WSOP main event - The four month wait for Dennis Phillips
17th July, 2008
Dennis Phillips finished the penultimate round of the WSOP main event tournament as chip leader with a stake worth 26 million. The 53 year old account manager said "It seems like 20,000 chips (the starting amount of chip) is a lot. Now I have 26 million." Phillips has impressed throughout the tournament, and only qualified for it by winning a satellite tournament at his local poker club.
His nearest rival is Ivan Demidov who has 2 million chips less them. Phillips will have to play a very cautious and patient game. He still has a lot of work to do as 8 other players will be desperate to win their first WSOP bracelet. ESPN will be covering the event live in November with several other TV broadcasters. The last round will take place in November to help build up hype around the event and its players.
The final field has been dubbed by Phillips as the "young guns" and believes he will gain support from older traditional fans. Many of the young players in this years WSOP learnt their poker skill's playing online, but Phillips is still part of the older generation of players. He never takes off his St. Louis Cardinals hat, and was even turned down a large sponsorship deal with pokerstars.net to wear their hat.
Four months of preparation now begins for Phillips and the other 8 finalists. They will be playing poker on a daily basis to try and perfect their card skills, whilst trying to examine their competition throughly before the final event takes place in November.
By Jamie
