WPT: Legends of Poker Day 1A RecapDay 1A Draws Small Field of 161 |
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The Legends of Poker tournament at the Bicycle casino in Los Angeles has always been one of the premier events on the World Poker Tour. Last year, 485 players ponied up the $10,000 buy-in, creating a total prize pool of over $4.6 million. The lion's share of which went to “Action” Dan Harrington.
This year, the entrant count is in serious jeopardy of not matching last year's total, with only 161 players having registered for day 1A. Still, with one more flight to go, a large number is expected to eclipse today's mark with players who wish come into town a day later.
Despite the small turnout, the field remained packed with some of the most successful players on tour, including Harrington, Erick Lindgren, David Pham, Men Nguyen, Lee Markholt, John Phan, Lee Watkinson, and Card Player Player of the Year front-runner Erik Seidel.
Also in attendance was a throng of online professionals hoping to make their mark on the live circuit. Players such as Matt “Plattsburgh” Vengrin, Ben “Bfineman” Fineman, Isaac “WestmenloAA” Baron, Amit “amak316” Makhija, Matt “Allinat420” Stout, and Alec “traheho” Torelli.
The players came out of the gate a bit slowly, due mostly to the 30,000 in starting chips and 90-minute levels. But there were other factors in play, as well. With the Olympics blaring in the background, many players took frequent breaks to get a better look at the televisions on the wall, and the Beijing games dominated much of the conversations in the room.
Not everyone was fortunate enough to survive the slow-moving, laid-back start to the tournament, as Joe Sebok, Vivek Rajkumar, and Ted Lawson quickly found themselves on the rail. As the blinds progressed and the cards took on more importance, Roy Winston, Jonathan Little, Vinnie Vinh, and Dutch Boyd also found themselves on the outside looking in.
When the clock expired and the players bagged and tagged their chips, former WPT champion Adam Weinraub was leading the field with about 150,000 in chips.
Tomorrow, the remaining “half” of the field will take their seats, and the survivors will combine with today's final count of 105 on Monday afternoon to battle down to the money. Keep your browser set to CardPlayer.com as we continue to bring you all the updates, photos, chip counts, and videos straight from the tournament floor.
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