1. Dao Bac Garden Grove, CA $157,975 2. Adam Geyer Austin, TX $86,691 3. Chip Jett Las Vegas, NV $55,801 4. Raymond Davis Commerce, CA $34,012 5. Imre Leibold Tallin, Eastonia $26,572 6. Vladimir Shchemelev Russia $20,793 7. Michael Craig Las Vegas, NV $15,943 8. Patrick Poels Mesa, AZ $11,957 9. Eric Tomberlin Orange Park, FL $8,171 10. Juliano Maesano Sao Paulo, Brazil $8,171 11. David Duran Englewood, CA $7,507 12. Douglas Carli Alliance, OH $7,507 13. Wai Kei Liu New Castle, England $6,842 14. Mathew Matros Brooklyn, NY $6,842 15. Susan Genard Santa Monica, CA $6,178 16. Scott Clark Las Vegas, NV $6,178 17. Daniel Lown Bullhead City, AZ $5,514 18. John Myung Vienna, VA $5,514 19. Michael Klarman Philadelphia, PA $5,514 20. Gregory Rosebeck Las Vegas, NV $5,514 21. Justin Thomas Westfield, NY $5,514 22. Bonnie Leinhos Las Vegas, NV $5,514 23. Danial Fishell Las Vegas, NV $5,514 24. Diego Cordovez Palo Alto, CA $5,514 25. David Allison Burlingame, CA $4,849 26. Hooman Nikzad Scottsdale, AZ $4,849 27. Joseph Gotlieb Hollywood, FL $4,849 28. George Lind Gilbert, AZ $4,849 29. Jonathan Tare New York, NY $4,849 30. Petros Theocharides Gilbert, AZ $4,849 31. Gary Do Englewood, CA $4,849 32. Denise Molloy La Jolla, CA $4,849 33. Frank Digiorgio Los Angeles, CA $4,185 34. Ali Eslami Van Nuys, CA $4,185 35. Philip B Phoenix, AZ $4,185 36. Douglas Saab Trussville, AL $4,185 37. Paul Albino Bedford, New Hampshire $4,185 38. Ed Fernandez San Jose, CA $4,185 39. Tim Leung Oceanside, CA $4,185 40. Arthur Carr Las Vegas, NV $4,185 41. Mitch Maples Sugarland, TX $3,521 42. Salim Hanna Gilbert, AZ $3,521 43. Alex Kravchenko Moscow, Russia $3,521 44. Curtis Rystadt Portland, OR $3,521 45. Earl Odom Las Vegas, NV $3,521 46. Larry Willis $3,521 47. Brian Nadell Las Vegas, NV $3,521 48. Frank Okasaki Reno, NV $3,521 49. Kenneth Nay Boulder, CO $2,856 50. Nick Poludoros Athem, AZ $2,856 51. James Droke Fort Myers, FL $2,856 52. Gary Benson Australia $2,856 53. Lou Ercolono Cedar Grove, NJ $2,856 54. $2,856 55. Jeff Campbell Duluth, Ga $2,856 56. Donald Frederick Henderson, NV $2,856 57. Hani Awad Las Vegas, NV $2,192 58. David Kornhauser Morganville, NJ $2,192 59. Sanjay Pandya Gallaway, NJ $2,192 60. Mark Streckfus Lake Charles, LA $2,192 61. Kyle Morris Las Vegas, NV $2,192 62. Walter Browne Berkeley, CA $2,192 63. Daran Norris Burbank, CA $2,192 64. Thomas Love Marietta, OH $2,192 65. Barry Hartheimer New York, NY $1,528 66. Erik Seidel Las Vegas, NV $1,528 67. John Bunch Las Vegas, NV $1,528 68. Jeraint Hazan UK $1,528 69. Steven Hegyi UK $1,528 70. Michael Schneider Covington, GA $1,528 71. Michael Lemkin Santa Monica, CA $1,528 72. Alexandra Vuong Rancho Palos Verdes, CA $1,528

Tournament Notes:

--The winner of the Limit S.H.O.E. championship was Dao Bac, from Garden Grove, CA. He is a 51-year-old professional poker player. This was his first victory ever at the World Series of Poker.

-- Bac was born in Vietnam. He arrived in the United States in 1989. He is married and has two children.

-- During much of the tournament, Bac read from a leather-bound book when he was not involved in a hand. Bac is a practicing Buddhist. He read from a book on prayer and meditation, he said "to keep him calm during the tournament." Whatever was written in the book must have worked, as Bac remained cool throughout the three-day event and eventually collected $157,975 in prize money.

-- Bac is the first Vietnamese poker player to win a gold bracelet at this year's World Series. Vietnamese-born poker players have enjoyed perhaps the highest per capita WSOP wins and earnings of any nationality. However, this year has been a relative drought for the nation that produced the likes of Men Nguyen, David Pham, Tony Ma, and others.

-- This was Bac's ninth tournament entry this year. He had yet to cash until this moment. Bac did cash twice last year, with winnings totaling just $5,000. Since 1990, Bac has been playing mostly cash games at casinos around San Diego and Los Angeles. He played $3-6 hold'em for many years and gradually became good enough to move up to middle-limit games. Bac has won major tournaments elsewhere and has multiple cashes.

-- Bac was cheered on by a large entourage, which included family and friends. When asked about his plans to celebrate, he said he will go out to a nice dinner later in the evening. He will give the gold bracelet to his wife, Hanh Nguyen.

-- S.H.O.E. is a rotation of poker which includes four games - Seven-Card Stud, Limit Hold'em, Omaha High-Low, and Stud Eight-or-Better. It has been part of the WSOP menu intermittently for the last decade. It was originally a marketing-driven initiative when the WSOP was played at what was formally Binion's Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas. In fact, a H.O.R.S.E. event routinely preceded the S.H.O.E. tournament, thus making for the duo of events which spelled out "Horseshoe."

-- Poker writer Michael Craig made his second final table appearance this year. He ended up going out in 7th place. Craig is the author of two books, "The Professor, the Baker, and the Suicide King," as well as "The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide - Tournament Edition."

-- Two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Pat Poels was the 9th-place finisher. The Mesa, AZ poker player's bid for win number three came up short. Had he won, Poels would have won gold bracelets in each of the last three years.

-- Other former WSOP event winners from the past who cashed included Diego Cordovez (24th), Doug Saab (36th), and Erik Seidel (66th).

Nolan Dalla

2007 World Series of Poker