The World Poker Tour® will return to The Bicycle Hotel & Casino on Aug. 27, 2016, for the 15th edition of the famed Legends of Poker. The event has been part of each WPT® season dating back to the first, and we’d like to take a look at the WPT Legends of Poker through the years leading up to Season XV. The first 14 editions of the event have generated combined prize pools of nearly $40 million, with some of poker’s biggest names taking home the Legends of Poker title. Past winners have included Doyle Brunson, Dan Harrington, and Will “The Thrill” Failla, plus the event has helped two players secure WPT Player of the Year titles.
This year’s event comes with a buy-in of $4,000, but that hasn’t always been the price tag. The first four seasons, the event’s price tag was $5,000. For Season V, the buy-in was increased to $10,000 where it remained through Season VIII. In Season IX, the buy-in was lowered to $5,000, and then in the five seasons that followed through Season XIV, the price of entry was $3,700.
Season I: First Title Goes To Karagulleyan
The Legends of Poker was the second event ever held on the WPT, taking place in August of 2002 following the Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Bellagio. It attracted a field of 134 entries and generated a prize pool of $670,000. Topping the field to earn the $258,000 top prize was Chris Karagulleyan after he defeated Hon Le in heads-up play. Mark Seif and Kathy Liebert both reached the final table, finishing fourth and sixth, respectively.
Interestingly, Karagulleyan won both his first and last pot at the final table holding pocket queens. On the first, he knocked out Liebert in sixth place. She held ace-king, but couldn’t win the classic coin flip. On the last, Karagulleyan won the tournament after the money went in on a jack-high flop. His heads-up opponent, Le, held top pair and Karagulleyan’s overpair of queens held up.
The top 10 places finished in the money in the inaugural WPT Legends of Poker, with Paul Darden and Phil Hellmuth just missing out on the official televised WPT final table. Darden took seventh, and Hellmuth busted in eighth.
Season II: “The Silver Fox” Makes His Mark
In Season II, the field size for the WPT Legends of Poker more than doubled to 309 entries. The prize pool swelled to $1.545 million, and top 27 spots reached the money. The final table was full of big names, and when it was all said and done, Mel “The Silver Fox” Judah took the title and $579,375 in first-place prize money.
Judah, who is currently fifth on the Australian poker all-time money list according to the Hendon Mob database, topped Paul Phillips in heads-up play. Others to make the official televised WPT final table were T.J. Cloutier, Chip Jett, Farzad Bonyadi, and Phil Laak.
Season III: The Legendary Doyle Brunson Does It
The WPT Legends of Poker continued its impressive growth when in Season III the field size increased to 667 entries. Once again, the field was littered with the biggest names in the game, including the one and only Doyle Brunson. The storied Brunson went on to win the event for $1.198 million, defeating Lee Watkinson in the end.
The score has stood the test of time as the largest live poker cash for “Texas Dolly,” and served as a bit of redemption for Brunson, who narrowly missed out on his first WPT title back in Season I when he finished fourth in the WPT World Championship.
In the Season III WPT Legends of Poker, the top 63 places finished in the money, and deep runs were had by Paul Phillips (7th place), Perry Friedman (9th place), Gabe Kaplan (17th place), Jen Harman (29th place), Mike Caro (52th place), and Carlos Mortensen (55th place).
Season IV: Kahaner’s Only Live Poker Cash To Date
The Legends of Poker saw more growth with a field of 839 players in Season IV, and $4.195 million was generated for the prize pool. After the dust had settled, Alex Kahaner proved to be the last competitor standing. He won the $1.151 million top prize, and, interestingly enough, the win has proved to be the only live poker cash of his career.
The top 72 places finished in the money, and reaching the final table were Kenna James, Tim Phan, and Kevin O’Donnell. James lost to Kahaner in heads-up play. Amnon Filippi (12th place), Cary Katz (21st place), Cyndy Violette (22nd place), Padraig Parkinson (25th place), and Andy Bloch (30th place) were a handful of the notable players in the top 30.
