Legends of Poker - Live Updates

Little more than four years ago Prahlad Friedman was almost as well known as players like Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth. Then Friedman fell of the poker map and was virtually a ghost on the circuit.

It's safe to say that with the 2009 WPT Legends of Poker, Friedman is back.

In the last hand of the tournament Schaffel bet 300,000 preflop and Friedman raised to 800,000.

Schaffel thought for less than a minute and then announced he was all-in.

Friedman sighed and contemplated his decision.

“I know you’re going to call so I’ll give you a count,” said Schaffel as he counted out his chips. The call would cost Friedman 2.8 million more chips.

Finally Friedman arrived at a decision and said, “Oh alright, I call.”

The players revealed their cards:

Friedman: A♥ Q♣

Schaffel: K♥ J♣

The flop came T♣ 3♥ 2♥ and neither player improved their hand. The turn was the 4♦, which left Schaffel hoping for a miracle jack on the river.

Instead the 9♥ on the river gave Friedman the checkmark and the tournament!

Friedman will receive a cool $1 million for coming in first place while Schaffel will likely have to wait until November to win his first major tournament (although given the choice, it’s probably best to save your run-good for the Main Event!). At any rate Schaffel will receive $471,670 for coming in second place.

Congratulations to Friedman the newest Legend of Poker!

For more on Legends, including words from Friedman and Schaffel, check out this article .

Kevin Schaffel just doubled through Prahlad Friedman making things much more interesting at the final table.

In the hand Schaffel limped and Friedman checked his option.

The flop came A♣ Q♣ 3♦ and Schaffel immediately moved all-in for his last 1.7 million. The play seemed to confound Friedman.

“Do you have a flush draw?” he asked.

Schaffel said nothing and finally Friedman called. Schaffel showed him Q♥ 3♥ for two-pair while Friedman flipped over J♣ 4♣ for the flush draw.

The board finished with the 8♠ and then the 2♦, which secured Schaffel the pot.

After the hand Schaffel had drawn almost even to Friedman.

We are officially heads-up at the 2009 WPT Legends of Poker.

Todd Terry, who entered the final table second in chips, has been eliminated.

In his final hand Terry was facing a Prahlad Friedman bet of 200,000 and he decided to ship it all-in for approximately 1.7 million. Friedman thought for a few seconds and then called.

The players revealed their cards:

Friedman: A♣ Q♣

Terry: 4♣ 4♦

The flop came a stunning Q♦ J♥ 6♦ to catapult Friedman to the lead. The turn was the K♠ and Terry was looking for a miracle on the river.

It didn’t come as the board finished with the K♦.

Terry is eliminated in third place and will have wait another day for a WPT main event. He will receive $231,300 to soften the blow of busting out.

Meanwhile we are now heads-up between November Niner Kevin Schaffel and Friedman. Here are the latest chip counts:

Friedman: 6.6 million

Schaffel: 1.85 million

Toto Leonidas, perhaps the most experienced professional at this final table, has been eliminated.

In his final hand Leonidas called a Prahlad Friedman bet of 120,000 preflop.

The flop came K♠ 6♣ 2♣ and Friedman thought for a minute before firing out a bet of 350,000. Leonidas looked his chips and then announced he was all-in.

Friedman insta-called and Leonidas said, “Uh oh, you must have me beat.”

Indeed Leonidas was in trouble with A♣ 9♣ against Friedman’s A♦ K♠ for top-pair top-kicker.

The turn came J♠ and that left Leonidas praying for a club.

“Toto! Toto! Toto!” chanted the Leonidas supporters.

The river finished with the 2♠ and that gave Friedman the checkmark and the rest of Leonidas’ chips.

Leonidas finishes in fourth for $144,600 while Friedman is up to 4 million with three players left.

Toto Leonidas has still got some fight in him despite having a short-stack for most of the final table.

In a recent hand Leonidas open-shoved with A♦ 5♦ for his last 1.2 million but Kevin Schaffel called him down with A♠ J♥.

The majority of the crowd seems to be firmly behind Leonidas and they looked concerned for their hero.

The flop came J♦ 9♦ 8♠ and the Leonidas supporters gave a loud cheer, despite the fact that Leonidas needed another diamond to complete his flush.

The turn came K♦ and that was enough to give Leonidas the flush and the pot. After the hand Leonidas was up to 2 million while Schaffel sinks all the way down to 2.6 million.

The two big stacks are fighting yet again.

In the hand Todd Terry opened for 150,000 and Kevin Schaffel called.

The flop came Q♣ T♠ 8♥ and both players checked.

The 9♥ peeled off the deck as the turn card and this time Schaffel fired out 300,000 chips.

The river came 5♦ and Schaffel fired yet again – this time for 600,000. Terry thought for a few minutes but eventually felt he had to fold.

After the hand Schaffel was up to 3.6 million and starting to look unstoppable.

One hand after kicking Sam Stein to the curb, Kevin Schaffel had the chance to rail Toto Leonidas.

It wasn't a very good chance, however, as Toto shoved kings and Schaffel called him with pocket tens.

The board bricked out, Toto doubled and four-handed play continues.

Sam Stein has displayed an amazing ability to get it in bad and come out smelling like roses but he’s finally reached the end of the line.

