World Series of Poker Event #13, No-Limit Hold'em, 7-9 June 2008

Entrants: 1,395
Buy in: $2,500
Prize pool: $3,213,100

Final results:
1. Duncan Bell, $666,697
2. Steve Merrifield, $428,949
3. Nathan Doudney, $260,261
4. Shawn Buchanan, $218,491
5. Brent Hanks, $178,327
6. Jason Sanders, $139,770
7. Ariel Soffer, $107,639
8. Brent Ditzik, $83,541

The $2,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event attracted 1,395 entrants. The prize pool totaled $3,213,100. The top 99 places collected prize money.

The winner was Duncan “Pumper” Bell from Vancouver, BC (Canada). He is a 32-year-old professional poker player. Bell is married to his wife Joyce, and has one son, Ian.

“Pumper” Bell got his poker nickname from playing aggressively. Friends say he likes to “pump up the pots.” He concentrates mostly on live-action games played near his hometown. However, Bell has played at casinos throughout Western Canada.

Bell collected $666,697 for first place. He also earned his first WSOP gold bracelet. To date, Bell now has two cashes at the WSOP. He took 318th place in the Main Event in 2005.

Following his victory, Bell stated in a post-tournament interview: "(Winning this gold bracelet) means a lot to me. Every poker player’s dream is to win a bracelet. Some people have 11 of them. I will be happy with just one, but we will see what happens."

The final hand of the tournament pitted “Pumper” Bell’s pocket aces against Steven Merrifield’s pocket tens. The rockets held up.

Notable in-the-money finishers included former WSOP gold bracelet winners Patri Friedman (24th), Chau Giang (43rd), Paul Kobel (62nd), and Lee Watkinson (91st).

Three former world poker champions entered this event – including Jerry Yang (2007), Jamie Gold (2006), and Phil Hellmuth (1989). None cashed.

Talk show host Montel Williams played in this tournament. He was one of the chip leaders after Day One in last year’s Main Event. Williams says he intends to play in four or five events at this year’s WSOP, including the Main Event.

All WSOP images are supplied by "IMPDI for the 2008 WSOP"