On Friday night, Day 1A of the 2008 World Poker Tour Legends of Poker event kicked off at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles, California. It was the first of two starting days for the third event of Season VII of the WPT. Play wrapped up about 12 hours after it started and, in the end, Adam Weinraub was the chip leader in L.A., holding a massive stack of 154,750. Weinraub was the winner of the WPT Invitational during Season V, taking home $100,000 for his efforts. Others at the final table of that tournament included “Miami” John Cernuto and online poker sensation Tim “tmay420” West. Let’s take a look at the rest of the action from Day 1A of the Legends of Poker.
John Smith was in second place after the final cards were dealt on Day 1A. He finished with a chip stack of 134,125, about 20,000 fewer chips that Weinraub. Alvin Zeidenfeld had the third largest chip stack when the smoke cleared, 92,000. Zeidenfeld has one World Series of Poker cash to his name, a $10,660 take in a $1,500 No Limit event (#52) at this year’s World Series. Roman Celusta finished with an 87,425 chip stack, which made him fourth among competitors at The Bike.
Finally, poker pro and prop bet guru Gavin Smith found himself in fifth place at the Legends of Poker after Day 1A, holding a chip stack of 84,000. Smith dominated Season IV of the WPT, making the final table of three events and winning the Mirage Poker Showdown for $1.1 million. He finished third at the Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship at the Bellagio for $327,610 and took fourth in the World Poker Open at Tunica’s Gold Strike Casino for $173,052. His lifetime WPT earnings exceed $1.7 million.
Other notables that finished among the chip leaders at the Legends of Poker was John “The Razor” Phan, who landed a 83,375 chip stack, good for sixth in the room. Phan made waves during the 2008 WSOP, winning a pair of bracelets. He took down a $3,000 no limit hold’em tournament for $434,789 and also banked $151,911 for his victory in the $2,500 buy-in 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball event. He’s raked in more than $1.3 million lifetime from WSOP tournaments. On the WPT circuit, Phan has made a pair of final tables; he finished fourth in the WPT Championship during Season III for $518,920 and in Season VI, which is currently airing on GSN, Phan picked up $135,000 for a sixth place finish.
In ninth place at the end of Day 1A was Erik Seidel, who held 81,975 chips. The Full Tilt Poker pro is an eight-time WSOP bracelet winner with nearly $4 million in lifetime WSOP earnings to his name. Seidel won his first bracelet during the 1992 WSOP. He took down the Foxwoods Poker Classic during Season VI of the WPT for nearly $1 million. Seidel defeated Robert Richardson heads up; Ted Forrest was also at the final table.
Finally, holding the tenth largest stack at the end of Day 1A was Scott Montgomery, who finished with 80,400 chips. He’s a member of the WSOP “November Nine” and is anxiously awaiting his return to the WSOP felt in less than three months. Montgomery took fifth in the Season VI L.A. Poker Classic, which ironically premiered on television on the final day of WSOP Main Event play. The native of Perth, Ontario, Canada has three WSOP cashes to his name for a total of $73,700. When he returns to the Rio, he’ll be fourth in chips with 19,690,000, about 7 million fewer than chip leader Dennis Phillips.
Others who survived Day 1A and will play in Day 2 on Monday are Erick Lindgren, Jeff Madsen, Isaac Baron, Antonio Esfandiari, Men “The Master” Nguyen, Dan Harrington, Lee Watkinson, Vanessa Rousso, and “High Stakes Poker” announcer Gabe Kaplan. Day 2 play begins at 12:00pm PT on Monday. The final table will be held on Thursday, August 28th.