Mike Matusow has made two final tables at this year’s World Series of Poker. His first final table in the No Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball event #18 was his third bracelet win. He won $537,857 at that event. Then he followed it up with a fifth-place finish in the Omaha Hi/Low World Championship 8 or Better. That one pocketed him another $138,063, putting his total to over $670,000 for the 2008 WSOP.

He has continued to show that he is one of the best tournament poker players in the world. His versatility in poker variations showed once again with his first bracelet in Deuce to Seven Lowball. His other bracelets were in Omaha 8 or better and No Limit Holdem. The two final table appearances put him on the leaderboard for top player in the WSOP. Maybe he’ll be able go deep into the main event again.

5. Clonie Gowen is a blonde beauty who’s been making money playing poker since 2002. She has 27 cashes for almost $300,000 in career tournament earnings.

4. Cindy Violette is another blonde who has 18 cashes for nearly $700,000 in tournament earnings. She has a line of women’s clothing as well.

3. Jennifer Leigh has had three cashes for $45,000 worth of winnings, but she’s been in Playboy Magazine. Lots of hot; not so much in the way of poker credit thus far.

2. Evelyn Ng is an Asian beauty from Canada. She has 20 cashes for $270,000 in tournament winnings. The hottest pure poker pro on this list.

1. Shannon Elizabeth is a genuine movie starlet who has long been considered one of the hottest girls on the planet. She has nine cashes in the last two years, including a third-place finish at the 2007 NBC National Heads-up Championship.

Unknown amateurs have won the main event at the WSOP for the last five years. It only makes mathematical sense that an amateur would win it, as they far outnumber the professionals. Ever with the skill advantage that the professionals hold, they’re outnumbered at least 6 to 1 by the thousands of online satellite winners and wealthy amateur players.

But this year certainly has a pro feel to it, already producing seven big-name professionals winning bracelets. So far Erick Lindgren, Daniel Negreanu, Mike Matusow, Barry Greenstein, David Benyamine, Layne Flack and John Phan have taken home the gold in ‘08. There have also been a lot of other professionals that have made final tables.

If I had to pick a pro to win the main event, I’d pick David Pham. We haven’t heard from him yet this year, and he always makes his presence felt at every major poker tournament.

So far there have been five big-name professionals who have won bracelets in the 2008 WSOP: Matusow, Negreanu, Greenstein, Lindgren and Tran. There has also been a first-ever occurrence this year, as two brothers each won a bracelet in separate events. Grant and Blair Hinkle both got lucky – Grant in event #2 and Blair in event #23.

These are the other bracelet winners to date:

Event#
1. Nenad Medic
2. Grant Hinkle
3. David Singer
4. Erick Lindgren
5. Mike Banducci
6. Thang Luu
7. Matt Keikoan
8. Anthony Rivera
9. Rep Porter
10. Farzad ‘Freddy’ Rouhani
11. Philip Tom
12. Jimmy Shultz
13. Duncan Bell
14. Eric Brooks
15. Svetlana “Glum Girl” Gromenkova
16. Andrew Brown
17. Jason Young
18. Mike “the Mouth” Matusow
19. Vanessa Selbst
20. Daniel Negreanu
21. Scott Seiver
22. Jens Voertmann
23. Blair Hinkle
24. Max Pescatori
25. Kenny Tran
26. Barry Greenstein

Rakeback has become an important bonus feature for many online poker rooms. If you’re the type of player that wants cash as your VP bonus, rakeback is the way to go. Not every poker room will offer it, and only a couple of the big player sites have it. Most online poker rooms offer around 30% rakeback, and some will go as far as 50%. Sun Poker and Interpoker will give as much as 50% if your rake is big enough.

The big players that offer rakeback are Full Tilt Poker and Carbon Poker. Full Tilt will give you 27% and Carbon offers 30%. PKR is a 3-D poker room that will give you 30% of your rake back. Make sure you go over the rules of any poker room before you decide to play. Your rakeback percentage increases depending on how much you play at many of the sites.

Can you believe they’ve even got a Wii game?

The brother/sister act of Howard Lederer and Annie Duke is one of the most famous in poker. Lederer has been around poker for a long time, and he taught his sister to play a few years ago. They both have had success, with each winning millions of dollar individually in their careers.

If the two had to play each other you would have to give the edge to Lederer. He taught Annie all she knows, and his experience is far more extensive than hers. Anything could happen in a poker game, but I think Lederer would win more if they played numerous times.

Annie Duke can be pushed around if she suffers a beat or two, and tends to play like scared money late in games. Annie has a history of knocking out her brother in tournaments, but Howard may not have that killer instinct against his little sister that he normally does.

Liz “Poker Diva” Lieu is a professional poker player from Vietnam. She began playing in Texas holdem limit cash games. She played for years before trying out the tournament scene in 2005, when she played in a $1500 no-limit holdem WSOP event and placed fifth ($168,000). She went on to cash two more times that year and never looked back.

Her first win came in 2006 when she won the 2006 L.A. Poker Classic $1000 limit holdem event. Then she came back and won the same event again in 2007. She has recently done very well on the Asian Poker Tour with two final tables in Macau last November. To date, Lieu has won over $666,000 in tournament cashes on tour, and continues to play high-stakes limit cash games. In 2006, she was honored by the WSOP and ESPN as a “Final Table Grand Marshall” with Johnny Chan.

Most top pros have a good poker face. You don’t reach the upper levels of poker by giving away your hand to your opponents. But there is one player who is more disciplined than any other when it comes to giving out information.

Chris “Jesus” Ferguson has a routine that he goes through every time it’s his turn to act. He will pause for an equal amount of time whenever it’s his turn, and he announces his actions with the same tone and speed each time.

With the addition of the big cowboy hat and sunglasses, it’s pretty much impossible to get a physical tell on him. After his turn, he sits still like a statue until it’s his turn to play again. The only way you’ll ever pick up a tell on Chris Ferguson would be through a betting pattern, and you would need to be lucky to discover it.

It’s now official. Josh Arieh, the two time WSOP bracelet winner who has long been associated with Bodog has now finished his deal with them.

“Bodog and Josh have mutually decided to part ways at the end of April. Josh had a great run as a member of Team Bodog over the past four years that included finishing third at the 2004 WSOP Main Event, winning his second WSOP bracelet in 2005 and a number of final-table appearances at high profile tournaments. We sincerely enjoyed our association with Josh and appreciate all that he brought to Team Bodog. We wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors, both at and away from the poker table.” Said a spokesperson for Morris Mohawk Gaming Group, the Bodog brand licensee in North America.

As for Josh this is what he had to say: “It was a great three-year run with Bodog. Angela (Josh’s wife) and I have met a few of our closest friends through Bodog and it probably wouldn’t have been possible if I weren’t with them. I won the Calvin Ayre Wildcard Poker event because of my affiliation with them. I’ve got nothing but kind words to say about them… they were a stepping stone in my life and now I’m ready to move on to bigger and better things that I know will present themselves to me.”

Is Team Bodog’s Justin Bonomo any good? Well let’s see, how does 13 final tables in the last three years sound? Or having won $1.6M in tournament cash over that same period? Let’s not forget his success online as “ZeeJustin”, despite the cheating he recklessly committed when he was younger.

This kid is very good, and he’s lighting it up on the pro tours. He has three final tables in 2008, and he’s poised to take a run at the WSOP next month. He cashed three times there last year, and Bodog is banking he gets deep into some events this year.

His success has helped erase his rocky beginnings. After being banned online, some tried to ban him from the game altogether. But he has shown that he belongs with the best in the world, and after his public apology we all should forgive him for his youthful mistakes.