Joe Pelton 'Knocks Out' All-Star Field to Win Legends of Poker Championship

World Series of Poker hangover – with symptoms of exhaustion and delirium for many players, an unfortunate byproduct caused by two straight months of huge starting fields and nonstop tournaments – was relieved recently at The Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California.



The cure for the marathon poker binge was the Legends of Poker tournament, a World Poker Tour event. In the championship, 466 players, an elite field dominated by big-name pros, gathered in a secluded area of The Bicycle Casino for a shot at a $1.5 million first-place prize.



To be fair, the tournaments at the WSOP offered hours of entertaining and unpredictable play, but the action of the 2006 Legends of Poker tournament possessed a different feel, like the world's most star-studded backroom card game.

Day 1A and 1B – Welcome Back, WPT



Less than a month separated the end of the WSOP from the beginning of the LOP. Yet, in spite of the truncated rest period, the first WPT tournament after the WSOP offered the right combination of incentives to get almost any poker pro to cut short a vacation: a smaller field loaded with world-class talent, a $1 million-plus first-place prize that also included a $25,000 entry into the WPT Championship, and the good old-fashioned bragging rights that go along with taking down a World Poker Tour event.



"I didn't really move for about a week or two [after the World Series]. I kinda just lay on the couch," FullTilt's Erick Lindgren said in the half-hour before day 1A, the first of the LOP's two day ones. "But now I'm ready to play."



Day 1B participant Daniel Negreanu, who arrived on Hustler Publisher Larry Flynt's private jet, admitted to feeling "giddy" about the LOP.


"I'm just happy to be back. The World Poker Tour is finally back in action," Negreanu smiled.



On both days, players lingered in The Bicycle Casino's front lobby prior to the 2 p.m. PDT starting time. Other than catching up with friends and opponents not seen since the WSOP, the majority of conversations revolved around the big change made to the 2006 LOP – namely, the increased buy-in, from $5,000 to $10,000, which was met with widespread approval and gave the star-studded field yet more fuel to beat the WSOP funk.



"I don't think there's a reason to have a $5,000 buy-in anymore," Lindgren commented. "The fields are so big, I don't mind narrowing them down a little."



While the field size of 466 was down from last year's total of 839, the tournament remained fat and happy with talent.



A security checkpoint blocked fans from the tournament area, but media and onlookers lucky enough to gain entrance witnessed top-tier poker action in an uniquely intimate setting. On day 1A alone, two tables featured poker all-star draws. In one corner, Hasan Habib, Ted Forrest, Blair Rodman, Patrik Antonius, and "Captain" Tom Franklin all squared off, while at the center of the room, Surinder Sunar, David Matthew, Harry Demetriou, Scotty Nguyen, Cyndy Violette, Steve Brecher, and Alfredo "Toto" Leonidas butted heads.



The $50-$100 blinds and $20,000 starting stacks meant few eliminations during the early action of the first flights. In fact, the majority of the day 1A pros survived long enough to see Phil Hellmuth, who arrived an hour and a half after play began.



Hellmuth took a seat to the left of FullTilt representative Erik Seidel, and the two pros engaged in back-and-forth poker warfare all day. Seidel, however, scored the last victory, as he doubled up through Hellmuth during the final 10 minutes of day 1A. After Seidel raked in the pot with the Q J on a Q J 5 3 2 board, Hellmuth shot out of his seat and knocked over a service tray.



With a goal of playing six levels of poker, days 1A and 1B both concluded at 11:50 p.m.



Tuan Le (1A) and Masoud Pourhabib (1B) emerged as the chip leaders from the first flights with $150,000 and $125,000, respectively.



Some pros who failed to survive day-one action included Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, Harry Demetriou, Johnny Chan, Ted Forrest, Patrik Antonius, Evelyn Ng, Men "The Master" Nguyen, David "Chip" Reese, Layne Flack, Gavin Smith, Daniel Negreanu, and 2006 WSOP Player of the Year Jeff Madsen.



Day Two – "Did You See the Draw at 25?"



The high-stakes backroom game better known as the Legends of Poker continued with the remaining fields from days 1A and 1B combining for the first official day two of the event. As a result of the tournament structure, which favored poker skill and strategy over card luck, a staggering number of pros and tournament-circuit veterans advanced, and there was no greater example of the big name presence in the LOP's second round than table No. 25.



When the action kicked off with blinds of $300-$600 and $75 antes, the question, "Did you see the draw at 25?" seemed to be the only topic of discussion.



