DAN HARRINGTON IS WPT'S 'LEGENDS OF POKER' CHAMP

7 September 2007

$1 634 865 in prize money, a $25 000 WPT championship event seat, and a $10 000 seat in the 2008 Legends of Poker the reward


The fourth stop of Season 6 of the World Poker Tour, and the first major tournament since the 2007 World Series of Poker, took place at the Bicycle Casino in California last week, with a healthy turnout of experienced poker players ready to give battle for the big money and kudos attached to the top "Legends of Poker" tournament.

Despite the absence of top players at the Asia Pacific Poker Tour in Manila, Philippines (see previous InfoPowa reports) there was nevertheless a good entry field for the $10 000, four day Legends of Poker event. Big names in the field included J.C. Tran, James Van Alstyne, Davidson Matthews, Kenna James, Allen Kessler, Joe Sebok and Amire Vahedi.

By day 4 the field was down to 18 survivors, all with their eyes on making the final table of six, and ultimately that table looked like this:

Tom Schneider - $3 495 000
Dan Harrington - $2 230 000
Thu Nguyen - $1 475 000
Shi Jia “Jack” Liu - $1 305 000
Michael McClain - $725 000
David Pham - $470 000

By hand 11 Liu was already introuble thanks to clashes with McClain and Pham that depleted his reserves, and the young player was bundled out, collecting $137 175 for his sixth placing finish. Not long after the tables were turned on McClain as he was bundled out after falling to Nguyen in fifth place, with a paycheck of $182 900.

Play settled down after the initial two eliminations, and there were no further trips to the exit for around 60 hands, although play was both skilled and intense. Then Pham picked off Tom Schneider for $228 625 in fourth place.

Nguyen, in third place, followed Schneider only a few hands later - another victim of Pham who was on top form. Nguyen had the consolation of a hefty third place prize of $388 660.

Heads up, Dan Harrington faced David "The Dragon" Pham, with the latter well ahead in chips (5 805 000 vs. 3 895 000) In the first clashes Harrington won a massive pot of $5.47 million in some hectic and exciting action, but his new lead was almost immediatelty attacked by a determined Pham who chipped away at it for all he was worth. Eventually "The Dragon" accumulated a $6 million stack and was playing with both aggression and confidence. Harrington, however, was the epitome of cool, playing expert, selective hands that kept him well in the game.

By 1 am (after a 5pm start to the final table) the two were still trading cards with little to choose between them, but finally Harrington got the cards he wanted and the upper hand, taking the 2007 WPT Legends of Poker title, $1 634 865 in prize money, a $25 000 WPT championship event seat, and a $10 000 seat in the 2008 Legends of Poker.

Courageous and skilled Pham took home $800 185 for his second-place finish.

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa