The televised final table of the 2013 World Poker Tour (WPT) Legends of Poker Main Event has been set and it looks to be a very competitive one. Leading the charge heading into Wednesday is Ryan Goindoo with 5.57 million chips. While he is the only player with more than 5 million chips, two more – Phil “The Unabomber” Laak and Jordan Cristos – are both over 4 million, with 4.73 million and 4.265 million, respectively. Two more – John Gordon and Alexandru Masek – have just under 3 million. Thus, five of the six players at the final table have at least 36 big blinds, plenty of chips to be able to make some moves. Only one player, Dan Heimiller, the man who led going into Tuesday, is in what would be considered bad shape, holding just 1.07 million chips.
Only fifteen players remained heading into Day 4, and with a two million chip lead over the rest of the field, it looked as if Patrick Karschamroon was setup perfectly to make the final table. Unfortunately for him, he ran into trouble early, doubling-up Heimiller to erase that lead. He was up and down from there, seemingly alternating between winning a big pot and losing a big pot.
Down to seven players, Karschamroon was one of the short stacks along with Heimiller (who hadn’t had much luck of his own after the early double-up. On his final hand, he moved all-in pre-flop for 1.275 million after Jordan Christos raised to 180,000. Christos called with pocket Jacks and Karschamroon showed A-Q suited. The dealer produced nothing higher than a ten and not enough spades for a flush, resulting in a trip to the rail for Karschamroon as the television final table bubble boy.
Chip leader Ryan Goindoo hails from Trinidad. He has had some pretty solid finishes in live tournaments, though not many cashes overall. He has two World Series of Poker cashes and one WPT cash, the best of which was an eighth place finish in a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event in the 2011 WSOP. His most lucrative tournament was the 2011 California State Poker Championship No-Limit Hold’em Championship Event, which he won for $160,250. The $613,000 he would bank for a victory today would be more than twice as much as he has won for all his live tournament cashes combined.
Of course, the eyes of most poker fans will be on Phil Laak, who is as much a poker celebrity as he is a skilled player. Though he has had success in live tournaments, he has never won an open WPT event. His lone WPT win was a springboard to popularity for Laak, coming way back in 2004 when he won the WPT Invitational.
The final table of the WPT Legends of Poker is just about to get underway at the famous Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California. By the end of the day, we will have a new champion.
2013 World Poker Tour Legends of Poker Main Event – Final Table Chip Counts
1. Ryan Goindoo – 5,570,000
2. Phil Laak – 4,730,000
3. Jordan Cristos – 4,265,000
4. John Gordon – 2,935,000
5. Alexandru Masek – 2,890,000
6. Dan Heimiller – 1,070,000
