Lieu was born in Vietnam and immigrated to the United States with her parents and older sister when she was just an infant. The family settled in Colorado. By 13, Lieu was playing Chinese poker. Later she moved on to Texas Hold’em after railing games at local casinos. At 18, she and a friend held home games, offering Hold’em and pai gow.

When her father suffered a heart attack, Lieu decided to pick things up a notch, and with an already sizable bankroll, hit the $80-$160 games in Vegas so that she could begin supporting her parents financially. She quickly moved up the limits, but experienced setbacks in her personal life that almost brought her back down to zero.

Her best friend John Phan played a key role in helping Lieu refocus and amass a big bankroll anew. In fact, it was Phan who encouraged her to enter the NL Hold’em event at WSOP ’05 in which she placed fifth, earning over $168,000.

From there on, the final-table successes snowballed. A fourth-place finish in $2,500 NL Hold’em at the Bellagio’s 2005 Festa al Lago, and 16th in two other events there, were followed by showings in the top 10 at the World Poker Finals, Five Diamond Poker Classic and the Gold Strike World Poker Open.

In 2006 she accepted a heads-up challenge from Erik Sagstrom and the two played Limit Hold’em over the course of three days in Vegas for a $600,000 total prize. When the chips had been bagged, the score was Lieu 2, Sagstrom 1.

At 2007’s L.A. Poker Classic, Lieu conquered over 450 competitors in the $1,000 NL Hold’em tournament, taking down a first-prize win of over $148,000.

Lieu currently ranks as the 19th top all-time female money winner in the poker world.

Known as “The Poker Diva” by her fellow players, thanks to her flair for fashion, Lieu cuts an impeccably stylish figure at the felt that belies her aggressive style, competitive spirit and top-notch chops – until the cards are in the air.

Liz has appeared on magazine covers galore lately, including Deal, American Poker Player, Maxim’s Total Poker and Woman Poker Player, to name just a few. Her profile as a representative of the game is rising, and she anticipates signing worldwide endorsement deals for both gaming and non-gaming brands. She doesn’t see herself ever giving up poker playing, though. “I’m very determined to win a bracelet, and I see a bright future for me in poker. I learn something new every time I play and will only continue to improve my game.” But the pro has a philanthropic side too; Lieu donates 20% of her winnings to charity.

Poker is what Lieu says she’s best at, and even though she’d like to slow down someday and have a family, she’d still find a way to fit poker in occasionally. For now, shopping, dancing and spending time with family and friends fill what little spare time she has. So if you want a peek into the brilliant strategy behind Liz Lieu’s game, or just want to find out what the hottest style trends are, click on her PokerListings.com blog on a regular basis.

Elky weilded is big stack aggressively (not as hot as it sounds^TM), moving all-in in (not as hot as it sounds^TM) time after time, pounding the rest of the guys at the table into submission (definitely not as hot as it sounds).

By the time Elky got heads-up with Nam Le, he held a 15-1 chip advantage, and wasted little time closing out him out and claiming the championship.

Elky banks $1,411,015 for the win and his first WPT title.

The rest of the final table pay-outs went: Nam Le ($943,215), Oddie Dardon ($506,245), Nenad Medic ($373,010), Adam “Roothlus” Levy ($266,445), and William Mietz ($186,510).

We began this seventh day with just 27 players left and what seemed like the hopes and dreams of at least half the poker industry on the shoulders of the last standing female in the group.

Partly because she’s a woman and even more so because she is an attractive one, insiders felt Tiffany Michelle making the final table would be great for the game. And since she started the day third in chips it looked like everyone’s dream was about to come true.

But right from the get-go today, the boys played hardball with everybody’s favorite girl. If Hot Chips raised, someone came over the top, and when she bet bigger, they shoved. It wasn’t long before she slipped down the leaderboard and was starting to look more than a little frustrated with it all.

In the end it looked like that frustration got the best of her when she shipped it bad, running ace-jack into Peter Eastgate’s pocket aces after an ace flopped.

We began this seventh day with just 27 players left and what seemed like the hopes and dreams of at least half the poker industry on the shoulders of the last standing female in the group.

Partly because she’s a woman and even more so because she is an attractive one, insiders felt Tiffany Michelle making the final table would be great for the game. And since she started the day third in chips it looked like everyone’s dream was about to come true.

But right from the get-go today, the boys played hardball with everybody’s favorite girl. If Hot Chips raised, someone came over the top, and when she bet bigger, they shoved. It wasn’t long before she slipped down the leaderboard and was starting to look more than a little frustrated with it all.

In the end it looked like that frustration got the best of her when she shipped it bad, running ace-jack into Peter Eastgate’s pocket aces after an ace flopped.

Teaching the young guns a thing or two.

Dennis Phillips hails from St. Louis, Missouri and at 53 is the oldest participant remaining in play. Age has proved no obstacle for the down-to-earth American, though, as he will return with the largest stack and possibly the best chance of picking up the bracelet. By profession, Dennis sells trucks of all shapes and sizes and although he has a few live cashes, the payout he gets from this event, wherever he finishes, will of course massively eclipse his previous wins by a large margin.

2. Ivan Demidov - $24,400,000

From Russia with chips.

Hailing from Moscow, Russia, Ivan is one of only two players at the final table who is of neither Canadian nor American descent. The namesake of a famous Russian politician, Ivan comes into the final well chipped up in second place and will spend the next four months dreaming of what might be. An avid fan of skiing and scuba diving, he has already picked up one cash this Series, an 11th-place finish in the $1,000 Rebuy event. He was pleased with this result but with a minimum of $900,670 awaiting him in November, this has been one summer the young Russian will never forget.

3. Scott Montgomery - $19,690,000

Great Scott!

Scott Montgomery may not have had a live cash of note prior to 2008, but this has been an outstanding year for the Canadian - he has already picked up a fifth-place finish at the WPT LA Poker Classic for over a quarter of a million dollars. The 26-year-old traveled from his hometown of Perth, Ontario to play at the World Series and it proved a worthwhile trip, with three cashes already and a massive further payday awaiting him in November.

4. Peter Eastgate - $18,375,000

Dangerous Dane!

Dane Peter Eastgate will be leading the charge to bring home the WSOP Main Event bracelet to Europe. Best known for leading EPT Copenhagen for some time before eventually succumbing in a slightly disappointing 32nd spot, Eastgate has put that disappointment behind him in style. In fourth spot coming into the home stretch, the Dane has every chance to put a cat among the pigeons by taking home the title. If he does so, he will single-handedly eclipse Gus Hansen as Denmark’s top tournament money winner.

5. Ylon Schwartz - $12,525,000

It’s up to you, New York, New York!

Thirty-eight-year-old Ylon Schwartz is one of the most colorful characters at the final table, and the happy-go-lucky New Yorker has much to be merry about, as he will return in November in the middle of the pack, set for glory. A seasoned gambler of 25 years, he says he respects fellow finalist David Rheem’s fierce play a lot and when asked about his plans between now and November, he told us in typical jovial fashion, “I’m going

Those players whose nerves, stamina and fortunes held through the grueling 11-day schedule of the Main Event will now become the most famous nine men in poker - for four months at least.

The chosen few will reconvene at the Rio, Las Vegas on November 9 to play out the final table, and as WSOP commissioner Jeffrey Pollack commented astutely, “The excitement and interest that will surround our final nine players will be unprecedented.”

With $9,119,517 the juicy prize for first place and eight millionaires in the making, there will be a frenzy surrounding these players as momentum builds toward the final.

Here are those history-making men, dubbed by the media the “November Nine,” along with their stacks.