WPT Legends Of Poker

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Legends Are Made, Not Born: The WPT in L.A.

With its newly inked Fox Sports Net television and new media deal in hand, the World Poker Tour rolls back into the haze of a Los Angeles summer this weekend for its annual Legends of Poker event.

This second televised stop of the tour's seventh season is being held at the famed Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens from Aug. 23-28. The $10k buy-in event is sure to attract much of poker's elite, including our very own PL.com crew. They plan to be on hand to bring you all the action from Day 1a straight through until a new WPT Legends champion is crowned.

Legends is a truly appropriate name for this stop on the World Poker Tour, as some of the biggest names in the game have taken home the title over the past six seasons - including no less than Texas Dolly Doyle Brunson.

Last year, the Season 6 Legends title and $1.6 million first-place prize were taken home by another true legend of the game, as Dan Harrington managed to best a final table that included 2007 WSOP POY Tom Schneider and David "The Dragon" Pham to win it all.

As revered for his teachings in the Harrington on Hold 'Em volumes as he is for his own play, Harrington sewed up the win wearing his trademark green Boston Red Sox cap and following his own solid advice to bet big hands when they come your way.

The Dragon seeks revenge!

In what became the 2007 Legends of Poker's final hand, Harrington bet out when he flopped top two and did not slow down on the turn despite an overcard coming. Having flopped middle pair with a less-than-attractive kicker and facing another fishy-looking bet from "Action Dan" on the turn, Pham tried to push Harrington off the pot by shoving, but Harrington made the easy call and had The Dragon drawing dead.

It had been more than 12 years since his 1995 WSOP Main Event win and two years removed from his last WPT final table. Nonetheless, with the Legends win, Harrington managed to cement his legendary status as one of the game's greats.

The second-place finish for Pham marked his fifth WPT final table, and while the Vietnamese-American has made two more since, he has yet to book a win. Something tells us he'll be looking to get over the hump in this latest trip to La-La Land from his nearby home in Cerritos.

Seventhbok?

Barry Greenstein's boy Joe Sebok also managed to make a name for himself at the Legends of Poker in 2007. Unfortunately that name was "Seventhbok" as Legends became the second WPT tournament in the calendar year where Sebok went out in seventh place, bubbling the TV final table.

You can expect nothing less from Legends this year as PL.com braves the harsh conditions of a sunny and warm southern California summer to bring you live updates, player interviews and our signature daily wrap-up blogs all week long.

Whether it's hanging ten on Hermosa Beach, shopping on Rodeo Drive and Melrose Avenue or scarfing down a dozen tacos at Yuca's in Los Feliz, PokerListings is willing to do just about anything to bring you the best live poker tournament coverage on the planet. So stay tuned - Legends is next!