On Wednesday night at the 2008 World Series of Poker, Seth grtwhitehoop Fischer and Justin Fluffdog87 Filtz reached the final table of the $2,500 Six Handed No Limit Event (#31). After a wild final table where the two would lose critical pots with pocket aces and pocket kings, Fischer and Filtz finished second and third, respectively. The two cashes brought the total tally by PocketFivers in the 2008 WSOP to well over $9.6 million. Two PocketFivers at a final table: Just another day at the office for members of the site. All of the action was covered live on PocketFivesLive.com, your home for WSOP coverage from the Rio in Las Vegas.

A six-handed tournament requires a completely different strategy than standard tournaments do. To get some perspective into the nuances of play, PocketFives.com spoke to Jim KrazyKanuck Worth. He explained, “Six-handed tournaments are all about opening up your game, playing more hands, and really playing the ‘game’ and your opponents. It's not so much about the ABC's of poker; it’s more about the feel of the game. If you can master short-handed play and the adjustments needed to play at a short-handed table, you will find yourself doing much better at the final tables that you make. Short-handed play is the most exciting game within poker, in my opinion. Check your fear of mixing it up at the door if you want to do well at this game.”

Seth grtwhitehoop Fischer was the runner up in Event #31. On the 198th hand of final table play, he was all in with K-10 of diamonds against Dario Minieri’s pocket queens. When the smoke cleared, the board read A-A-5-2-3, sealing the win for Minieri. Fischer had held the chip lead at the final table until a hand where Minieri pushed all in with 3-4 of spades and was called by Fischer, who had pocket kings. Two spades on the flop gave Minieri plenty of outs; however, the turn and river instead were fours, giving Minieri trips. He’d never relinquish the chip lead from there.

Fischer won the PokerStars Daily Fifty Grand in May for #12,030.53. On June 8th, he took third in the Sunday Mulligan for $21,392.50. In tournaments that count for the PocketFives.com Worldwide Rankings, he pocketed over $33,000 in May. PocketFivesLive.com Tournament Reporter Jill Harrison commented, “Fischer went heads-up against Italian dynamo Dario Minieri tonight, nearly taking down the bracelet until major suckoutage occurred. The Atlanta-based Emory grad and online pro told the media prior to the final table that he would take his winnings to Disneyland; he can now certainly fill all the teacups at Magic Mountain with his hard-earned cash. Many congratulations to Seth.”

Justin Fluffdog87 Filtz (pictured at right) finished third in a battle of PocketFivers. Facing a raise by Minieri and a re-raise by Fischer, Filtz pushed with pocket aces. Fischer flipped over A-K. A king on the flop and a king on the turn was enough to crash Filtz’s rockets, sending him home in third place. He pocketed $214,139 for his efforts in Event #31.

Filtz notched his second cash of the 2008 World Series of Poker; he also took home money in Event #27. PocketFivesLive.com Tournament Reporter Adam Johnson commented, “Filtz's desire to capture World Series gold is emblematic of the young breed of online players today. Turning 21 on June 7th, Filtz has played a handful of WSOP events this summer, but told P5's he bubbled a few event leading up to his $2,500 six-max final table. Filtz considers himself to be a cash game player; heads-up cash games are his bread and butter online.”

Frank Round42 Rusnak (pictured at left) finished eighth in the six-handed tournament. If this were any other World Series of Poker event, we’d be talking about his final table appearance. Rusnak took home a healthy $50,508 payday, a solid return on his $2,500 investment. Rusnak, on the short stack, picked up A-K, but found himself all in pre-flop against Kevin Song’s pocket eights. Rusnak lost the coin flip and bowed out of Event #31. It was Rusnak’s first cash of his 2008 WSOP career. He’s best remembered in live play for his sixth place finish in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure during Season V of the World Poker Tour. Online, he picked up over a quarter of a million dollars for his victory in a $1,000 six-max Full Tilt Online Poker Series V tournament. PocketFivesLive.com Reporter Jessica Welman commented, “After a sixth place finish at the PCA in 2007 and several notable online final tables, Rusnak continues to pile up an impressive resume of results.”

Michael Mossified84 Skomac finished 14th in the $2,500 six-handed event for $19,086 and his second cash of the 2008 World Series. He finished 90th in Event #27 as well. In January, Skomac finished second in the Full Tilt Poker Sunday Brawl for $40,432. Ten days ago, he took third in the $100 rebuy on PokerStars for nearly $20,000. In Event $31, Skomac held K-Q of hearts against Rusnak’s A-Q offsuit. A king on the flop gave Skomac the lead, but Rusnak hit one of the three remaining aces on the river. PocketFivesLive.com Tournament Reporter Brett Collson provides some background information: “Skomac has been a regular in high-stakes MTTs for a long time and picked up some momentum going into the WSOP by winning the Majestic Deep Stack Challenge in March for $72,000. Beware of the kid in the purple hoodie -- he can play.”

Keven Stamdogg Stammen finished 24th. Like Rusnak, he was on the short end of a race, this time holding pocket queens against Leo Fernandez’s A-K of clubs. The river card brought a third club to the board, eliminating Stammen $15,594 richer. To date, his WSOP and Circuit Event winnings are nearly $90,000. He’s a top 30 ranked player on PocketFives.com and recently took down the $100 rebuy on PokerStars for $26,015. Welman commented, “Stammen has managed to rack up his third cash of this Series. If he continues to perform with this level of consistency for the rest of the events, I would not be surprised if he made it to a final table by the end of the summer.”

Zachary CrazyZachary Clark finished 26th for $12,103. On the final hand of his tournament, he held A-4 against Dario Minieri’s A-J. The flop came jack-high, leaving Clark needing running fours or running clubs. Neither happened and he was sent to the rails in 26th place. The winner of the Main Event of FTOPS V, Clark is ranked 25th on PocketFives.com. His FTOPS win was worth nearly $400,000; in tournaments that count for the rankings, he piled up $75,000 in May. One of the true stars of the online poker world, Clark has cashed in both six-handed no limit tournaments offered at the World Series of Poker this year. Collson commented, “Zach is still somewhat of an unknown on the live scene, but that will change as he continues to rack up deep finishes. He's bound to break through soon enough and it could happen before the end of this month. Winning is in his bloodline.”

Also cashing in Event #31 were shannonshorr (32nd for $9,775), IanJ (33rd for $9,775), billywestom (40th for $8,379), Intervention (48th for $6,982), bhanks11 (75th for $4,655), USCphildo (78th for $4,655), Believer82 (80th for $4,189), gboro780 (84th for $4,189), tdomeski (86th for $4,189), and DavidP18 (103rd for $3,724). There were 16 PocketFivers who cashed in the tournament.

Congratulations to Filtz, Fischer, and PocketFivers everywhere for dominating the 2008 World Series of Poker. Stay tuned to PocketFivesLive.com, your home for WSOP coverage.