Season V: Babyfaced Joe Pelton Wins More Than $1.6 Million
The Legends of Poker remained at the beginning of the WPT schedule in Season V, but there was one significant change in that the buy-in was doubled to $10,000. As an expected result, the field size decreased due to the larger price tag, but with 466 entries the prize pool went up, with $4.52 million generated.
Walking away with the more than $1.6 million top prize was Joe Pelton. It was an impressive score and helped give Pelton confidence on poker’s biggest stage. Later in Season V, Pelton added another WPT final table when he took third in the WPT Festa Al Lago tournament at Bellagio.
Joining Pelton at the final table was Kevin O’Donnell, who finished sixth the year before. O’Donnell bested his finish by two spots the second time around and took fourth.
Season VI: “Action Dan” Gets the Victory
The buy-in to the WPT Legends of Poker remained at $10,000 for Season VI, but the big price tag didn’t stop the number of entries from going up. When the final numbers were tallied, 485 entries piled up, generating a prize pool of $4.607 million.
Notable players Tom Schneider and David “The Dragon” Pham reached the official televised WPT final table, but it was another well-known player etching his name on the WPT Champions Cup in Dan Harrington.
It might’ve been hard to believe that Doyle Brunson’s Legends of Poker victory was the largest score of his long and successful career, and it could be of similar surprise that the same can be said for Harrington. He won $1.635 million, and that’s the biggest prize Harrington has ever won.
Season VII: John “The Razor” Phan Slices His Way To the Winner’s Circle
Another million-dollar-plus, first-place prize was awarded at the Season VII WPT Legends of Poker, with John “The Razor” Phan winning the title after three prior attempts at official televised WPT final tables. Phan scored more than $1.116 million after he defeated young gun Amit Makhija in heads-up play. Another rising star, Zachary Clark, finished in third place.
Of the 373 entries in the event, the top 36 reached the money. Matt Graham (28th place), Max Pescatori (31st place), and Van Nguyen (36th place) all squeaked into the money with a min-cash, and Layne Flack made an extra deep run with an eighth-place result.
Season VIII: Friedman Scores His Breakout Live Win
The stars were back at The Bike in August of 2009 for the Season VIII edition of the WPT Legends of Poker. Entries dipped to 279, but nonetheless another seven-figure top prize was awarded and a prize pool of $2.625 million was generated.
Prahlad “Spirit Rock” Friedman emerged victorious to the tune of $1.034 million, earning his breakout win in the live tournament realm after years of successful high-stakes, online poker play.
Friedman defeated Kevin Schaffel in heads-up play, and longtime grinders Todd Terry and Toto Leonidas finished in third and fourth, respectively.
This was the last time the buy-in was held at $10,000.
Season IX: Frankenberger Wins Legends of Poker and Player of the Year
The following season, the buy-in to the WPT Legends of Poker Main Event was reduced to $5,000, and the field-size number was back on the up with 462 entries. Winning the event and igniting his run towards the WPT Player of the Year title was Andy Frankenberger.
Frankenberger earned $750,000 in first-place prize money, besting Canadian Kyle Wilson in heads-up play for the title. Others at the official televised WPT final table were Tom Braband and Jared Jaffee, taking fourth and fifth, respectively.
The top 45 competitors cashed, and Season VII’s runner-up, Amit Makhija, min-cashed in 45th place. Making deeper runs towards the title were Tyler Cornell (11th place), Jonathan Little (12th place), David “Doc” Sands (17th place), and Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler (20th place).
As noted, Frankenberger went on to win the Season IX WPT Player of the Year. On top of winning the WPT Legends of Poker, Frankenberger took fifth in the WPT Festa Al Lago and 16th in the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic.
Season X: The Thrill of Victory for Failla
The 10th installment of the Legends of Poker was a big one, with 757 entries in the field, a prize pool of more than $2.5 million, and the colorful Will “The Thrill” Failla taking the crown. Failla earned $758,085.
