1. Annette Obrestad wins WSOP Europe at the age of 18. She is already an online star and has earned over $2.5 million. She will be an anticipated addition to Vegas when she’s old enough.

2. Tom Schneider wins two WSOP bracelets at the 2007 WSOP in Omaha and Stud Hi/Low and the 7-card Stud Hi/Low $1000 event. He won over $800,000 combined this year and was named WSOP 2007 player of the year.

3. Rep. Barney Frank enters bill to legalize online gaming. Frank’s bill H.R. 2046 was introduced in April and seeks to legalize and regulate internet gaming.

4. David “The Dragon” Pham wins the Cardplayer Player of The Year award for the second time after Jonathan Little was unable to catch him at the last event of the year.

5. Legendary player Chip Reese dies at home at the age of 56 after having pneumonia symptoms.

David “Chip” Reese, the high-stakes poker player in Las Vegas died in his sleep on Tuesday at his home after suffering symptoms of pneumonia. He was 56.

“I knew him for 35 years, I never saw him get mad or raise his voice,” Poker great Doyle Brunson said. “He had the most even disposition of anyone I’ve ever met. He’s certainly the best poker player that ever lived.”

The immediate success at cash games and his low-key persona won him friends, even among those who wound up passing him their chips.

Reese won three World Series champion’s bracelets over the last four decades, including a $1.8 million HORSE event in 2006 that combines five poker disciplines, Reese focused on high-stakes cash games away from the limelight.

Over the years Brunson and Reese eventually became business partners, investing in everything from oil wells and mining to TV stations and racehorses and becoming sports betting consultants.

“Many consider Chip the greatest cash-game player who ever lived,” said Jeffery Pollack, World Series of Poker Commissioner. “His victory in the inaugural $50,000 buy-in HORSE championship … made him a part of WSOP lore forever.”

Reese is survived by his son, daughter and a stepdaughter, Brunson said. He was recently divorced from his wife.