Now heading towards the final stretch of events, the 2008 World Series of Poker has been a very memorable one already with lots of records set and new players seeing gold bracelet glory. And since the last report on events 16-30 of the WSOP, 15 more players have secured bracelets by winning tournaments.

Most of the recent tournaments have been more side events but there have been a few world championships including the all-important H.O.R.S.E. tourney. This mixture of Hold’em, Omaha, Razz, Stud, and Stud Eight or Better is often called the champions tournament because only the best enter it. So let’s see who the champ of champions was.

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Event #31: This six-handed No Limit event drew a surprisingly decent prize pool in $2,327,600 as 1,012 players entered. Poker legend Scotty Nguyen would just miss the final table here as Seth Fischer and Dario Minieri battled it out for the win. Minieri prevailed and took home over a half million dollars for the victory.

Event #32: Yet another No Limit Hold’em event in this WSOP saw a final table full of virtual unknowns. And the king of these unknowns would turn out to be Jose-Luis Velador as he took the gold bracelet and cashed for over $574 K

Event #33: The 33rd event of the WSOP brought a World Championship in the Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Split (8’s or Better) tourney. The field was stacked full of pros and the last table reflected this with Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Annie Duke, Marcel Luske, and Steve Sung all making it to the end. German Sebastian Ruthenberg would trump them all though and win $328,756.

Event #34: Layne Flack has had a few chances to get his 6th bracelet but they all slipped through his fingers. Not this time though as Flack won this Pot Limit Omaha (w/ReBuys) event and $577,725 to go with it.

Event #35: With only a prize pool of $520,065 and 381 entrants, Event #35 Seven Card Stud wasn’t the most glamorous one to take place at the WSOP. But that wasn’t bothering Michael Rocco who beat Al Barbieri in heads-up play to win the bracelet and $135,753 as well.

Event #36: Yet another tournament to be decided by non-famous players was this No Limit Hold’em event featuring a nice prize pool of $3,340,155. Out of 2,447 of the original players, this one came down to Jesper Hougaard and Cody Slaubaugh fighting for the top prize. Hougaard would come out on top and secure $610,304 for first while Slaubaugh didn’t do too bad either with $389,128.

Event #37: It was time for another World Championship in the Omaha Hi-Lo Split (8’s or Better) event. Reigning World Poker Tour champ David Chui and Mike “The Mouth” Matusow headlined the last table but David Benyamine topped the final leaderboard with the win.

Event #38: This Pot Limit tournament would see David Kitai outplay everyone en route to his first ever WSOP bracelet. He also collected nearly a quarter million in doing so.

Event #39: One of the bigger prize pools at the 08’ World Series of Poker would be this No Limit tourney offering $3,712,800. Eric Beren looked like he was going to go all the way at the final table before busting out in 3rd. That opened the way for David Woo to sneak in and claim victory as well as $631,550.

Event #40: Many people’s odds on favorite to win this 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball tournament would have been Billy Baxter. After all, the Lowball legend has 7 WSOP bracelets and they’ve all come at these types of games. However, John “The Razor” Phan would survive Baxter, and a heated argument with Gioi Luong, to get his second bracelet of this year’s WSOP.

Event #41: This mixed No Limit/Limit Hold’em tournament witnessed Frank Gary not only make his first ever WSOP cash, but also grab his 1st bracelet at the same time. The retired, RV traveler earned an extra $219,562 to keep that gas-hog fueled.

Event #42: The WSOP proved to have a little something for everyone with the Seniors No Limit Hold’em World Championship. And just because this was a seniors event didn’t mean the field was short on talent. People like Johnny Chan, Doyle Brunson, and Avery Cardoza added some stars to the field but Dan Lacourse shined the brightest in taking home $368,832 for the victory.

Event #43: Erik Seidel managed to be the only big name player to make it to the final table in this Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo (8’s or Better) affair but couldn’t top the winner Martin Klaser.

Event #44: A small, 879 person No Limit Hold’em (w/ ReBuys) event turned into a huge prize pool when people bought back in with $1,000 an unheard of 2,508 times putting $3,240,174 on the line. Max Greenwood grabbed the largest chunk of this money when he pocketed $693,392 for winning.

Event #45: The second biggest event of the entire WSOP (behind the Main Event) would take place here in the H.O.R.S.E. tournament. Only the best of the best filled the 148 player field as they anted up the hefty $50,000 buy-in fee to make a prize pool of $7,104,000. People like Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, and more took a stab at the big money up for grabs. By the end, it was the talkative Scotty Nguyen who took the gold bracelet and the largest top prize so far in $1,989,120.