Scotty Nguyen, 1998 World Series of Poker Champion, Leads Paris Las Vegas Event After Day One
The World Series of Poker Circuit has now come to Paris Las Vegas. This is the fourth tour stop of the 2005-06 season. The $10,000 buy-in main event attracted 134 entries. The total prize pool amounted to $1,259,600. Nine places will be paid and $453,456 will go to the winner.
This is the first WSOP Circuit event with an official host. In an effort to honor the great poker champions of the past (and future), Harrah's Entertainment paid tribute to 1998 world poker champion Scotty "The Prince" Nguyen, who was designated official host of the Paris tournament. Fittingly, after 11 hours of play on day one, Scotty Nguyen is the chip leader in his own tournament. It's hardly a surprise that the flamboyant Nguyen would crash his own party. Raed Abu Kartomy, of Huntington Beach, California is a close second. Doug Le, who won last year's Rio Las Vegas Circuit event, is third. After 90 players were eliminated on day one, the 44 survivors will return to play on day two. Play starts at noon.
Scotty's Nguyen's day started with a public appearance, which was standing room only. He was the featured guest at the most recent "Heads Up: Interview with a Poker Champion" program. Nguyen spent an hour talking about his personal life, poker accomplishments, and outlook on the future of the game. The interview was followed by a question-and-answer session with the audience. After signing over 100 autographs, Nguyen sat down in the tournament and immediately demonstrated why he remains one of the most feared and respected foes in poker.
The Paris championship event attracted many of the biggest names in poker. Former world champions Doyle Brunson (1976, 1977), Johnny Chan (1987, 1988), Scotty Nguyen (1998), and Joe Hachem (2005) were in the field. Of the former world champions, only Nguyen and Hachem survived to play on the second day. Other notable names in the field included casino mogul Bob Stupak, singer Celine Dion's manager and husband Rene Angelil, and poker commentator (and former WSOP bracelet winner) Mike Sexton. At least 40 former WSOP gold bracelet winners played, making this one of the most highly competitive events of the year.
Payouts are as follows:
1st - $453,456 2nd - 251,920 3rd - 138,556 4th - 100,768 5th - 88,172 6th - 75,576 7th - 62,980 8th - 50,384 9th - 37,788
Today, the 44 survivors will play down to 27 players. Then, on Monday, the field of 27 will be reduced to the final table of nine players. The nine finalists will not only make it into the money. They will also be featured on ESPN's television broadcast of the Paris Las Vegas championship.