In his final hand Stein open-shoved for 600,000 and Kevin Schaffel made the call with 7♣ 7♥. Stein actually had two overcards with K♥ Q♠ and we had ourselves a race situation.

The flop came 8♣ 7♦ 3♠ and Schaffel landed the knockout punch with his set of sevens. The board finished with a meaningless 2♥ and then the 2♣.

Stein is evicted in fifth place and will receive $116,225 for his efforts.

We’ve made it to Level 24 and we still have five willing combatants in the poker arena that is a WPT final table.

The new blinds are 30,000/60,000 with a 10,000 ante.

Go! Go! Go!

It’s been slow going at the final table of the 2009 WPT Legends of Poker but that didn’t stop Toto Leonidas from picking up the big blind.

In the hand Leonidas open shoved from the small blind for around 480,000 and Sam Stein tanked for several minutes in the big blind but finally laid his hand down.

That’s the extent of the action here at the final table.

In other news we are once again on a 15 minute TV break.

Prahlad Friedman has been the story of this tournament thus far and he continues to be a serious problem for everyone else.

In a recent hand Terry opened for 100,000 from the button and Friedman defended his big blind. The flop came A♥ A♦ 9♠ and Friedman checked.

Terry responded by betting out 250,000 and Friedman eventually made the call.

The turn came J♣ and both players checked.

The river finished with the 9♣ and both players checked it down. Friedman showed a modest K♥ 3♥ but that was apparently enough to take down the pot as Terry folded.

After the hand Friedman was up to 2.5 million chips and gunning for that $1 million first place prize.

After several unscheduled break we are once again paused here in the Bicycle Casino. Apparently producers from the WPT have broken something they don't know how to fix. Uh oh.

We'll let you know when the cameras are once again rolling and the cards are in the air.

Update: After nearly 30 minutes of downtime we are once again live from the Bike.

The 23rd level had just begun when Todd Terry managed to drag a rather sizeable pot from chip leader Kevin Schaffel.

Terry limped the small blind and Schaffel checked. The flop fell T♦ 6♠ 3♠ and after Terry checked, Schaffel took the lead betting 70k.

Terry flatted, bringing the T♣ turn into play.

Terry checked again and Schaffel kept firing, making it 150,000. Once again, Terry flatted.

The 6♦ river card brought yet another Terry check and Schaffel bet.

This time he made it 200,000 and after a good two minutes in the tank, Terry called.

Schaffel had kings, but Terry had caught up, rivering a full house with 8-6 off.

As a result, Prahlad Friedman has taken the lead on 2.4 million now.

Terry is in second spot with 2.3 million and Schaffel dips all the way down to third on 2.2 million.

Although this final table started with a bang, play has definitely slowed down.

The biggest news so far is that Prahlad Friedman has moved his way up from third to second in chips, surpassing Todd Terry through a series of small pots.

November Niner Kevin Schaffel still leads, but seems content to wait for the game to come to him rather than force the action.

He did pick up a 250k pot from Sam Stein pushing Stein off a continuation bet with a post flop raise and now has over 3 million in chips.

Toto Leonidas remains the shortest of the five remaining stacks, but he doesn't appear to be going anywhere just yet.

He shipped it a few hands ago, but no one looked him up.

Stay tuned poker fans, we have little doubt some serious action will soon be headed your way.

Well that didn’t take long. We’ve already seen our first double up and it only took one hand to get there.

In the hand Krescanko made a standard raise to 58,000 but Stein re-raised to 260,000. Krescanko thought for a minute and then made the call.

The flop came Q♣ 8♦ 5♦ and Stein thought for a minute and then announced he was all-in for the last of his 520,000. Krescanko insta-called and the crowd went crazy.

The players revealed their hands.

Krescanko: Q♦ T♠

Sam Stein: A♦ K♥

Once again Stein has got it in fairly light with just two overs and some backdoor draws. However, knowing Stein’s luck in this tournament, Krescanko had to be nervous.

The turn came J♦ and that gave Stein a flush draw. The river came… 7♦!

Stein doubles through with his ace-high flush while Krescanko is sent spiraling down to just 460,000. While celebrating his victory Stein actually knocked down one of the WPT barricades while running to hug his friends.

Just two hands later Krescanko shoved with A♠ Q♣ and Prahlad Friedman called with K♠ K♥.

The kings held up and just like that Krescanko is out in sixth place. At least he will receive $89,220 for his short stay at the final table.

On to Level 22!

Turn off your TV, forget about work and get that refresh key ready because the final table of the 2009 WPT Legends starts now.

Five days ago a group of 279 players entered this tournament with the hopes of winning it all but now only six remain.

Kevin Schaffer leads a motley crew of players that includes Todd Terry, Prahlad Friedman, Toto Leonidas, Mike Krescanko and Sam Simon as they attempt to outlast each other and take down the $1 million first place prize.

The tournament director has just finished introducing the players to an energetic crowd here at the Bicycle Casino and we are ready to rumble.

Hold on to your pants because updates are coming!

Here are the chip counts to start you off:

Kevin Schaffel – 2,234,000
Todd Terry – 2,219,000
Prahlad Friedman – 1,476,000
Mike Krescanko – 1,209,000
Sam Stein – 743,000
Toto Leonidas – 580,000