To win the event, Failla beat Ken “Teach” Aldridge in heads-up action at a final table that included Josh Pollock (4th place) and Owais Ahmed (6th place).
Ray Henson (7th place), James Carroll (8th place), and David Daneshvar (9th place) just missed the official televised WPT final table, and Cornell, who placed 11th the year before, took 11th again in an amazing back-to-back performance.
Others to finish in the money of the event that paid the top 81 places were Shawn Buchanan (13th place), Brent Hanks (16th place), Matt Berkey (30th place), and JC Tran (39th place).
Season XI: Josh Hale Wins Half a Million Dollars
As it seems to always do, the WPT Legends of Poker Main Event generated another tough final table filled with notable faces. This time it was Ali Eslami, Greg Mueller, and Jeff Madsen reaching the official televised WPT final table, but they were the first three to go. Raoul Malek then fell in third place to set up the heads-up battle between Josh Hale and Max Steinberg. When it was all said and done, Hale had emerged victorious to earn the $500,000 top prize.
Hale beat a field of 622 entries to win the lion’s share of the $2.111 million prize pool.
The top 63 places in the event paid out, with deep runs from Jesse Martin (9th place), Sam Barnhart (15th place), Joseph Cheong (18th), Jason Koon (19th), and Yevgeny Timoshenko (25th place).
Season XII: Cristos Tops ‘Em All
The WPT Legends of Poker field size jumped back to above 700 with 716 entries in Season XII. A prize pool of more than $2.43 million was generated, and it was Jordan Cristos scoring the $613,355 first-place prize. Cristos beat Dan Heimiller in heads-up play for the win.
Also reaching the official televised WPT final table were Alex Masek (4th place) and Phil Laak (5th place).
The top 72 spots were set to make the money, but with a double elimination on the bubble of the event, 73 places were paid with Ashton Holmes and Jake Schindler splitting the first $7,050 payout and taking $3,525 each. Some of the notables to cash were Garrett Greer (8th place), Lily Kiletto (26th place), Zo Karim (33rd place), Frank Rusnak (65th place), and Joe Serock (71st place).
Season XIII: Welcome To the Club, Harry Arutyunyan
The Season XIII WPT Legends of Poker Main Event attracted 593 entries and generated a prize pool of more than $2.17 million. A few familiar faces reached the official televised WPT final table, but it was relative unknown Harry Arutyunyan taking the title and $576,369 top prize.
Joining Arutyunyan at the final table were Tyler Kenney, Tyler Cornell, and Jeremy Kottler, while Owen Crowe and Keven Stammen busted in seventh and eighth places, respectively. For Cornell, his fifth-place finish further proved the WPT Legends of Poker at The Bike is his stomping grounds, after he finished 11th in both Season IX and Season X.
Season XIV: Shariati Defeats Deeb, Plus Wins Player of the Year
In 2015, 786 entries were tallied for the Season XIV WPT Legends of Poker. When it came down to heads-up play, it was a memorable pro-versus-Joe matchup with Mike Shariati taking on Freddy Deeb. In the end, Shariati bested Deeb to win his first WPT title and $675,942.
Like Frankenberger in Season IX, the win helped propel Shariati to win the Hublot WPT Player of the Year title. Shariati added a second-place finish in the WPT L.A. Poker Classic for $656,540 and a 21st-place finish in the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown for $30,228 to help him win the Hublot WPT Player of the Year title.
Also at the final table with Shariati and Deeb was Brent Roberts, taking third place. Michael Wang (7th place), Alex Masek (12th place), Griffin Paul (13th place), Joseph Cheong (14th place), and Tom Marchese (16th place) all finished in the top 20.
Now that we’ve run through the past 14 seasons of the WPT Legends of Poker, it’s time to get ready for this year’s event. It all starts this Saturday, Aug. 27, at The Bicycle Hotel & Casino, and you can follow the action right here on WPT.com.
For more information on the Season XV WPT Legends of Poker, click here.