The 2007 World Series kicked off on June 1^st with two events for the first time in its history. This year the usual $500 Casino Employees event was joined by the new $5000 World Championship Mixed Games event. The WSOP also kicked off quite literally, when the players led by Mike “The Mouth” Matusow (who else), revolted over the introduction of the new “Poker Peek” cards.

“Poker Peek” cards are a new design with the main difference being that the numbers in the corners are angled; apparently this is supposed to make it easier to see when peeking. Needless to say this went down like whale supper at a Greenpeace fundraiser; poker players after all are notoriously stubborn. They like things “just so”, and these cards definitely did not come under that category. Three hours in and they were hurriedly replaced.

The 2007 WSOP was supposed to be a quiet affair, at least that’s what the scaremongers had us believe in the aftermath of the UIGEA. Harrah’s had made a fuss about internet qualifying and with the all the problems facing the online gaming industry it seemed numbers for this year would be significantly reduced. Or perhaps that was just wishful thinking on the part of the US Department of Justice?

So far it certainly looks like it, with the Rio’s Amazon room so overcrowded a major scrap looks likely to break out at any minute. So many players were crushed into the hall on day two that the start of the second day of Event #1 had to be put back by two and a half hours.

Eventually it did get under way and played down to a final table of nine players, who would return to battle it out on Day Three. Day Three also saw the first of the really massive fields when players took their seats for Event #3, the $1500 NL Hold’em tournament. Any debate about the state of poker was finally settled when 2,998 players lined up to form the biggest non-Championship field in poker history. US DoJ officials take note: poker is in rude health.

With new events kicking off every day it was good to finally get the first winner out of the way, and wouldn’t you know it, another record went with it as well. Steve Billirakis, from Chicago, Illinois, had already won over $200,000 in live tournaments before he took his seat at this final table, but at 21 years and ten days old none of them had come inside the borders of the USA.

Up to the final table Greg “FBT” Mueller had been the story of this event, dominating Day One and putting on an even better display on Day Two. Mueller brought his form onto the final table as well, surviving a number of harsh beats to take the chip lead into his heads-up battle with Billirakis. There he used his experience in the Limit sections to build a sizable lead over his 21-year-old opponent, but just when it seemed Mueller’s first WSOP bracelet was coming his way the tide turned.

Billirakis took over the chip lead after hitting two consecutive full houses and then sealed the win in a bizarre hand. On the final hand of the event Mueller and Bilirakis got involved in a raising war before the flop that ended with Mueller being all-in. Aces versus kings? Not quite. When the cards were tabled it was Billirakis’ K-2o versus Mueller’s 5d4d. The board blanked out and the WSOP had its youngest ever winner.

The final table payouts were as follows:

1^st - Steve Billirakis – $536,287

2^nd - Greg 'FBT' Mueller – $328,554

3^rd - Tony George – $218,329

4^th - Steve Paul-Ambrose – $146,259

5^th - Fred Berger – $108,105

6^th - Roger McDow – $84,788

7^th - Kirk Morrison – $63,591

8^th - Jon 'Pearljammer' Turner – $46,633

9^th - John Younger – $33,915