Through 11 events, there’s only one battle that seems particularly ferocious: California vs. Nevada.

Californians, of course, are pissed, because last year they had the Pre-eminent Poker Powerhouse title — and claims to being the Poker Capitol of the World — all wrapped up until the Nevadans made a strong showing at WSOP Europe and the Californians choked in the November Nine. This year, it’s shaping up to be as tight a battle as ever, with Cali holding a slight but at this point meaningless edge.

The Euros finally arrived once PLO came into play. So far it’s been a disappointing series for the EU, at least compared to last year, when they won 19 of 59 WSOP bracelet events. This year, a Russian took down the big prize in event #2, but since then … very little from the Europeans.

NOTE: A Finnish player won Event #12 (the $10k Mix event) though this event has not yet been added to the standings.

Pauly insists this will be the Year of the Russians. I’m not so sure … it’s clear they are the only country right now that can come close challenging the likes of Caifornia and Nevada, but take away Vitaly Lunkin’s $2million bracelet, and what have they done for me lately, yo?

Some interesting newcomers to the cash-out leaderboard:

Lichtenstein*
Dominican Republic
South Korea
Cayman Islands
Turkey
Virgin Islands

* Is that a country? I thought it was a beer.

You’ll also notice that we’ve added non-American continental regions …

Europe    1    13    118    $3,820,049
Asia-Pacific    0    0    11    $213,967
Latin America    0    0    7    $59,577
Africa / Mideast    0    0    3    $17,428

Click here for complete WSOP World Standings.

With events finally starting to conclude, the international gold bracelet race is underway — as well as internal skirmishes between US states and Canadian provinces. Should be fun to follow along to see which regions can best back up any claims to poker dominance, and which ones will make a surprise showing. We’ve added a new Top 10 highlight feature to the Pokerati World Standings this year, for a quick glimpse at which nations stand to bring back the most WSOP cash.

The Americans look sure to hold their own, and though it’s still too early to really tell, the Russians booked a big win early to let the world — and maybe more specifically, Europe — know that these comrades didn’t just get lucky last year.

CORRECTION: The image above says “through 59 events”, but in fact, these are the standings only through three.

As we now reach a point in the WSOP where tournaments will be finishing every day, Pokerati’s WSOP World Standings will be back … tracking which nation-states are kicking the most arse. While we can expect the USA to dominate simply because of sheer numbers and home-field advantage, it should be interesting to see which other countries are here to show that poker in their motherlands has fully arrived. The UK, for example — with 26 final tables, 248 cashes, and $6.5million in take-home pay in 2008 — clearly knows what they’re doing, but they couldn’t close anything out to bring home a bracelet for the Queen. It was the Russians and Germans who made the most noticeable claims to poker dominance … but not before the Danes, exclamated by Peter Eastgate’s main event victory, stepped over all of them to say, “Our small socialist utopia will leave you drawing dead on the fjord. Fůgck the G-8 powers in poker!”

On the stateside front, Pokerati declared California the unofficial capitol of the poker world … but Cali blanked at the main event final table and Nevada had a redraw with WSOP-E — and sure enough, John Juanda et al successfully wrestled away the claim.

The final 2008 WSOP World Standings:

WSOP World Standings have been updated … to reflect results from Event #1 #56 of the WSOP Europe WSOP, currently taking place in London.

Click here for Pokerati’s complete semi-official World Standings.

With a 24-year-old Jesper Hougaard’s bracelet win in £1500 NLH, Denmark steps up to a higher tier of poker dominance in the world. And Ohio (one of four American states with a 2008 WSOP-E cash thus far — the others being Washington, California, and Nevada) scooches past Georgia (the state, not the former Soviet republik) in the standings.

UPDATE: This is not just Denmark’s second ’08 bracelet … it’s also Hougaard’s! He won one of the WSOP 1500s in Las Vegas this summer. (Hmm, maybe a little premature in naming Player of the Year?)

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Seeking some reader feedback … not saying I’ll listen, but still …

The WSOP-Europe is underway. Should the money/metal won in these bracelet events count toward national success in Pokerati’s semi-official WSOP World Standings?

Never mind, I’ve already answered the question. Click below for Nolan’s Notes from Day 1 of Event #1, er, I mean Event #56:

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It’s been fun keeping track of the 2008 WSOP by city-nation-state … taught me a lot about something — what exactly, I’m not yet sure. But I did get a clearer picture of just how significant the main event really is compared to all other poker tourneys. Just a little more than a week ago, I wrote:

Unless something really funky happens in the main event, it looks like Nevada has the edge on California when it comes to home base for the best poker players in the world.

