Every December all the top pros turn out at the Bellagio to compete. Last year Eugene Katchalov was able to capture the title and the $2,482,605 top prize in impressive fashion at one of the quickest final tables to date. PocketFivers Jordan “Octavian_C” Rich and Ryan “Daut44” Daut were both at the televised final table but finished in 5th (Rich - $289,070) and 6th (Daut - $192,715), coming up short of their hopes for a title.
Last year’s field boasted an impressive 664 entrants and a prize pool of just under $10 million with the top 100 players making the money. Smaller numbers in the preliminary events indicate the main event will likely come up short of last year’s mark, but turnout is still expected to be relatively strong for a $15k buy-in tournament.
Other P5ers that made it to the money in the 2007 Five Diamond included Vivek “psyduck” Rajkumar (26th), Alex “AJKHoosier” Kamberis (30th), David “Bakes” Baker (31st), Markus “LURPED” Gonsalves (34th), Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little (53rd), Shannon Shorr (71st), and Joe Sebok (86th).
For anyone playing this year you can Register Here for coverage on www.PocketFivesLive.com.
Winning the fourth event as part of the festivities at the Bellagio was Sorel Imper1um Mizzi, who pocketed $143,050. He triumphed in the $3,000 No Limit Hold’em event at the Bellagio over some of the game’s best, including Chris Bush, Brandon Cantu, Marco CrazyMarco Johnson, and PocketFivesLive.com Tournament Reporter Court Harrington, who finished in sixth place for $16,530. Mizzi’s tournament poker resume includes a runner up finish in the £5,000 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha tournament during the 2008 WSOP Europe festivities for £132,000.
In Event #5, Blair blur5f6 Hinkle fell to Toto Leonidas heads-up, cashing for $103,295. Hinkle won a $2,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament during the 2008 WSOP, becoming one-half of only the second pair of brothers ever to win bracelets. Grant drossxyu Hinkle won a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament in 2008 for $831,461, beating James Akenhead heads-up. Blair’s WSOP bracelet win was worth $507,563.
Dutch havoj Boyd defeated Benny Chen to take home $162,605 and the win in a $2,000 No Limit event (#7) at the Bellagio. Boyd took down his lone WSOP bracelet by muscling his way through a $2,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event during the 2006 tournament series. Hot on his heels in that tournament and finishing in second place was 2005 WSOP Main Event Champion Joe Hachem. Boyd’s WSOP victory was worth $475,712.
In the $5,000 No Limit tournament at the Bellagio (Event #9), Jimmy gobboboy Fricke finished third, pocketing $83,505. Fricke took ninth in a $2,000 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split Eight or Better tournament during the 2008 WSOP for $21,135. In 2006, he won the $200,000 Guaranteed on UltimateBet. Event #9 attracted 143 players and was won by Russian player Evgeny Serebryakov.
Check out PocketFivesLive.com, your source for WPT coverage of online poker players.
---