Table No. 25 proved to be well worth the hype, as the draw brought together a fantasy roster of poker players that featured James Van Alstyne, Phil Hellmuth, Jennifer Tilly, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, Scotty Nguyen, and Amnon Filippi.



While the "poker all-star game" played out at 25, the rest of the tournament area transformed from backroom card game to backroom brawl. Dan Harrington summed up his predicament coming into day two with the phrase "a chair and a prayer," and a number of pros soon became casualties.



Freddy Deeb exited 10 minutes into play after his A K didn't improve against Phil Laak's pocket queens, and Roland De Wolfe busted out when his pocket jacks collided with an opponent's pocket aces.



Amid all the early eliminations, the knockout that received the most attention occurred, where else, at Table No. 25.



Phil Hellmuth hit the poker canvas in dramatic fashion after an opponent turned a superior full house to best Hellmuth's flopped boat. The defeat left Hellmuth in shock, and all the "Poker Brat" could do was laugh as he walked out of the tournament room.



2006 main-event runner-up Paul Wasicka, Chip Jett, Michael Mizrachi, Mel Judah, actor Tobey Maguire, John Phan, and Erik Seidel also exited play during the first half of day two.



At 11:12 p.m., only 72 players remained. As midnight approached, several pros made strong pushes for day three. Card Player CEO Barry Shulman, second in chips after day 1A, fortified his spot near the top of the leader board by eliminating Gabe Kaplan near the end of action, while double-ups by Huck Seed and Hoyt Corkins ensured safe passage for both pros.



Play concluded at 1:49 a.m., and 51 survivors exited the tournament area not exactly bloody and bruised, but a little punch-drunk after seven consecutive levels of poker action.



Day Three – The Fight for the Final Six



If the 2006 Legends of Poker tournament rekindled the intensity and competitive fire of the professional circuit, exhausted after a long WSOP, then day three proved to be the tournament's emotional high point.



Along with two bubbles (the money and the WPT televised final table), the third day also included a series of events dedicated to a beloved member of the poker community, WPT cameraman Paul Hannum, who passed away suddenly during the 2006 World Series.


At 3 p.m., the co-hosts of Card Player's The Circuit (Joe Sebok, Gavin Smith, and Scott Huff) squared off against the hosts of the popular Internet show Live at the Bike (Bart Hanson and David Tuchman). After the heads-up duel, Smith hosted the Paul Hannum $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em charity tournament. The proceeds from both events went to Hannum's fiancée and their unborn child.



For the 51 players still remaining in the championship, poker needed to take precedent on a day when the game seemed secondary. The field entered action knowing that 45 would make the money, and six would walk away with nothing. That's right, it was bubble time.



When five eliminations occurred in the first half-hour of play, the field appeared to be cruising for a quick cash. However, when play moved to hand-for-hand, the action quickly became inaction. For two hours, players folded, checked down, and did whatever they could to avoid the dreaded title of "bubble boy/girl."



The lack of action created frustration, with "clock" being called numerous times, and Mel Weiner became one player who drew the brunt of the remaining field's ire. As one of the short stacks entering hand-for-hand play, Weiner opted to fold rather than make a move with a marginal hand. Down to his last $1,000 chip, he finally went all in – for the ante.



Tim Phan, who finished fourth at last year's Legends of Poker and had been giving Weiner a lighthearted ribbing about his conservative play, received a laugh from the table when he guaranteed the money bubble was about to burst.



After passing up on hands like A-7 suited and K-9, Weiner found his tournament life on the line with the 7 3. Phan showed the 6 5 and made an ace-high flush with the A A K Q 9 board. For all of his patience, Weiner ended the day in 46th place, a spot that paid nothing, and earned him the "bubble boy" title.



The action picked back up following Weiner's departure, as five players busted out in the first 10 minutes of post-bubble play. Vanessa Rousso ($15,530) belonged to this group, making her the final female participant eliminated.



Other pros to bow out of contention during the first half of day three included Erick Lindgren ($15,530), Tuan Le ($17,745), and Tim Phan ($26,620).



At 8 p.m., with the tournament area overflowing with friends and family of Paul Hannum, all on hand to participate in the charity event, Scott Seiver's elimination in 19th place ($26,260) meant that the championship was now down to two tables.



Four and a half hours later, Mike McClain busted out in 11th place ($48,800) when his A 2 failed to improve against Kevin O'Donnell's A Q. Only 10 players remained.



While big names Scotty Nguyen, James Van Alstyne, John Juanda, and Hoyt Corkins created most of the buzz, O'Donnell's presence among the final 10 also warranted attention. The part-time pro from Scottsdale, Arizona, was attempting to reach his second consecutive Legends of Poker televised final table (O'Donnell finished sixth in last year's tournament).



