Bellagio Five Diamond Poker Event Starts Today

The World Poker Tour heads for the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Las Vegas this weekend, with the first of 13 preliminary events starting today. The WPC will feature the $15,000 Doyle Brunson North American Poker Classic championship on Thursday, Dec. 14, with six players competing at the televised WPT final table on Tuesday, Dec. 19.

Jack McClelland and his staff will be running qualifying satellites around the clock in the Fontana Lounge, as well as nightly tournaments every day until the championship. The WPC should only increase Bellagio's live action for which it is already famous.

With December marking the countdown for players earning Card Player Player of the Year points, the Bellagio's fifth annual World Poker Classic is one of the last major events of the year. So what does that mean for poker players? The race for POY is still up in the air.

Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi is seeded in first position with 5,989 points, with Shannon Shorr trailing him by 1,513 points. But Shorr, along with Nam Le, J.C. Tran, and John Hoang are practically deadlocked in runner-up positions, with only a 300-point difference between them. Any of these men could shake up the current standings.

The 2006 POY race is an exciting one and far from over. Preliminary events could unhinge Mizrachi from his leader position, with a championship win giving any of the other four contenders a real chance to earn the POY title. Expect players and fans to be following the action closely during the 2006 WPT Bellagio Five-Diamond World Poker Classic.

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