This tournament marks Richard "Bluffman86" Li's first WSOP cash and final table, but the young 22-year-old isn't here for the first time. This is the second series for the China-born player. Li currently resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He'll begin play with 195,000 chips.
Derek Lerner may not have much in common with Daniel Negreanu, but they are both from Canada. Lerner hails from Montreal and will be making his first WSOP final table today. The young 26-year-old accomplished three cashes in the series last year, all in no-limit events. Lerner isn't quite the short stack today, but he is towards the bottom with 133,000 chips.
Daniel Negreanu is the biggest name and most widely known player at this final table. This will be Negeanu's third cash of this year's series. He finished 22nd in the $1,000 No Limit Hold'em event and just out of the final table in the World Championship Seven-Card Stud event, coming in 11th place. Daniel is no final table rookie and hopes to capture his fourth bracelet. This also marks Daniel's 29th cash in WSOP events. He comes in today with 308,000 chips and is right in contention.
Greg Wohletz will travel a short distance today from Henderson, Nevada, to make his first WSOP final table. Limit hold'em seems to be Wohletz's game, as earlier in this year's series he cashed in the $1,500 Limit Hold'em event. Poker is not his main job though. The 44-year-old Wohletz is a happy father of two as well as a computer programmer. He will begin the day with 301,000 chips.
Fu Wong has already come within inches of winning a WSOP bracelet, finishing second in this year's $10,000 Seven-card stud World Championship event, banking over $250,000. Originally from China, this is his second year competing in the World Series of Poker. Prior to last week, his only other recorded tournament cash was a $110,000 score for finishing 3rd in the $300 rebuy event at the 2006 L.A. Poker Classic.
Turkish native Ugur Marangoz makes his WSOP final-table debut today. Previously, he cashed in the 2005 WSOP Main Event in 250th place for $28,375. Marangoz also has two WPT cashes to his credit, in the 2006 L.A. Poker Classic as well as the 2006 WPT Invitational, where he finished 6th. Marangoz is also a proud father of three.
Hien Tran is a former poker dealer from Sacramento, CA. This is Tran's fourth career cash at the WSOP-- his biggest score coming from his 444th place finish in the 2007 Main Event for just under $30,000. This year, he's already cashed once, in Event 7 ($2,000 NLHE). Tran makes his WSOP final table debut today.
Jeremy Kottler enters the final table as the short stack today. A commercial realtor from Columbus, Ohio, this is Kottler's first WSOP cash and his first final table. His largest previous cash was a second-place finish in a $500 limit hold'em event at the Mirage Poker Showdown in 2007 where he took home just over $20,000.