Duncan "Pumper" Bell Wins WSOP $2,500 buy-in
No-Limit Hold’em championship

"Winning this gold bracelet means a lot to me.
Every poker player’s dream is to win a bracelet."

LAS VEGAS, NV – Duncan “Pumper” Bell from Vancouver, BC, Canada, has won the $2,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event. He is a 32-year-old professional poker player. Bell is married to his wife Joyce, and has one son, Ian.

Six-Handed Hold’em emphasizes short-handed poker skills. Rather than a full table of nine players, each table is played six-handed (or less, as players bust out). This generally requires competitors to play cards out of the standard range of starting-hand requirements. It also makes post-flop skill paramount to victory.

“Pumper” Bell got his poker nickname from playing aggressively. Friends say he likes to “pump up the pots.” He concentrates mostly on live-action games played near his hometown. However, Bell has played at casinos throughout Western Canada.

Bell collected $666,697 for first place. He also earned his first WSOP gold bracelet. To date, Bell now has two cashes at the WSOP. He took 318th place in the Main Event in 2005.

Prior to turning pro, Bell played ice hockey in the amateur ranks, He also worked as a bellman at the famous Banff Springs Hotel, a luxury resort in the Canadian Rockies.

The real story of this final table was the remarkable dream come true scenario for the champion (Bell) and his poker pal, Shawn Buchanan, from Abbotsford, BC (Canada), who finished fourth. Many friends say they hope to play against each other for a gold bracelet at the WSOP. In this case, the dream really came true. Bell and Buchanan play together regularly in casinos and some home games around Vancouver. They ended up making it all the way to the final table in this event, with Bell winning the bragging rights.

The $2,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event attracted 1,395 entrants. The prize pool totaled $3,213,100. The top 99 places collected prize money.

The turnout for this year’s tournament increased by 7.5 percent over the previous year. In 2007, 1,290 players registered for this event.

The tournament was played over three consecutive days. Day Two ran longer than usual, due to the large field. On Day Three, the final table was dealt out on the ESPN stage, also known as the “feature table.” The secondary final table, located adjacent to the main stage area, featured the conclusion of Event #14 in an intentional scheduling overlap. Most days at the WSOP this year will include two final tables.

Proving that the World Series of Poker is truly international event, players from 12 different nations finished in-the-money in this tournament – including Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, England, China, France, Germany, Romania, Russia, Scotland, and the United States.

Following his win, Rep made the following statements in a post-tournament interview:

• Winning this gold bracelet means a lot to me. Every poker player’s dream is to win a bracelet. Some people have 11 of them. I'm happy with just one.