Well I guess something funky did happen, because even with the biggest prize-pool distributions TBD, California poker players absolutely dominated in the 2008 main event (93 cashes, 2 final tableists)… while the Nevadans (mostly Las Vegas-based, of course) seemed to be napping, or perhaps just resting on their laurels (49 cashes, 0 final tableists). Regardless, looking at the 55 events that comprised the 2008 WSOP, I think it’s clear that the visitors can stake their claim: California is the Poker Capitol of the World … at least for now.

GREAT DANES: Another big surprise (to me) — apparently the Scandis aren’t so overrated after all. Denmark in particular showed up at the main event ready to play, and not only did they get one of their own on the final table, but also they performed so well in the latter events that they scooched past a bunch of other supposed Europoker powerhouses in the money won. The best non-American players, according to these results, in order: Canadians, Brits, and then the Danes … who actually could move past the Brits come November … and if you add the Danish in with the rest of the Scandis, it’s clear that Scandinavia and the UK are like the California and Nevada of European poker.

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Just entering in some semi-final data for Pokerati’s WSOP World Standings, and get this …

The number of cashes in the 2008 WSOP (all events) for people from Nevada: 666

Whoa, I know.

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With 53 of 55 poker precincts reporting …

Unless something really funky happens in the main event, it looks like Nevada has the edge on California when it comes to home base for the best poker players in the world. Both states have the same number of final tables (76), interestingly enough, so the question becomes, are 316 cashes worth four bracelets? Seriously, which would you prefer?

New York has four bracelets, after all, and yet in the last couple tourneys, they were surpassed by Texas (zero bracelets) in overall money won.

Germany and Denmark have a similar debate at hand when it comes to who’s the best in Europe — even though they haven’t won as much money as the Brits, who have yet to win a bracelet.

New countries booking their first ITM (in the money) finishes:
Slovenia
Cyprus
Panama

49 1/2 countries overall have scored something this WSOP. (Official number depends on how you view the Faroe Islands/Puerto Rico.)

Full list of WSOP results by country, state, and in some cases protectorate here.

Through 49 events …

After Scotty Nguyen‘s big HORSE win, looks like winning the Mainer is California‘s only hope of claiming the Poker Capitol crown, which Nevada clearly has a solid grasp on at this point — even after player transfers.

World Standings newcomers over the past few events:
Malaysia
Chile

Regional moves of note:
Vermont – the WSOP latecomer scored its ITM finish, a final table no less, moving it past Hawaii (21 cashes), Washington DC (5 cashes), and Belarus (4 cashes) in the money grab.

Speaking of money … we’ve also continued to fix a few bugs, make corrections, and recalculate on the pirated version of Bank Street Writer that powers these standings, and in doing so have reduced the margin of error to 1.88 times e to the 6th power percent … whatever that means. But overall, in tracking nearly $106.5 million in payouts, we’ve got the dollars totally accurate, give or take 100 bucks.

Full list of WSOP results by country, state, and in some cases protectorate here.

Easycure points out that Antarctica is the only continent thus far shut out from the WSOP money.

What’s happening tonight at the WSOP:

Jen and Dan are taking care of the HORSE event, so I don’t need to duplicate their work, but they’re about to return from dinner break 5-handed.

The $2,000 NL Holdem event was won by Brazilian Alexandre Gomes, the first for that country, moving them up big time in the World Standings. Gomes takes home just over $770,000 while Marco Johnson won’t be feeling super with his 2nd place earnings of just over $491,000.

The $1,500 NL Holdem event is down to 40 as they play down to their final table. Among the notables remaining: JC Tran, Men Nguyen, Andy Black, Joe Pelton, Hevad Kahn. Follow their action on the World Series of Poker website here.

Other tournament action, following the leap:
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We’re coming into the homestretch, and it will take some big finishes for any nation/state to make a big move. Looked like Cali might give Nevada a run for its money, but shortly after John Phan won his bracelet (and $151k) for the Golden State in Event #40, the Silver State more than caught up when Joe Commiso booked a $911k win in Event #46.

To keep up-to-date with the full list of WSOP results by country, state, and in some cases protectorate, bookmark this page here.

Just for the record, we ganked some prize dollars from the LV cashout base. Shannon Shorr is now a full-blooded Alabaman an David Benyamine a Frenchie. So far have not heard any Las Vegans protest the transfers — but Mayor Oscar Goodman could persuade us to reconsider. Hoyt Corkins is still split — with two cashes going toward Las Vegas, and one to Alabama — torn on what to do with him … will try to track him down and ask him directly. As things stand with 9 events and 10s of millions in prize money remaining, only about $1 million separates the two real contenders for Poker Capital of the World — and while both have about the same number of final tables, California has four fewer bracelets but about 200 more cashes than its eastern neighbor.

