841, Ngo took home $268,154, while the prize of Tran was valued at $327,148.

Akenhead, Ferguson, and Hinkle comprised the final moments of the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem event of the 39th Annual World Series of Poker. After some very serious rounds of poker action, Ferguson finished at the third spot for a prize of $388,287. At the final round, Hinkle defeated the much lower hand of Akenhead to win his first ever WSOP poker title and championship bracelet. This victory earned Hinkle $831,462, while Akenhead took home a prize of $520,219 after finishing second overall.