STARS GATHER AT WPT CHAMPS

27 April 2007

304 players in $25 000 buy-in Bellagio poker epic

The Bellagio in Las Vegas was in the poker spotlight over the weekend as 304 players gathered for the World Poker Tour championship main event, which attracted poker stars from all over the world despite a hefty buy-in of $25 000. The resultant prize-pool will be the highest yet in WPT history, with the winner alone taking home over $4 million.

The list of entrants on day 1A contained most of the respected and famous players on the planet, with ex and present champions of the world's top poker championships in abundance. But tournament play and lady luck are no respecters of champions, and by the end of the first day the following had made an exit: Jeff Madsen, Alex Jacob, Brian Townsend, Tuan Le, Chad Brown, Shane "Shaniac" Schleger, T.J. Cloutier, David "The Dragon" Pham, John Gale, Doug Lee, Davidson Matthew, John Juanda, Raj Patel, Johnny "World" Hennigan, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Barry Shulman, Mike Woo, Jon Friedberg, Jordan Morgan, and Cyndy Violette.

With such a star-studded cast, the competition was always going to be entertaining, and day 1 did not disappoint. Phil Hellmuth was on form, baiting 2006 WSOP champ Jamie Gold and getting it right back. The two made a side bet of $5 000 that Gold would not make it to day 2, which Gold had won by the end of the day, when 220 players remained in the tournament. Hellmuth also undertook to pay Gold $500 every time he pulled off a bluff against Tuan Le, and Gold promptly did that twice, eliminating Le in the process.

Attracting attention was the 21 year old Anna Wroblewski (see previous InfoPowa report) who finished the day as chip leader and displayed outstanding poker demeanour and skill. Fresh from her first big $337 000 tournament truimph in the $3 000 WPT event last week, which she won after a $300 investment in an online satellite contest, she quickly built a formidable stack and counted prodigy young gun Jeff Madsen among her victims.

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa

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