Texas, meanwhile, sits strongly atop as the best of the second-best — banking the most money of all the places without a bracelet under its 2008 belt.

The Euros have made really strong showings over the past few days … and seemingly going deep in any event that rewards aggression (like 6-handed NLH). Either the events cater to their playing style, simply more are arriving, they’re coming in fresh off the bench, or some combination of all of that.

Likewise, a Canadian may have won event #44, but the Danes dominated it — I suppose it shouldn’t surprise us that the Scandis know quite a bit about rebuys.

New appearances in the standings:
Czech Republic
Cayman Islands
Newfoundland, Canada

Lebanon also posts its first 2008 cash — not in anything recent, but we just figured out that Naji Hajjar, who finished 73rd in Event #6 ($1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo), was from there.

By the way, speaking of … if anyone knows the hometown locations of any of the players below, please let us know so we can better classify these unknowns:

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After much consideration and prospective gerrymandering, upon the next update of the WSOP World Standings, we’re gonna make some switches … regardless of what they put on their official WSOP registrations, David Benyamine is soon to become fully French and Shannon Shorr will be screamin’ “Roll Tide!”

With that said, is there anyone else we should be considering for statistical reclassification? For the most part, we’re gonna defer to the Hendon Mob db … but I can think of three that are close calls:

Gus Hansen — Denmark or Vegas?
Hoyt Corkins — Alabama or Vegas?
Patrik Antonius — Finland or Monaco?

Through 39 41 events, the California vs. Nevada race for WSOP supremacy gets tighter … I’m already foreseeing a demand for a recount … because with Shannon Shorr alone booking one final table for Las Vegas and another under the flag of Alabama, LV is due for either some addition or subtraction. Not to mention David Benyamine, who is either from France, Las Vegas, or the Weebles Treehouse.

Interestingly enough, Cali and NV are the only two states/countries to have moneyed in every single event. Florida has at least one money finisher in every event except one — #22, the $5,000 7-Stud Hi-Lo World Championship.

UPDATE: Now two — no Floridians cashed in #40, $2,500 2-7 Limit Lowball Triple-Draw. Ha ha.

My beloved Texas has cashed in all but seven events, and remains the only self-acclaimed poker powerhouse yet to book a bracelet.

Newcomers on the WSOP World Poker Leaderboard:
Vermont
Peru
Yukon Territory
Poland (woot!)
Panama

Have a look below or see the full, regularly updated list here.

Who would’ve guessed Guatemala would have nearly twice the money finishings of the always pokerfied Costa Rica?

After 33 of 55 events …

California is making a real run at Nevada as the most powerful poker region in the world.

In the second tier of American poker (below Canada), Texas can’t seem to keep up with Florida in terms of kizzash, nor New York when it comes to sealing the winning deal. It seems only a matter of time before the Russians catch up, as Nikolay Evdakov and his comrades keep going deep.

New countries in the WSOP money: Spain, Belarus, Greece, and New Zealand … Welcome! Spanish players (sorry Greece) take comfort in knowing at least a few TVs are showing the Euro Cup in the Amazon Room.

Also making its first appearance on the 2008 WSOP money list: Vermont! It’s official: All American states and territories that have petitioned to become one have cashed in the World Series. (And Vermont didn’t just eek past the bubble — Shane Stacey from Hyde Park made a final table … finishing 5th to bank a $166k payday.

Point of order … Shannon Shorr’s latest cash — 32nd Place in the $2,500 6-handed NLH — is credited under Alabama, not Nevada. (The Euros also cashed big in this event — go figure, they seem to like 6-handed action.) While we did decide to make Tony G’s Lithuania finish into an Australia (he moved Down Under at age 11), we couldn’t bring ourselves to put Shorr in potential tax trouble — at least not in a way that messed up all our other numbers on the spreadsheet — as he was the one who presumably declared himself residing in Nevada for his $350k bracelet in Event #7. Surely that won’t be relevant in our contrived little Cali vs. NV race, right?

Two homeless moneymakers: If anyone knows where Larry Jafee (sp?) or Larry Michaels is from, please let us know. And don’t go saying Hungary just so they can move past Wyoming and New Brunswick.

Speaking of the Hungarians … Richard Toth scored again for his proud Eastern Euro nation’s 4th ITM finish. Still not enough to move past Wyoming, but keeping pace …

Click below to see the full rundown of poker across political borders:

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Happenings for this evening as I found out from Jen I’ve become a member of the WPA all over again:

The $5,000 Stud 8 or Better World Championship is down to the final 3, with Team Full Tilt Pro Chris Ferguson the dominate chip leader. Marcel Luske finished in 4th, Annie Duke finished 5th, you can catch all the action at the WSOP site here.

The other final table for today already has its champion, to find out who it was, click on the jump:

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