Matt Graham Wins 2008 WSOP Event #53
A field of 823 players entered the final event before Thursday start of the 2008 WSOP Main Event. The two day affair saw all but 75 players eliminated on day 1 with the lucky survivors returning Wednesday at 2:00 pm and playing until there was only one to take the final gold bracelet of the 2008 WSOP (FYI: the Main Event bracelet is platinum). After more than 17 hours of tough poker the winner was decided a little after 7 this morning when Matt Graham made a miraculous come-back from near disaster to defeat Jean Robert Bellande in heads-up play and take the gold bracelet plus $278,180 in cash. Jean Robert Bellande received $173,564 for second place while Joe De Niro completed the top three to receive $107,845 for third place.
Jean Robert Bellande of the Survivor Show fame was at the final table and as expected the outspoken poker pro insured the game was never boring. 1996 WSOP World Champion Huck Seed was seen at the rail conferring with Jean-Robert during the all-night poker fest. Bellande took charge of the table and the chips and then the cards turned to favor Graham. This is Matt Graham's first WSOP bracelet and title.
Congratulations to Matt Graham for hanging tough and taking down Event #53 at the 2008 World Series of Poker. The first day of the Main Event will be getting underway today at Noon. Don't forget to stop by the WSOP Lifestyles exhibition opening at 11:00 am today in the Rio Pavilion.
