The $2,000 Limit Hold’em Event #20 Championship boasted an entry field of 480 participants and a prize fund of almost 1 million dollars, but it was veteran pro Daniel Negreanu who won his fourth Golden bracelet after besting a final table of eight amateurs.  The entry field included such impressive names as Ivey, Cernuto, Kravchenko and Nguyen, but on the end of Day 2 Daniel Negreanu had a commanding chip count and the position to take over the final table.  The final table consisted of eight poker amateurs, including fellow Canadians Richard Li and Derek Lerner, as well as local players Greg Wohletz, Ugur Marangoz, and Hien Tran; and several experienced poker tournament players, including Fu Wong, runner-up in the Stud Championship this year; Jeremy Kottler, runner-up at the Mirage Poker Showdown 2007 event, and David Baker, with seven WSOP cashes and over 1 million in career earnings thus far.

Hien Tran was the early elimination of Day 3, when his hand was bested by the pocket jacks of Fu Wong on a board of Q-10-7-9-9.  He finished in ninth place and took home over eighteen thousand dollars in prize money.  Derek Lerner was then able to defeat Daniel Negreanu with a rivered two pair on K-9-2-A-4 with a hand of K-4.  Jeremy Kottler then doubled through David Baker when he moved all-in on the flop of A-J-9 with A-J and the turn brought an innocuous 9 and the river brought a 4 to give Kottler's holding of A-J the best of David Baker's busted straight draw of Q-10.  Negreanu then caught a flush on the turn against Li, when 8-6-5 flopped all clubs, followed by the turn of the seven of clubs, giving Daniel the flush after the irrelevant 6 of hearts on the river, increasing his stack to over four-hundred fifty thousand.  Next, Marangoz was able to win a pot with pocket aces besting his opponent's hand in a three-bet pot on the flop of K-10-10, and a double-bet pot on the turn of 6 and 5.  Baker, who was the crowd favorite and chip leader, won with a flush on the turn of board Ks-Jd-6d-4d-10c after his opponent made a broadway straight on the river. 

Richard Li increased his chips when he scooped a pot with his holding of A-10 on a board of 10-7-4-A-Q over Wohletz's weak Ace. The following hand Lerner was eliminated in eighth place on a board of J-6-3-7-10 when his all-in of A-Q was called by Daniel's Q-6 off .The sixth place collected over twenty-five thousand dollars for his effort.  Greg Wohletz then tripled up on a board of J-8-3-6-K when his all-in on the flop was called by Daniel and David Baker, who held A J off suit.  Negreanu then was able to win one from Marangoz when the local casino manager check-called a bet on the flop, checked, and then folded to a bet on the river of a board A-A-5-7-6, gifting Negreanu a free pot.  This was followed by Greg Wohletz's elimination in 7^th place for over thirty thousand dollars in prize money when his K-3 off was bested by Wong's pocket Jacks on a board of 7-4-2-8-6.  Next Jeremy Kottler was eliminated in sixth place for just over forty thousand dollars in prize money when his K-4 of clubs was bested on the river by Baker's holding Q-9 suited on board of A7229.  Ugur Marangoz then doubled up through Baker with his over pair of pocket Kings on a board of 10-8-6-2-3. Next came a showstopper, as Negreanu showcased his amazing reading capabilities to the audience when he called down Fu Wong's bets on a board of J-6-2-J-10 with pocket threes to take the pot over Fu Wong's A-Q off.  He then chipped up with three-bet win over Richard Li on a board of A-10-6-8-9 when he rivered two pair with the holding of 6-9, increasing his stack to almost three-hundred fifty thousand.  Next Fu Wong was eliminated in fifth place for over fifty thousand dollars when his 5 6 failed to improve to gift him a straight on the board of J-7- 4-10-2 against Negreanu's Q-J off suit, increasing Daniel's chips to over four-hundred fifty thousand. Negreanu then won a pot without showing his holding against Li's mucked hand on a board of 8-7-6-Q-3; then Daniel was able to make a full house on a board of 6s-3c-3h-6c-9h with sixes full against Li's mucked holding, increasing his domination of the final table. 

The next hand, Li was permanently crippled when Baker made a flush on the river on a board of 10h-5h-5d-10d-Jd, showing a king high flush of diamonds.  He was subsequently eliminated when he moved all-in on the turn of 7-Q-2-8 for a flush draw with the unpaired holding of K-5 suited to be bested by Marangoz's pocket nines when the river of a 5s came.  He finished 4^th, winning over sixty thousand dollars in prize money.  Marangoz then won a second pot with pocket nines against Baker when, on a board of 3-3-6-2-6, he made nines up to defeat the mucked holding of Baker. A pot was then chopped between Baker and Negreanu when both held the duplicate holding of 6-9 off suit on the board of 8-5-3-7-6 to make identical straights and chop it up.  Marangoz was then crippled by Daniel when Daniel river-ed a superior two pair on a board of 9-5-K-2-4 with K-4 besting his inferior 5-4.  He lost most of his remaining chips when he was bested by Baker's pair of kings with an ace kicker on the board of K-Q-5-6-K. 

In the following display of poker agility, Daniel Negreanu was able to exhibit his preternatural reading skills when Baker raised his bet after checking the turn on a board 6 9 4 2 6; Daniel, though puzzled by this sudden raise, made the call with his A K to take the pot with A K.  Marangoz was then able to snatch some poker chips by checking in the dark on a preflop 5 3 on a flop of 6-4-2.  Daniel, though he checked behind him on the flop, called his bet on the turn and river after Ugur flopped the nuts.  Negreanu raised a flop of Ad-Js-9d only to be called by Marangoz, and then bet a turn of 3c to be called and bet a river of 4c to prompt a sudden fold from Marangoz and a free pot without showdown for Daniel.  Next, David Baker was eliminated in third place for just under eighty thousand dollars when Daniel rivered a straight on a board of 2-8-10-A-9 with his Q-J off suit.  In the pivotal hand of the ensuing match, Marangoz bet a flop of Ah-5h-2h only to be called by Negreanu.  He then checked the turn of Ks to Negreanu, who bet, then raised, then three-bet, then four-bet.  He checked on the river of the 5c and called Negreanu's bet on the river, only to turn over an inferior holding to Daniel's nut flush in hearts.  In the final hand of the match, Daniel Negreanu check-raised all-in on the turn on the board of 5-K-5-Q-3, showing down the 9s-5h for trip fives to take down the pot, eliminating Ugur in second place for a cash of one-hundred twenty six thousand dollars and winning the first-place prize of over $200.000 together with the title of the 2008 World Series of Poker Event #20 $2000 Limit Hold'em Champion.

Event $20 top 9 winners and Prizes are the following:

1. Daniel Negreanu - $204,874
2. Ugur Marangoz - $126,671

3. David Baker - $78,624
4. Richard Li - $63,335
5. Fu Wong - $51,542
6. Jeremy Kottler - $51,542
7. Greg Wohletz - $31,886
8. Derek Lerner - $25,334
9. Hien Tran - $18,782