Bodog Beat

This is not a picture of 40th Anniversary event winner Vitaly Lunkin but of runner-up Issac Haxton because we liked this pic more. (Bodog Beat Image)

The 2009 WSOP $40,000 40th Anniversary Special event wrapped up in the wee hours of this morning (about ten hours ago), and it was Russian poker player Vitaly Lunkin who was able to beat out one of the most talented No Limit Holdem fields ever assembled to take down the $1.89 million first-place prize.

The heads-up match between Lunkin and Isaac Haxton seemed set even before they were the last two players left standing. Even though these two and Greg Raymer had roughly the same number of chips when play became three-handed, there seemed to be a feeling that it would come down to the two young-uns. When Haxton eliminated Raymer in third place with pocket nines over pocket fives, most of the room would have put money on Haxton winning, but Vitaly managed to chip away at Haxton's lead and eventually put him away

This is Lunkin's second WSOP bracelet and even though they were both won in No Limit Holdem tournaments, they could not have been more different. His first was captured in a $1,500 event last year that featured a field of 2,706 entrants while this was against a super-talented field of only 218 players. Night and day really.

Meanwhile in the Amazon Room, the WSOP Champions Invitational is down to the final ten players and all of them are, well, you know, champions. Included at that table are Carlos Mortensen, Tom McEvoy, Jim Bechtel, Doyle Brunson, Dan Harrington, Peter Eastgate, Huck Seed, Robert Varkonyi, Berry Johnston and Phil Hellmuth.

The $1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo 8-or-Better event was taken down by Thang Luu, for the SECOND YEAR IN A ROW. Not many feats impress the jaded poker media all that much anymore, but for a single player to dominate one event for two years in row is no mean feat. Unfortunately, it was a highly specialized game that doesn't get much publicity so not many people will find out about it, especially if it's buried in a post about a bunch of other stuff too. Wait…

The $1,000 No Limit Holdem event hemorrhaged players over its two starting days, going from 6,012 down to about 775. They start Day 2 play at 2pm and we'll keep you posted on how that goes.

Stay tuned for more 2009 WSOP updates.