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.

This was the first WSOP event Pillai has ever entered. He won $527,829 and the gold bracelet.

Dustin Holmes arrived at the final table as the chip leader (and eventually exited in fourth place). But from the start, all eyes were on superstar Phil Hellmuth, Jr. The 11-time gold bracelet winner was gunning for number 12 and made things interesting for a while. But he eventually busted out in 6th place.

Perry Friedman won a WSOP gold bracelet back in 2002. He exited in 7th place.

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One of the most unusual hands of the year took place when play was nine-handed. Three players moved in with premium cards. For the first time in memory, three players were essentially “all in” with – A-A. A-A, and K-K. The two pocket aces ended up splitting the pot.

Play on Day Three began 10-handed. However, the official final table “started” at nine-handed. There was some early suspense as the lowest stacked player at the start of the day, Phil Hellmuth, was uncertain to reach the finale. When Luke Vrabel busted out in 10th place, Phil Hellmuth locked up yet another milestone in poker history. He officially made it to his 39th final table (lifetime), which placed him into a tie for first place on the all-time “Most WSOP Final Tables” list. He now shares the record with T.J. Cloutier.

Cloutier was in the audience, no doubt watching the finale with mixed emotions. Cloutier received a nice ovation from the capacity crowd and a hug from Hellmuth when the announcement was made about the two poker legends sharing the record. Several other poker notables were present, including Phil Ivey who sat in the front row.

One poker journalist labeled Hellmuth’s achievement “the Triple Crown of Poker.” This includes: (1) Most gold bracelets, (2) Most cashes, and (3) Most final tables.

Edward “Bolivia” Moncada, who won a WSOP gold bracelet in 2005, took 13th.

Norm McDonald, actor and comedian from “Saturday Night Live” fame, finished in 20th place. This is the third straight year McDonald has attended the WSOP. It marked his highest WSOP finish to date.

Steve Dannenmann, runner up in the 2005 championship event (second to winner Joe Hachem), finished in 35th place.

William Perry finished 53rd. He won last year’s World Series of Poker Circuit championship at the Grand Casino in Tunica, MS.