Too good...

The seriously stacked final tables, which should look great when they hit our television screens.

Phil Laak playing day one of the Main Event disguised as an old man, complete with full-on latex mask and make-up.

Eric Brooks, who won the $10,000 Seven-Card Stud event and donated his first prize of $415,856 to charity.

The pros 2008 was their year with lots of popular players winning a bracelet . Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein and Erick Lindgren all struck gold.

The Europeans In total, 11 of 53 bracelets were won by guys this side of the pond. Germany got three, Italy won two, while Northern Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, France, Holland and Russia all claimed one a piece.

Too bad...

John Phan and Johnny Neckar shoving in blind when heads-up in the $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em event . Yes, they ’d done a deal and been playing heads-up for hours, but don’t devalue the bracelet .

Phil Hellmuth having his one-round penalty for abusive behaviour rescinded by Harrah’s.

Tiffany Michelle getting eliminated in 17th place in the Main Event – a female player making the final nine would have been huge for poker as a whole.

The anti-climactic end to the World Series While we might welcome the interest the final nine will create in the coming months, right now the pausing of the tournament feels odd. And unfor tunately for Harrah’s, the final table is probably the most unknown final nine in the history of the Main Event .