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Despite coming off as a weirdo and just “kinda creepy” on the WSOP broadcast on ESPN, Ylon Schwartz (sponsored by PokerStars.com) demonstrated a few good qualities in a recent newspaper interview. While Dennis Phillips has been getting the lions share of face time leading up the November Nine broadcast of the WSOP Final Table, Ylon has been pretty quiet. He tried an Ebay auction that didn’t go off as well as planned but this interview makes him a little more likeable. In summary, he’s pretty much what most of us would probably be if we made enough money gambling to do it full time.

When asked what he would do if he won the 9 million dollar first prize, his reply was that would likely disappear for a long time and, “I would get the best tequila there is and just drink it. I don’t know, be a high-class wino for like the next 10 years. I told all my friends I’m going to go away and please don’t come looking for me.” Couldn’t have said it better, except I’d probably go with a good Scotch.

He’s gone from being a small time chess hustler in New York to the verge of the next poker millionaire/WSOP Champion. He may not be as loveable as last years winner (what was his name again? My point exactly) but he’s down to earth and seems to be an approachable guy.

If I make it out to this years final table, I just hope to be around when he does win. Maybe he’ll treat us all to a round of the expensive Tequila he seems fond of.

Dennis Phillips, current 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event chip leader, had pledged to donate 1 percent of his tournament winnings to Prevent Cancer Foundations’s “Bad Beat on Cancer” fundraiser after the Final Table event in November.  Sweetening the deal, PokerStars.net has also pledged to match Phillips’ donation to the Foundation dollar-for-dollar.  If Phillips takes the first place Main Event win, his payout would be $9,119,517, bringing the donation tally to $182,000.  Phillips was inspired to make the pledge after talking to Phil Gordon, poker professional and Prevent Cancer Foundation board member.

“I am thrilled to contribute a portion of my WSOP earnings to the Prevent Cancer Foundation,” said Phillips. “Charity involvement has always been an important part of my life, and hopefully more poker players and final table participants with follow suit in upcoming poker circuits like the European Poker Tour and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.”

Phillips’ involvements with charities doesn’t stop there.  He has been active with a number of multiple sclerosis charities - an effort inspired by his brother who was diagnosed with the disease.  PokerStars also remains resolute in its pledge to philanthropic endeavors as Donald Hobbs, a young man afflicted with Hemophilia found out.  The Kentucky Hemophilia Foundation was a recent recipient of $51,000 as well as giving Hobbs the chance to play in the WSOP Main Event with his friend and poker idol, 2003 WSOP Champion and Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker.

“Dennis Phillips is a stand-up guy who brings a positive feeling to the WSOP final table.  Most guys get to the final table and just see a big pile of money and a new life. Dennis is just happy to be playing poker and sees an opportunity to help others. His efforts are inspiring to the poker community and I’m excited to see how it all turns out in November.” said Chris Moneymaker, 2003 WSOP Champion and Team PokerStars Pro.

The Bad Beat on Cancer fundraiser was kicked off in 2003 as a drive to help fund cancer research and prevention.  Organizers challenged their friends in the poker community to pledge just 1 percent of their winnings at the WSOP Championship Event to the Prevent Cancer Foundation (formerly The Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation) as a tax-deductible donation.  Since then, the Bad Beat on Cancer movement has grown and now includes other major poker tournaments as well as home games, leagues and has even inspired some players to pledge for life.  Phillips carries on the tradition in 2008.

To learn more about Bad Beat on Cancer, you can visit the Bad Beat on Cancer Myspace page.

The 2008 WSOP has finally wrapped up and as everyone knows the final 9 players will resume play on November 9th and compete for a $9.1 million dollar first place prize. Players have already started predicting the outcome of the final table and who the winner of the final event will be. Bodog is now giving you a chance to put your money where your mouth is.

