Bodog Beat

Shawn "phatcat" Luman became the inaugural Bodog Poker Open champion last night, winning $76,280 for the win. (Bodog Beat Image)

Online poker players came out in droves last night to the $500 buy-in inaugural Bodog Poker Open Main Event, generating the largest prize pool in Bodog Poker history at just over $300,000.

The first-place prize of $76,280 went to Shawn "phatcat" Luman, who also received the distinction of becoming the first-ever Bodog Poker Open champion and an Omega Speedmaster watch valued at $4,400. The path to victory was no easy one for Luman, as the 596 entrant field contained many of the biggest names in the Bodog Poker room and from across the online poker world.

The final table alone played host to Michael "_TheFinisher_" Berra (2nd – $45,768), Jared "TheWacoKidd" Hamby (3rd – $29,138.96), Stuart "zpaceman" Taylor (4th – 21,358.40), Bodog regular "CK3" (5th – 16,781.60), up-and-coming online poker player "Anbessa" (6th – $13,730.40), Brian "PSP_addict" Bauer (8th – $7,933.12) and Eric "Eeman2004″ Revak (9th – $5,187.04).

The value and quality of the event was evidenced by the high caliber of players that came out to participate over the past week, including Annette "Annette_15″ Obrestad, Kevin "beLOWaBOVe" Saul, Marco "CrazyMarco" Johnson, Garret "GBecks" Beckman, Smith "nevertilt22″ Collins, Jon "PearlJammer" Turner, Jared "TheWacoKidd" Hamby, Eric "Rizen" Lynch and Thayer "Thay3r" Rasmussen.

All in all, the inaugural Bodog Poker Open, with its five preliminary events and record-setting Main Event, drew more than 1,800 players and generated just over $675,000 in prize money, an astounding $75,000 of which was added by Bodog to help create a unique and valuable event for online poker players.

After the completion of the BPO, the focus in the Bodog Poker room now switches to the 2008 World Series of Poker qualifiers. There are at least four WSOP seats up for grabs every week in March and April with that number jumping to five per week in May and June.

Online poker players can buy into a WSOP Semifinal directly for $270 or qualify into that tournament through a series of smaller satellites starting for as little as $1.50. So head over to the Bodog Poker room and qualify online for the 2008 WSOP.