Event #28
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $3,000
Number of Entries: 827
Total Prize Money: $2,282,520
Date of Tournament: June 17-19, 2007

WSOP GOLD BRACELET WINNER
EVENT # 28 – SHANKAR PILLAI

  • The winner of the $3,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em championship was Shankar Pillai, from Commack, NY. He is a 23-year-old aspiring poker pro, who also spends much of his time working in investments.
  • Incredibly, this was the first World Series of Poker tournament Pillai has ever entered. He won $527,829 and his first gold and diamond bracelet. It is an accomplishment that will be difficult, if not impossible to match.
  • Pillai won a final table at which much of the public’s attention was focused his opponent, superstar Phil Hellmuth, Jr. The 11-time gold bracelet winner was gunning for WSOP win number 12 and made things interesting for a while. But he eventually busted out in 6th place, leaving Pillai to emerge with the victory.
  • The winner thwarted what would have been a historic first at the World Series. On the same day, Katja Thater became the first woman to win a gold bracelet in three years (in the Razz championship), Beth Shak held the chip lead much of the way against Pillai. However, the young man from New York won the final pot of the night – his A-8 besting Shak’s K-8 to take down the final hand of the tournament.
  • The soft-spoken Pillai was interviewed following his upset win. He stated he plans to invest much of his half-million in winnings. However, he does have plans to indulge a little. “I’ll buy a car,” he said. “Yes, a new one.”