"I'm trying to build up some chips and get there [the WPT televised table]," O'Donnell said before the final table redraw.



Twenty minutes into action, Mike Heintschel became the 10th-place finisher ($48,800) after he moved all in with A-Q, only to have Frankie O'Dell call with A-K. Moments after ordering a round of drinks for the patrons of his bar, K. O'Donnell's in Scottsdale, O'Donnell served up a shot of "elimination" for Van Alstyne, sending the poker pro home in ninth place ($66,540), courtesy of two pair, jacks and tens.



After doubling up David Daneshgar, Juanda moved all in for his last $80,000 preflop. In a battle of big-name pros, Corkins called and eliminated Juanda in eighth place ($88,730) when he turned a Broadway straight to crack Juanda's A-K. Although he failed to reach the final table, Juanda continued an impressive streak by cashing in his third straight WPT event.



A long day of poker action appeared to have finally come to an end when O'Dell found himself all in with pocket jacks against Scotty Nguyen's pocket aces. A runner-runner queen-high straight, however, made O'Dell the chip boss and sent Nguyen to the bottom of the leader board.



At the 13th hour of play – 3 a.m., to be exact, Daneshgar moved all in on a 10 9 8 flop. When O'Donnell called with the 10 7, Daneshgar's 10 5 needed to improve. Alas, the poker gods handed out no miracle straights or full houses, and Daneshgar walked off the tournament floor as the seventh-place finisher ($110,910). The fight for the final six was over.



The Final Table



On a WPT set blocked off from the rest of The Bicycle Casino's cardroom by four walls of black curtain, six players gathered for a shot at winning a $1,577,170 first-place cash prize, a $25,000 entry in the WPT Championship, and a WPT title.



The chip counts and seat assignments for the final table were as follows:



1. Frankie O'Dell – $3,880,000 (Seat No. 5)

2. Kevin O'Donnell – $2,345,000 (Seat No. 3)

3. Joe Pelton – $1,100,000 (Seat No. 4)

4. Hoyt Corkins – $1,030,000 (Seat No. 2)

5. Randy Holland – $615,000 (Seat No. 6)

6. Scotty Nguyen – $375,000 (Seat No. 1)



The first cards hit the air with $15,000-$30,000 blinds and $3,000 antes.



"The Train's" Last Stop – Nguyen Exits First



After spending the majority of the tournament near the middle and top of the leader board, Scotty Nguyen, who dubbed himself "The Train" during action, suffered a crippling loss to Frankie O'Dell late on day three, and entered the final table as the short stack.



Despite facing a field of five that included WSOP bracelet winners and WPT title holders, Nguyen believed that the blinds, not his opponents, represented the biggest obstacle on the road to victory.



"The only thing that can stop me is the blinds going so high," Nguyen said prior to the final table. "There's nobody there [at the table] who can stop me from winning."



Forty-five minutes into the action, Nguyen moved all in for his last $247,000 and Hoyt Corkins called from the big blind. With the crowd chanting, "Scotty, Scotty, Scotty," Nguyen's A K put him in good position to double up through Corkins and his A 7. The 7 on the turn, however, gave Corkins a pair of sevens, and "The Train's" tournament run ended with a sixth-place finish ($133,085).



Randy Holland Out on the Next Hand



The standing ovation for Nguyen barely ended before Randy Holland became the second player eliminated. Also on a short stack, Holland made an all-in reraise on the next hand following Nguyen's elimination, and Kevin O'Donnell called from the big blind.



Holland, a two-time WSOP bracelet winner, became an instant dog after he flipped over the A 3 and O'Donnell showed the A Q. The board offered Holland no help, and he finished in fifth place ($177,460).



O'Donnell Improves on Last Year's Performance



For Kevin O'Donnell, the final day proved to be both a huge success and a slight disappointment. Last year's LOP sixth-place finisher, O'Donnell brought the momentum of a 21st-place finish in the WSOP main event into the 2006 version of the LOP. With little room to improve, a WPT victory seemed to be his only goal.



But, on the 34th hand of the final table, O'Donnell tangled with the one man with enough chips to knock him out of the tournament, Frankie O'Dell. O'Dell called an all-in preflop reraise by O'Donnell, and took a commanding lead with the A Q against O'Donnell's 7 6.



A queen on the flop meant two things for O'Donnell: his fourth-place finish was an improvement over an impressive 2005 run, but his first WPT title would have to wait until next year.



