WPT Legends of Poker TV table set

The participants at the final table of the World Poker Tour Legends of Poker event in Los Angeles will get their chance at the US$1,000,900 first prize.

One of those fortunate finalists is “November Nine” member Kevin Schaffel. Mr. Schaffel leads the final six players with 2,234,000 chips. He will be sixth in chips when the World Series of Poker Main Event final table reconvenes on 10 November.

Since the inception of the “November Nine” format last year, Mr. Schaffel is the first player to make both the November Nine and a World Poker Tour final table. Last year, Russian poker pro Ivan Demidov finished third at the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event, and then finished second behind eventual champion Peter Eastgate at the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas.

Mr. Schaffel’s closest rival is Day 3 chip leader Todd Terry with 2,219,000, followed by online poker pro Prahlad Friedman with 1,476,000. Mr. Friedman is probably best known for his altercation with Jeffrey Lisandro during the 2006 Main Event, as well as the “rap” he performed for a segment of the ESPN television coverage. He also made a deep run in this year’s Main Event, finishing 64th and earning US$90,000.

The short stack at this table is poker pro Toto Leonidas with 580,000 chips. Mr. Leonidas won the 2003 United States Poker Championship in Atlantic City, New Jersey, earning US$388,000. He also has a WSOP bracelet from winning the US$1500 buy-in Seven Card Stud event in 2003. Although he has won several preliminary WPT events, he has never been on the TV table.

Another November Nine member and former chip leader in this event, Steven Begleiter, made the final nine, but missed the TV table when he finished in ninth place. He attempted to bluff off Todd Terry with king-three of hearts. Mr. Terry called with ace-queen of clubs, neither player connected with the board and Terry’s hand held up. Mr. Begleiter earned US$39,240 for his efforts.

In an interesting twist, none of the six players who will compete for the title have ever made a WPT final table before. The combination of familiar faces in new places, along with amateur players Sam Stein and Mike Krescanko, will make for entertaining viewing when the episodes air early next year. The final table will start 26 August at 4pm PDT.