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Tonight from the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles, California, the World Poker Tour’s Legends of Poker event will play down to a champion. Each of the six remaining players is guaranteed to walk away with at least $176,035. The winner of the Legends of Poker will pocket $1.1 million. The final table of this prestigious WPT event, whose past champions have included Doyle Brunson and Dan Harrington, includes two PocketFivers, Amit Amak316 Makhija (pictured at right) and Zachary CrazyZachary Clark. Final table play kicks off this afternoon at 4:00pm PT and will be tracked on PocketFivesLive.com, your home for the best WPT coverage.

Makhija is the chip leader of the Legends of Poker event entering final table play. He took the chip lead early on in Day 4 and never looked back. Makhija won a big hand against Ron Jenkins holding A-J, flopping top pair against Jenkins’ gutshot straight draw. The turn also gave Jenkins a flush draw, but paired the board. Jenkins pushed all in and was called by Makhija, who scooped a defining pot after the river bricked out. Makhija is no stranger to victory in the live or online arenas. He won the $100 rebuy on PokerStars in March for $46,425, the same day as he finished second in the UltimateBet $200K Guaranteed for $27,000. Two weeks ago, he took down the Full Tilt $100 cubed (one rebuy plus one add-on) for $19,300. Earlier this month, he took second in the $215 NL Hold'em heads-up matches on PokerStars for $11,362. His WPT success mirrors his $200,000 score in the 2008 WSOP.

PocketFivesLive.com Tournament Reporter Court Harrington, who has been at The Bike covering online poker players in the Legends of Poker event, commented “Makhija came into the day second in chips, got off to a great start, and then was able to hold steady with the chip lead all the way down to the final six players. If he can continue to change gears at the right times, as he has done all tournament long, he is the favorite to take the title.” Makhija enters the final table holding 3.2 million chips, or nearly 30% of the chips in play.

Joining Makhija at the final table is Zachary CrazyZachary Clark (pictured at left), who is third in chips with 2.0 million. Early in the day, Clark busted Ben bfineman Fineman holding pocket jacks against Fineman’s pocket sixes. The board ran out 10-9-4-5-K, sending Fineman to the rails in 27th; he cashed for $21,125. Clark’s success online includes winning the Full Tilt Online Poker Series Main Event last August for nearly $400,000. A few months later, he took down the Full Tilt Poker Sunday Mulligan for $37,700. He made the final table of the Sunday Million earlier in August, finishing fifth for $59,017. In June, he took third in the Super Tuesday on PokerStars for $32,445.

Harrington commented on Clark’s run through the WPT Legends of Poker: “The storylines around him for this tournament are pretty impressive. Clark’s play has been even more impressive. He is just one of the many talented players that make this one of the toughest WPT final tables in the history of the tour.”

Clark is the nephew of the late Chip Reese. He told WPT Live Updates Host Amanda blondechick20 Leatherman after play had concluded, “I learned a lot about the poker lifestyle from him and what to do with your money after you get it. I learned a lot of Pot Limit Omaha from him, but I don’t play that much.”

Also at the final table is Kyle Wilson (pictured at right). He’s a high-stakes online cash game player who finished in the money in the 2007 WSOP Main Event. Harrington discusses Wilson’s reputation in the eyes of the Legends of Poker field: “He doesn't draw a lot of attention and doesn't seem interested in the hype that goes with being a poker player. That said, he has quietly earned a well-deserved reputation as one of the top players in the game from those who spend time around the highest limits of poker. There is no doubt that he is among the elite few at the very top of the cash game world and he is showing an ability to adjust seamlessly to tournament poker as well.”

Here’s a look at the final chip stacks for play today:
Amit Makhija - 3,225,000
John Phan - 2,415,000
Zach Clark - 2,025,000
Kyle Wilson - 1,425,000
Paul Wilson - 1,130,000
Trong Nguyen - 980,000

PocketFivers who were eliminated on Day 4 (Wednesday) included:
Ben bfineman Fineman (27th for $21,125)
Marco CrazyMarco Johnson (20th for $21,125)

Play begins at 4:00pm PT this afternoon. Visit PocketFivesLive.com for all of the latest on Makhija and Clark’s march towards their first WPT victory.