Hoyt Corkins Takes Third



The lone WPT champion still in contention, Hoyt Corkins survived long enough to reach threehanded action despite not dragging any significant pots during the day. Exhibiting the same aggressive playing style that helped him outlast all but two of the 466-player starting field, Corkins used his last $1 million to come over the top of a Joe Pelton preflop raise.



The pressure move sent the younger player into the tank, as Pelton stood up, took off his glasses, and thought for several minutes before making the call. Corkins' pocket treys put him in a classic race situation against Pelton's J 10, but Pelton crossed the finish line first with a flopped jack. Corkins walked off the WPT set in third place ($381,540).



Heads Up – Joe Pelton vs. Frankie O'Dell



With the money presentation completed with more than $1.5 million poured onto the table, the first-place cash prize and WPT Legends of Poker title came down to two local players: Frankie O'Dell from Long Beach, California, and Joe Pelton, a Newport Beach, California, resident.



The chip counts going into heads-up play were as follows:



1. Frankie O'Dell – $5,670,000

2. Joe Pelton – $3,570,000



O'Dell, a WSOP bracelet winner (2003 Omaha eight-or-better) with nearly $400,000 in total tournament winnings, and Pelton, a young pro with less than $23,000 in tournament winnings, each enjoyed sizable cheering sections. O'Dell took down the first three pots, but things changed on the seventh hand.



With both players in for the blinds, Pelton bet $100,000 on the Q Q 4 flop, only to have O'Dell raise to $250,000. Pelton counted his stack, reraised to $750,000, and immediately called when O'Dell pushed all in. Pelton's fans drowned out O'Dell's cheering section with a "Joe, Joe, Joe" chant as O'Dell flipped over the J 4 and Pelton showed the Q 8. The 10 turn and 10 river gave Pelton queens full.



The double-up gave Pelton a $4 million chip lead, and the 2006 Legends of Poker championship came to an end only seven hands later.



The final hand started when Pelton raised $400,000 and O'Dell reraised all in. After making an immediate call, Pelton showed the A 7 and a race began after O'Dell turned over the 6 6. Pelton took the lead with the A J 3 flop, and the tournament ended with the 2 turn and Q river.



O'Dell, who freerolled into the championship after winning the Legends of Legends and Media preliminary event, took home $776,385 for his runner-up finish.



For Pelton, whose highest previous cash was $11,000, the $1,577,170 first-place cash prize left him in shock.



"Everything's just surreal right now," Pelton admitted after the win. "The whole day's just a dream. This whole experience is just so overwhelming."



So, how did Pelton plan on celebrating his $1.5 million win?



"I'm going home to relax," he sighed.



Hopefully, seven months will provide enough opportunity for Pelton to recharge his batteries, because come April, he will be back duking it out in the poker ring, but that will be in Las Vegas, for the World Poker Tour Championship.

World Poker Tour Ladies Night

In the words of the great 1970s funk group Kool & The Gang, "Oh yes it's ladies night, oh what a night!" While Kool and his cohorts were most likely talking about females, and after-dark activities, in a risqué sense, in the world of poker, "ladies night" means the World Poker Tour Ladies Night Out event … oh what a night.



The Bicycle Casino recently hosted the fourth installment of the popular World Poker Tour one-table tournament. More exclusive than even the hottest clubs in neighboring Los Angeles, the invitation-only event featured Hollywood starlet/WSOP bracelet winner/defending Ladies Night Out Champion Jennifer Tilly, the top four female money winners in this year's WPT – Joanne "JJ" Liu, Vanessa Rousso, Erica Schoenberg, and Anahit Galajian – and Kelli Griggs, the winner of the Bike's Ladies Poker Party Open.



Griggs outlasted a field of 419 entrants over the course of two days. Upon winning, she donated $2,500 to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, which was in addition to the 10 percent of the total prize pool that the WPT already set aside for the charity.



The televised WPT final-table action kicked off at 5:15 p.m. PDT with $3,000-$6,000 blinds, $1,000 antes, and $250,000 starting stacks.



Following is the WPT Ladies Night Out IV final-table timeline:



6:15 p.m.: Down goes Tilly! Down goes Tilly! The defending champ bows out in sixth place, courtesy of a Kelli Griggs aces-full-of-kings boat.



7:13 p.m.: Griggs takes out another "Poker Star." Flopped trip tens provide Griggs with more than enough star power to send PokerStars.com team member Vanessa Rousso to the rail in fifth place.



7:22 p.m.: Flop it like it's hot. Joanne "JJ" Liu flops an ace-high flush, and makes Erica Schoenberg the fourth-place finisher.



