Legends of Poker Attracts 462 Players
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A total of 462 players showed up to contest the Legends of Poker tournament at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. After the first day, only 241 players remain, chasing a total prize pool of $2.15 million.
The first day actually took two days to complete, thanks to the large field. The Bike split the field into Days 1A and 1B, with the survivors coming back to compete today in the merged Day 2.
The leader of the tournament heading into the second day of competition is Manuel Reyes, with a very healthy chip stack of over 205,000. Vinny Vinh is second with 180,000. Many other notables dot the leaderboard, with Joe Sebok, Barry Greenstein, November Nine member Soi Nguyen, Allen Cunningham and Phil Hellmuth all finding themselves in the top 50 in the chip count.
While several factors contributed to the large field, one major factor may have been the reduction in the tournament buy-in. Previously a $10,000 affair, this year’s Legends of Poker Main Event carried only a $5,000 buy-in. This led to a marked increase in interest over the previous year’s tournament, which only attracted 279 competitors.
The top 45 players will make the money at this year’s tournament, with every winner taking at least $10,200 home with them. The ultimate winner will win a total of $750,000 for first, with the runner up taking $370,000.
The poker action wasn’t the only event of note at the Legends of Poker this weekend. Kathy Liebert was also honored at the tournament, as this was her 100th World Poker Tour tournament. She was only the second player ever to accomplish the feat. The other player to make it to the WPT century mark is Eric Seidel. In her WPT career, Liebert has won over $1.7 million and made six WPT final tables, though she has yet to win a WPT event.
Liebert did not fare well in her 100th event, being eliminated on Day 1. However, she will continue to be honored this summer; next week, she will be inducted in the 2010 class of the Women in Poker Hall of Fame, along with poker pioneer Billie Brown and fellow professional poker player Jennifer Harman.