World Poker Classic underway in Las Vegas

The 2007 5th Annual Five Star World Poker Classic started over the weekend at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Two side events have been played so far, and the $25,000 World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship is only a couple of weeks away.

Aside from the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, the WPT Championship is the biggest and most prestigious poker tournament in the world.

The buy-in is a massive $25,000, and all the best poker players in the world will be there to compete for the enormous prize pool.

Last year, 605 players entered the tournament, and Joe Bartholdi Jr. won the $3,760,165 first prize, ahead of David Matthew and Roland De Wolfe.

The 2007 action at the Bellagio has kicked off with two events already finished, and ten more tournaments to come, including the Main Event starting on Saturday April 21.

Motoyuki Mabuchi took home $274,950 in Event 1, $1,500 No-Limit Texas Hold'em, while Paul Lee won the $206,795 first prize in Event 2, $2,000 No-Limit Texas Hold'em.

Results from the 2007 5th Annual Five Star World Poker Classic:

Event 1, $1,500 No-Limit Texas Hold'em:

Place Name Prize
1st Motoyuki Mabuchi €650,000
2nd Champie Douglas €325,000
3rd Allen Baker €210,000
4th Randy L McKay €175,000
5th Sam Lewis €130,000
6th David Sklansky €100,000
7th Bob Cole €175,000
8th Tad Jurgens €130,000
9th Larry Merritt €100,000

Event 2, $2,000 No-Limit Texas Hold'em:

Place Name Prize
1st Paul Lee $206,795
2nd Mohamed Ahmedin $111,975
3rd Tommy Hang $55,990
4th Tu Huynh $31,990
5th Peter Rho $23,995
6th Brandon Cantu €18,665
7th Men "The Master" Nguyen $13,330
8th Alex Bolotin $10,665
9th John Phan $8,530

courtesy of Erik Sylven

News Added: 10 April, 2007

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