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.

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

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.

Despite the controversy surrounding his name, Jamie Gold’s big win at the 2006 World Series of Poker earned him a record-setting $12-million prize at the Main Event.

He may not be well-liked, he may not have tons of poker experience, but he does have a playing style all to his own. If you’ve seen him at the table then you know that Gold’s style is unique in that he has a knack for pressuring his opponents to playing their entire stack (especially when he’s playing position or last to bet) .

Anyway, enough about Jamie Gold. Here are your top 10 all-time money winners:

Jamie Gold - $12,161,719
Joe Hachem: $10,394,659
Daniel Negreanu: $9,450,425
Allen Cunningham: $9,079,706
T.J. Cloutier: $9,064,951
Phil Ivey: $8,949,083
Juan Carlos Mortensen: $8,339,895
Jerry Yang: $8,251,324
Phil Hellmuth Jr. $8,248,841
Erik Seidel: $7,480,553

For the complete list of money winners, check out this site.

David “The Dragon” Pham had 16 cashes in 2006, including six final tables and three wins. After a year like that, no one expected David to do what he did in 2007. Last year he improved to 17 cashes, 11 of them final tables, with four of them being wins. He won over $1.8M in tournament play, and was the CardPlayer Player of the Year for 2007.

David is a cousin to poker star Men “The Master” Nguyen. He came to the country as a refugee aboard a boat fleeing Vietnam when he was 17. His lifetime stats are as impressive as his 2007 stats, with over $7.2M in tournament earnings in the last seven years. Always a contender for Player of the Year, Pham won the prestigious award in 2000 as well. He has two WSOP bracelets and five WPT final tables, but has not won one yet.

1. David Pham won his second Player of the Year honor and $1.8M in earnings this year.

2. J.C. Tran was second in POY standings and earned $2.9M this year.

3. Jonathan Little earned $2.5M in tournament winnings including a WPT win in May.

4. Tom Schneider earned $733,589 including 2 WSOP bracelets in 2007.

5. Scott “BigRisky” Clements won over $2.2M and finished fourth in the POY standings.

6. Scotty Nguyen won over $800,000 and had seven final tables this year.

7. William “Bill” Edler won over $2.7M including a WSOP bracelet and a WPT championship.

8. David Fox won almost $700,000 including a WPT Finals event in November.

9. David “Devilfish” Ulliott has won over $1.2M this year including two WPT wins.

10. Jerry Yang won the WSOP main event and over $8M, he makes the list because he becomes the second-largest tournament prize winner in history.

1. Erik Seidel has to be the man. He has eight bracelets, four of them in the last six years. He has won over $7M in tournament play, plus his cash table earnings.

2. Allan Cunningham has five WSOP bracelets in the last six years, including three in a row. He has earned over $8.7M in tournament winnings.

3. Scotty Nguyen consistently cashes wherever he is. He cashed six times at the WSOP 2007, including an 11th-place finish in the main event.

4. Phil Ivey is one of the top players today. He has five WSOP bracelets in the last seven years, and two big wins in Monte Carlo in 2007.

5. Tom Schneider won two WSOP bracelets last year, one in Seven Card Stud Hi/Low 8 or Better, and also in Omaha/Seven Stud Hi/Low 8 or Better. He also made the final table of the $2500 HORSE event.

There are two three-time WSOP main event winners. Only Johnny Moss (1970, 1971 and 1974) and Stu Unger (1981, 1982 and 1997) were able to achieve that feat. They both won it twice in a row, as did Doyle Brunson (1976 and 1977) and Johnny Chan (1987 and 1988).

Other big-name winners include Chris “Jesus” Ferguson (2000), Phil Hellmuth (1989), Dan Harrington (1995), Scotty Nguyen (1998), Huck Seed (1996), Robert Varkonyi (2002) and Carlo Mortensen (2001).

Recent winners have won huge amounts, with the biggest winner being Jamie Gold ($12 million) in 2006. In 2007, Jerry Yang won $8.25 million and Joseph Hachem pocketed $7.5 million in 2005. Chris Moneymaker (2003) set the poker world afire when he won the main event, and $2.5 million, after winning his way into the tournament via an online satellite tournament. Greg Raymer was the other big main event winner, winning $5 million in 2004, and almost won it again the next year in 2005.

The final hand of the 2007 WSOP was a classic if ever there was one.

With Jerry Yang constantly putting the pressure on Tuan Lam, Lam was looking for two good cards that he could go all-in with. He was dealt Ace-Queen, and after Yang raised pre-flop to 1.9 million, he pushed in his stack (23 million). Once again, Yang had a hand to call with and flipped over his pocket eights. The flop was Q, 9, 5 and Lam looked set to double through. That would have still left Yang with over 80 million.

But instead of that happening the turn card was a 7, giving Yang more outs to win the hand. Yang still needed an 8 or a 6 to win the championship, and as many expected, he hit his 6 for the win and the championship.

And let’s not forget the $8 million.