WSOP Final Table Betting Odds at Bodog

The Bodog WSOP Final Table Betting has opened and is allowing Bodog players to place prop bets on who they think will take down the title of the 2008 WSOP Final Table Event. By far Dennis Phillips from Illinois is a favourite to win, with a chip count of $24.4 million and is giving a 3:1 with Scott Montgomery following close behind. Chip count for Scott is 19.7 million and he is running 4:1.

Here is the current spreadsheet for all nine players and if you would like to put your money where your mouth is on the “November Nine” players, head over to Bodog Sportsbook for the 2008 WSOP Final Table Prop Bets.

Last weekend we wrote an article about the last women standing at the 2008 WSOP (which WCP claims to have Trademarked, even though our article was out before theirs, and this one supercedes our own). Boy did we screw up! We had this article written for us and the writer failed to mention poker hottie, Tiffany Michelle.

Michelle won the rights to the Last Woman Standing at the 2008 WSOP and is currently sitting in 3rd place. Michelle has been playing incredibly in this event, and though she has made a few big suckouts (pretty much a requirement to go this deep in this event), she has outlasted all of the biggest names in poker.

Michelle is in good position to make the final table, and might even come out on top to take down the full event. This would be amazing to have a woman make the final table as she would be the first to do it in 13 years and the 2nd woman ever! If she keeps up this great play over the coming years, she may even end up finding herself in the Women in Poker Hall of Fame, but that is still a long way away.

Regardless, Michelle is no stranger to a 1st place finish. On her site she lists that she has come in 1st in 7 smaller events. Sure, these are nothing compared to the WSOP Main Event, but it does show that she has some tournament experience at a final table.

So, congratulations Tiffany, and good luck in the rest of the event. We are rooting for you!

We just have one request…. Stop selling your soul and supporting cheating poker sites. Take that damn Ultimate Bet logo off, it makes you look less hot!

Picture from PokerNews.com

In the Main Event of WSOP 2007 the female player who went the furthest was Mario Ho and this earned her the sobriquet of “last woman standing”. Now with the Main Event of WSOP 2008 securely under way bets are being taken as to who will be the “last woman standing” this year.

Hot favorite is Carmel Petresco, the pun fully intended. Carmel worked as a wardrobe stylist and personal shopper before she took up poker and the experience is there for all to see. However she thinks it is a disadvantage being a good looking woman playing at a male dominated table. According to Carmel men tend to look upon women as soft touches as poker players and flashing their charms only gives the impression that they are soft touches as women as well. In her opinion there is only one way to earn respect at the poker table and that is by winning. The only place a woman’s feminineness works is with the media. Female players get much more than their due share of attention than male players. Being a beautiful poker player Carmel is always being chased by the media and she does not mind it one bit except when asked, “Did your boyfriend teach you how to play?” That makes her see red.

Her latest fad is the oversized Oliver Peoples retro sunglasses because they make her look a like Jackie O. And, Carmel is not hesitant to say, because they conceal her facial tells from probing eyes at the poker table. Carmel is a female with a very clear head and that is why she is likely to go far. When asked who would make up the dream table that she would like to play at, the answer came pat. And it did not include Patrik Antonius, the man all female poker players are hankering after. Her answer was ‘bad poker players who have just received their Christmas bonuses’.

Next on the list is Evelyn Ng ( Team Bodog Pro). She has not yet had a cash at a WSOP Main Event but she has had a lot of fun. There she was on day 1 of the Main Event with a chap dressed as a Greek servant, fanning her and feeding her grapes. There is a story behind this scene. She was challenged to a Guitar Hero contest by Gary Gates from PokerNews. Gates lost and had to feed Evelyn grapes as a part of the deal. Would Evelyn have to dress as a Roman slave and feed Gates grapes had she lost. The answer is NO. All she would have to do was wear the PokerNews logo. But there was no chance of her losing. She says, “Every waking minute that I’m not playing poker, I’m playing Guitar Hero or Rock Band.”

So, who will be the last woman standing this year - Carmel Petresco or Evelyn Ng or someone else? We can only say who will not be. The negative list includes the likes of Clonie Gowen and Shannon Elizabeth