Ole! The Matador of Poker is Back

The first final table of the World Series of Poker is set (okay, the Casino Employee event was the first first, but this is the first open event) and 2001 WSOP main event winner, Carlos 'The Matador' Mortensen is among the final 9. I've been seeing him do well at a lot of events this past year, and I think this may be the beginning of a strong WSOP for Carlos. He's outlasted over 2,700 people in Event #2, the $1,500 no-limit Hold'em event which boasts a huge $3,789,240 prize pool.

Via Cardplayer.com, the final table members & chip counts:

• 1 Brandon Cantu 773,0000
• 2 Lee Padilla 753,0000
• 3 Drew Rubin 573,0000
• 4 Phong Ly 516,0000
• 5 Mark Swartz 359,0000
• 6 Juan Carlos Mortensen 337,0000
• 7 Don Zewin 337,0000
• 8 Ron Stanley 283,0000
• 9 Brent Roberts 260,0000

Sadly, another one of my faves, Jen Harman, went out in 11th place. Would have liked to see her make it too.