Taking third in the recently-completed World Poker Tour (WPT) Legends of Poker Main Event was PocketFives.com member Todd tbt4653 Terry (pictured at right). After a cross-country trip from Los Angeles, the site of the Legends of Poker, to Hoboken, New Jersey, Terry sat down with PocketFives.com to rehash his final table run in the Season VIII tournament. Ultimately, World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Prahlad Friedman came out on top at the Bike, while WSOP November Nine member Kevin Schaffel turned in a runner-up performance. All of the action can be found on PocketFivesLive.com.

Terry entered the final table of the WPT Legends of Poker virtually tied for the chip lead with Schaffel (pictured at left) However, Schaffel began to pull away in the early going, while Terry was dealt lackluster cards. Terry told PocketFives.com a few days removed from his first WPT final table, “It’s definitely disappointing finishing in third. I hoped to win going in. I was tied for the chip lead, but the cards didn’t go my way at the final table. I was card dead for a long stretch at the beginning and I had pocket queens twice. One time, I open-raised and everyone folded. The other time, I pushed over the top of a raise by Prahlad and he folded. Given that I didn’t get cards, I was fortunate to finish as high as I did.”
A series of technical problems plagued the early part of the final table, causing Terry to feel that any flow had been severely disrupted. Meanwhile, Friedman and Schaffel eliminated each contender to set up their heads-up showdown, while Terry was slowly blinded off. On Friedman, who won a WSOP bracelet in 2003, Terry noted, “He knows when to play tight and when to mix it up. He seemed to be playing tighter than you’d expect him to, but he definitely mixed it up. He’s a high-stakes cash game player, so he’s really good post-flop.”

Terry took second to William Durkee in a $2,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament during the 2007 WSOP, banking $353,000. The final table was loaded, featuring Hunter the_Hunt_D Frey, Bodog pro Justin ZeeJustin Bonomo (pictured at right), and WSOP bracelet winner Michael worldsgrtest Banducci, who finished third, fourth, and fifth, respectively. Also at the final table was Stan Weiss, who took down the WPT Mirage Poker Showdown during Season V for $1.3 million. Terry recalled, “I was fortunate to finish second. Justin and Will had all of the chips at the final table, but got all-in against each other with kings against aces.” Durkee came out on top of that confrontation, propelling him to the title.

Terry has recently ramped up his online game as a result of a backing arrangement. He can be found playing in some of the top tournaments on the Web throughout the week and won the $100 rebuy on PokerStars in March for $30,000. He’s also turned in two final tables in the Super Tuesday over the past month for a combined take of $29,000. He remarked, “Online, I haven’t done that well this year. I made a lot of final tables, but the win in the $100 rebuy is my only top three finish online. I have been playing live a lot and am primarily a live player. I only started playing serious volume online this year.”

Next up for Terry is a trip to the Borgata Poker Open, also a televised WPT tournament. The Main Event features a heavily discounted $3,500 buy-in compared to the $10,000 price tag for the Legends of Poker. For Terry, the tournament is in his backyard in New Jersey: “This will be a great tournament and I think they’ll get over 1,000 people. The number of people doesn’t matter as long as the structure is good. It’s like the WSOP Main Event. People think it’s a crap shoot because there are so many people, but it’s the best structured event out there.”

The Borgata Poker Open kicks off on September 19th from Atlantic City and crowns a champion five days later. Like the Legends of Poker, it will air as part of Season VIII of the WPT on Fox Sports Net. Last year, PocketFives.com member Vivek Psyduck Rajkumar (pictured at left) came out on top at the Borgata, earning $1.4 million. A total of 516 players entered and Rajkumar bested Sang Kim heads-up. This year, two starting days will be held.

Relive Terry’s run on PocketFivesLive.com, your source for WPT coverage of online poker players.