7:55 p.m.: The power hour continues when Liu uses pocket kings to finish off Anahit Galajian in third place.



8:34 p.m.: Three in a row and a better kicker win the title for Liu! The WPT Ladies Night Out IV crown goes to Liu after her K 7 holds up against Griggs' Q 7 on a J 7 6 8 5 board.



The WPT Ladies Night Out IV episode will be shown on the Travel Channel at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 28. For her win, Liu received a $25,000 seat in the World Poker Tour Championship at Bellagio in April.

The Poker World Honors a Dear Friend

On Aug. 29, the night before the World Poker Tour Legends of Poker televised final table, an unlikely field of 115 people met at The Bicycle Casino to participate in a poker tournament. While those in attendance included everyone from the reigning WPT player of the year, to the star of the 1988 film Young Guns, one person unified the diverse group, WPT cameraman Paul Hannum.



A beloved figure on the tournament circuit, and a staple at the World Poker Tour since the show's inception, Hannum passed away suddenly on Aug. 3, 2006. In response to the great loss, and in support of Hannum's fiancée, Sarah Percy, and their unborn daughter due in October, friends and family organized the Paul Hannum No-Limit Hold'em Charity Tournament.



With all proceeds from the $1,000 buy-in event going to Hannum's fiancée and baby daughter, the poker community came out in full force to honor a friend's legacy. Hosted by WPT season four Player of the Year Gavin Smith, the tournament field included big-name stars such as Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, Barry Greenstein, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Nam Le, actor Lou Diamond Phillips, Todd Brunson, Chris Ferguson, and many, many more.



Results of the final table, which was streamed on Live at the Bike, were as follows:



Jennifer Tilly ($25,000 entry into the WPT Championship at Bellagio)

Gavin Smith ($10,000 entry into any WPT event, donated by FullTiltPoker.com)

Lara Wilson (Pokerstars.com "Caribbean Adventure Package")

Ted Lawson (ParadisePoker.com "Conquest Prize Package")

Tony Nasr (seat in the WPT Celebrity Invitational)



After the final table, Smith, along with the announcement that he will donate half of his winnings from his WPT seat to the "Baby Hannum" fund, told the media that he plans to make the Paul Hannum No-Limit Hold'em Charity Tournament a yearly event.



"I want this to be a starting point," Smith said. "We intend to hold the tournament annually, so that as a poker community, we can provide a family for Paul's family."

Live at the Bike vs. The Circuit Heads-Up Showdown – The Top Five Insults

Sometimes people just can't get along – the Greeks vs. the Trojans, the Hatfields vs. the McCoys, Rocky Balboa vs. Ivan Drago, and now, Live at the Bike vs. The Circuit. While the Internet may not be big enough for both shows, Bart Hanson and David Tuchman, the duo who host Live at the Bike, a streaming online TV show that broadcasts poker games from The Bicycle Casino, and the hosts of Card Player's popular Internet radio show The Circuit, Joe Sebok, Gavin Smith, and Scott Huff, came together recently and put their timeless grudge to good use, in the form of a heads-up showdown for charity.



Live at the Bike and The Circuit squared off in the name of the "Baby Hannum" fund, with all proceeds from the event going to the charitable organization.



In the tradition of great rivalries, Card Player presents a list of the top five insults from the Live at the Bike vs. The Circuit heads-up showdown:



5. "Are you playing?" – LATB's Bart Hanson to Scott Huff, on which Circuit crew member he would like to play first.



4. "Because Gavin and Joe have been on TV, they're therefore 'pros,' so they are 'better,' and that's not necessarily the case." – Bart Hanson, on why he believes LATB will defeat The Circuit.



3. "The last thing I want is to have these two yee-ha's with a little webcast TV show, or whatever the hell it is, to think they become poker players because of that [show]." – The Circuit's Gavin Smith on his reasons for taking on LATB.



2. "I'll probably go 2-and-0. Bart will probably split. He'll lose on a bad beat." – LATB's David Tuchman making a prediction about the showdown with The Circuit.



1. "Have you seen Bart's shirt?" – The Circuit's Joe Sebok responding to Bart Hanson's pre-match comments.



After two sweeps (Hanson won his matches and The Circuit hosts defeated Tuchman twice), a tiebreaker played out with a sixhanded battle that included The Circuit's Scott Huff and another LATB crew member. When the dust settled, one team stood victorious, Live at the Bike.



Did somebody say rematch?



To listen to interviews and all the news on the tournament trail, tune in to The Circuit at http://www.CardPlayer.com/thecircuit, and for some of the best live poker action around, please watch Live at the Bike at http://www.liveatthebike.com/.