2,543 poker players competed in Event 49 of the 2010 World Series of Poker, a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold'em tournament. 270 places would win a piece of the $3.4 million pot, and the biggest winner of all was 22 year old English major college student Mike Linn, who won his first ever WSOP gold bracelet and $609,493.
Mike Linn already cashed three times at the WSOP, and his most notable achievement before this was placing 191st out of 6,494 players in last year's WSOP Main Event championship.
Winning in poker seems to be running in Mike Linn's blood as he is the nephew of poker star Barry Greenstein. However, despite this close connection, Mike Linn has never received advice or financial assistance with regards to poker. According to Mike Linn, Barry Greenstein advised him that he would have to graduate from college before he would receive any advice or even financial backing to stress the importance of finishing college. Luckily for Mike Linn, he already has proven his worth in poker without the masterful advice of Barry Greenstein, who was cheering at the rail during the final table.
According to official records, Mike Linn now has one win, one final table appearance, and three cashes at the WSOP. His career WSOP earnings now total $649,341. Oddly enough, Mike Linn’s prize money won in this event, amounting to more than $600,000, is more than all three combined gold bracelet payouts achieved by Barry Greenstein.
Mike Linn even jokes, "I always knew my uncle was a gambler. But I had no idea he was a very good poker player. Six months into me taking poker seriously, I realized he had a lot to do with the game. To be honest, his deal with me is that he will not mentor me or coach me in any way until I graduate from college. But now that I think about it, when I graduate from college I should teach him! (laughing)”
The runner up was Taylor Larkin from Siloam Springs, Arkansas, who marked his first time to cash at the WSOP to win $378,905.
The third-place finisher was Mihai Manole from Targoviste, Romani, who got paid $268,189.
The fourth-place finisher was Ben Smith from West Palm Beach, Florida, who won $193,418 for his first final table appearance.
The fifth-place finisher was Chad Grimes from Greenville, North Carolina, who won $141,235.
The sixth-place finisher was Alexander Kuzmin from Moscow, Russia, who marked histhird time to cash at the WSOP and his second final table appearance to win $104,354.
The seventh-place finisher was Justin Zaki from St. Petersburg, Florida, who earned $78,067.
The eighth-place finisher was Erle Mankin from Sacramento, California, who marked his third WSOP cash and biggest payout ever to win $59,082.
The ninth-place finisher was John Myung from Vienna, Virginia, who has more than $2 million in overall career tournament winnings, and added $45,247 for this effort.
Former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included – Roland de Wolfe (60th), Marc Naalden (134th), Robert Cheung (183rd), Matt Matros (194th), David Daneshgar (201st), and J.P. Kelly (208th). Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler (191st place) became the first player at this year’s WSOP to cash eight times. The record for most cashes in a single year is 10, held by Nikolay Evdakov in 2008.
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