DON McDERMOTT / PVT Scotty Nguyen won the $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. tournament Monday at the World Series of Poker, being played at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Advertisement

LAS VEGAS -- With the World Series of Poker's All-Star Game concluded, two major happenings has the attention of players and fans alike at the 39th annual tournament.

Scotty Nguyen won the $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. tournament, earning $1,989,000 by outlasting 147 top-flight players at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino. The five-day tournament ended Monday, after 13 hours and 314 hands at the final table.

Michael DeMichele was second, pocketing $1,243, 200, after his aces with a trey kicker lost to Nguyen's aces with a 10 kicker on the 314th hand played at the final table.

For Nguyen, it was his fifth WSOP bracelet victory, his first since 2001, when he won two tournaments at Binion's. The payday boosted his lifetime earnings in World Series events to $4,694,049. And equally important: Nguyen won the tournament trophy named in memory of Chip Reese, the 2006 H.O.R.S.E. champion.

Completing the top five in the H.O.R.S.E (hold'em, Omaha hi-lo split, Razz, seven-card stud and eight-or better seven-card stud) tournament were Erick Lindgren ($781,440), Matt Glantz ($568,320) and World Poker Tour mogul Lyle Berman ($444,000).

Also cashing were several leading professional players, including Barry Greenstein, Huck Seed, Ralph Perry, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Andy Bloch and Doyle Brunson.

Tuesday, the final table in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. tournament began, with Phil Hellmuth in a strong quest for a record 12th bracelet. He was the chip leader with $287,500 going into the finals.

Thursday at noon, the $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em championship tournament begins. The over-under entry number has moved to 8,500, with tournament officials allowing space for 3,000 players for Day One action.

Day One is actually four days on the schedule. (See attached box).

The final table will be contested Nov. 9-10, with the final nine players to return to claim the estimated first-place payoff of $10 million.

Earlier in the week, Joe Commisso earned $911,855 -- the largest payday for a player other than the H.O.R.S.E and $10,000 No-Limit champions -- for winning the six-handed shootout, which attracted 805 players who generated a prize pool of $3,783,000.

Through midday Tuesday, the WSOP prize pool was $114,791,278, a tournament record.