The World Poker Tour® Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event at Bellagio in Las Vegas is one of only three events to be a part of the WPT® schedule each season for all 15. Furthermore, the WPT Five Diamond Main Event was the very first event on the World Poker Tour, taking place in the first half of 2002.
Over the years, the WPT Five Diamond Main Event has been held with a buy-in between $10,000 and $15,000, standing the test of time as one of the few events on the poker circuit able to maintain such a high price tag but flourish throughout the years. The WPT Five Diamond Main Event hasn’t just lasted, it’s produced some of the game’s biggest and most notable champions, especially on the World Poker Tour.
Past winners of the event included Gus Hansen in Season I, Daniel Negreanu in Season III, Joe Hachem in Season V, and Antonio Esfandiari in Season IX, just to name a few, which brings us to our first thing to watch for at this year’s Season XV WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event.
1. The Stars Will Be Out
Not only has the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event produced some very marquee winners, but it’s seen some of poker’s greatest final tables. In Season I, Hansen had to go through an official WPT final table that included John Juanda, Freddy Deeb, John Hennigan, Chris Bigler, and Scotty Nguyen. Hansen then returned to the final table of the event the following year, along with Dewey Tomko, Abe Mosseri, Tino Lechich, and Mel Judah, but it was a new face to poker, Paul Phillips, who took the title.
The Season III final table that Negreanu won had Humberto Brenes, Jennifer Harman, and Nam Le at it, and Season IV had Patrik Antonius, Doyle Brunson, JJ Liu, Darrell Dicken, and Phil Laak. Despite that very powerful lineup in Season IV, Rehne Pedersen took top honors.
Hachem, the winner, and Negreanu, the third-place finisher, headlined the final table in Season V, and Daniel Alaei, Josh Arieh, Faraz Jaka, Shawn Buchanan, Scotty Nguyen, and Steve O’Dwyer made the final table in Season VIII with Alaei winning.
In other years not specifically mentioned, star players Vanessa Selbst, Andrew Lichtenberger, Tobias Reinkemeier, Dave “Devilfish” Elliott, and Hoyt Corkins all made final table appearances.
Look for the Season XV WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event to produce another star-studded final table this year at Bellagio, with tournament action starting on Monday, Dec. 5, 2016, at 12 p.m. local time in Las Vegas.
2. Magical Home Field Advantage
Antonio Esfandiari won the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event in Season IX for $870,124 when he topped a field of 438 entries. It was his second World Poker Tour title after winning the WPT L.A. Poker Classic Championship Event in Season II, but more specifically to the Five Diamond at Bellagio, Esfandiari has quite the WPT record.
In 2011, in the Season X WPT Five Diamond Main Event, the man known to many as “The Magician,” made himself appear at the official WPT final table of this prestigious event for the second time in his career, finishing sixth for $119,418. Then in the Season XI WPT Five Diamond Main Event, Esfandiari took fourth for $329,339. In addition to those scores, Esfandiari placed in the money in this event twice more for $28,569 and $23,420, putting the total prize money he’s earned from the event alone at $1.371 million.
Given his track record at Bellagio for the WPT Five Diamond Main Event throughout the years, Esfandiari is without a doubt a big storyline heading into action.
3. Important Event for Hublot WPT Player of the Year Race
The Season XV WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event could be a very pivotal role in the Hublot WPT Player of the Year race. Going into the event, Ben Zamani held the lead with a whopping 2,500 points thanks to three final tables and four cashes, and he’s double the 1,250 points of James Mackey in second place.
Because of the big prize pool the Season XV WPT Five Diamond Main Event is expected to produce, Zamani’s could all but seal the deal with a deep run or one of the many tough competitors bunched in behind him could make a charge to catch up. There are 11 players with between 1,000 and 1,250 points.
These are just three of the major storylines to keep your eye on in the Season XV WPT Five Diamond Main Event, but there will be plenty more to emerge. Stay tuned right here to WPT.com for coverage of the event to start Monday at 12 p.m. local time from Bellagio in Las Vegas.