We’re now just days away from the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event and, on Sunday night, PocketFivers made the poker world buzz, finishing first, second, and third in Event #48, a $2,000 no limit tournament. At the end of the day, Alexandre Allingomes Gomes captured his first WSOP bracelet in his first ever WSOP cash. Heads up, he defeated Marco CrazyMarco Johnson, who took $491,273 for his consolation prize. In third place was Ryan g0fla D'Angelo, who had to come back from being the short-stack at the final table. While Event #48 was wrapping up, Barry barryg1 Greenstein finished sixth in the $50,000 HORSE tournament. These PocketFivers helped rocket the total earnings by members of the site to $15 million. A record seven PocketFivers have won bracelets. Relive the events on PocketFivesLive.com, your source for WSOP coverage.

Alexandre Allingomes Gomes defeated Johnson heads up with A-K of spades against Johnson’s J-Q of spades all in pre-flop. The board came 3-2-4-A-4, ending Event #48. Shortly before the final hand, Gomes had a critical double up by cracking Johnson’s aces with A-10 when tens came on the flop and turn. In February, Gomes took down the Wednesday Hundred Fifty Grand on PokerStars for $65,333.16. In May, he took fifth in The Super Tuesday on Stars for $20,700. His first place finish was worth a commanding $770,540, one of the largest prizes dished out to date.

Marco CrazyMarco Johnson (pictured at right) entered final table play as the chip leader with 2.1 million chips, well ahead of the second place stack of Gabe Costner, who held 1.5 million. He now has eight career WSOP cashes, including a 34th place finish in Event #1 this year for $23,162. PocketFivesLive.com Tournament Reporter Crystal Quibell commented, “Johnson has beaten out opponents such as PearlJammer and mattg1983 in major online tournaments. He is now actively playing in live tournaments as well. After cashing in four WSOP events in 2007, including one final table, he is back again in 2008 as one of the many young players who are proving that successful online tournament play can transfer over into live tournaments.”

Ryan g0fla D'Angelo entered the final table of Event #48 as the short stack. He was sent home in third place and cashed for $326,812. On his final hand of the night, he found himself on the short end of a coin flip, holding A-Q suited against Gomes’ pocket nines. A nine hit on the flop and D’Angelo’s hand failed to improve from there. He also finished 20th in Event #2, which boasted the largest non-Main Event tournament field in WSOP history. In that tournament, he cashed for $24,134. D’Angelo has recorded wins in the $100 rebuy on PokerStars as well as the $11 rebuy $50K Guaranteed on that site.

Final Table Team's Eric jakz101 Crain finished 13th in Event #48, cashing for $35,843. It was the second time in two days that the namesake of the site, pocket fives, sent someone to the rails. This time Crain held the speed limit against Daniel Rome’s A-3 of spades. An ace on the flop put Rome out in front for good and sent Crain to the rails. He won a $300 buy-in WSOP Circuit Event at the Grand Casino Tunica in late 2006 for $63,105. About one week ago, he finished sixth in a $216 buy-in tournament on Full Tilt Poker for $23,025. PocketFivesLive.com Tournament Reporter Jessica Welman noted, “Crain vaulted into the chip lead early on Day 1 and stayed there until late in the second day of play. Along the way, he made several aggressive plays that resulted in his opponents laying down some big hands, most notably when his re-raise all in pre-flop induced another player to fold pocket queens face up.”

Dan wretchy Martin (pictured at left) placed 16th in the $2,000 buy-in no limit tournament. Rome also sent Martin packing, this time holding big slick against Martin’s J-9. Martin had an open-ended straight draw after the turn, but none of his outs hit. It was his fourth WSOP cash of 2008 and larger than his three previous cashes combined. On June 1st, he won the Full Tilt Poker Sunday Brawl for $69,961. In tournaments that count for the PocketFives.com Rankings, he banked $111,000 in June. Welman commented, “Martin racked up his second cash of the 2008 World Series with his 16th place showing. Already a popular and notable player in the PocketFives community, Dan is beginning to make a name for himself in live tournament poker as well. He is having a great first World Series and, in each tournament, he seems to get closer and closer to the final table.”

Darren DABADESTCHIC Nelson (pictured at right) finished in 17th place, cashing for $25,301. He found himself all in pre-flop holding Q-9 against Gabe Costner’s A-Q. A flop of 6-7-8 gave Nelson hope, but the turn and the river were both bricks. He made his second cash of the 2008 WSOP; the other one came in Event #7, another $2,000 no limit tournament, for $18,833. In January, he won the Wednesday Hundred Fifty Grand on PokerStars for nearly $50,000. He recently finished in third place in a $100 rebuy on PokerStars for $24,572.15.

Adam Akat11 Katz finished in 25th place in Event #48, cashing for $20,241. He ran into Denys Drobyna’s pocket kings when he held pocket jacks. Katz is ranked 43rd on PocketFives.com and, two weeks ago, took down The Super Tuesday on PokerStars for $46,357. When he wasn’t busy winning online, he was cashing in Event #13, finishing 10th and taking home $38,236. His lifetime WSOP winnings are nearly $80,000.

Other PocketFivers cashing in Event #48 were David Davidp18 Peters (47th for $11,385), Kevin kice32 Iacofano (53rd for $11,385), Zachary CrazyZachary Clark (59th for $10,120), Adam Roothlus Levy (65th for $8,855), Jonathan Wein Wein (122nd for $5,060), Gary GB2005 Bogdanski (124th for $5,060), Wade soggyvag2 Woelfel (131st for $4,216), Blair Rodman (136th for $4,216), and Matt Plattsburgh Vengrin (189th for $3,795).

In the $50,000 buy-in HORSE event, Barry barryg1 Greenstein (pictured at left) finished sixth. He entered final table play third in chips with two million, trailing Erick Lindgren’s first place stack of 3.7 million. He was sent home by Scotty Nguyen during Stud Eight or Better play and cashed for $355,200. Greenstein has logged a profitable 2008 World Series of Poker. He cashed in Event #18, a $5,000 No Limit 2-7 Draw with Rebuys tournament, for $225,552. He took 46th in Event #23, a $2,000 no limit event, for $7,583. Greenstein captured his third WSOP bracelet in the $1,500 Razz event (#26) for $157,619. Then, he took 14th in the $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo event for $18,401. Finally, he cashed for just over $1,000 in Event #39 before finishing sixth in Event #45. Quibell talks about Greenstein’s career: “Greenstein is well-known throughout the poker world for donating a large percentage of his winnings to charities such as Children Incorporated. The kind-hearted man is a dangerous force to be reckoned with at the poker table, playing in a variety of high-stakes cash games on a regular basis and cashing in multiple WSOP events year after year. He remains humble, despite amassing a list of achievements that most poker players envy.”

The first of the four starting days of the 2008 Main Event is Thursday. The $10,000 buy-in tournament will play down to nine combatants on July 14th before resuming in November in order to coincide with ESPN’s television airing of the final table. PocketFivesLive.com will be on hand throughout the entire Main Event covering online poker players. Check out PocketFivesLive.com, your home for WSOP coverage.