By Sean Chaffin
Vegas is calling and the WPT rolls into Sin City December 16-21 for the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, regularly attracting a Who’s Who of some of the game’s best. That should be no different this season.
Bellagio is one of the most elegant properties in Las Vegas and features excellent restaurants, a luxurious stay, and a great poker scene. WPT Five Diamond features a $10,400 buy-in and has produced some big numbers and big name winners through the years. Here’s a look at the event since it debuted on the tour in 2002 for Season I.
18 Big Events with Big Prize Pools
The 2019 edition marks the 18th edition at Bellagio and has a shot at being the biggest yet. Some of those big winners have included Gus Hansen (Season I), Daniel Negreanu (Season III), Joe Hachem (Season V), Eugene Katchalov (Season VI), Chino Rheem (Season VII), Antonio Esfandiari (Season IX), Dan Smith (Season XII), Ryan Tosoc, (Season XVI), and Dylan Linde (Season XVII).
Gus Hansen claimed the first WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic title in Season I.
During almost two decades, the event has awarded prize pools totaling $105.7 million. The 2019 event should add even more to that as prize pools have trended upward each year from $4.4 million in 2013 to $9.7 million last season.
20 Poker Millionaires
With massive prize pools and numbers of entries, quite a few players have cracked the seven-figure mark since the tournament’s inception. That even includes a few who topped the $2 million mark during the poker boom when the event featured a $15,000 buy-in. Here’s a look at those champions who’ve notched million-dollar cashes:
Paul Phillips (2003) – $1.1 million
Daniel Negreanu (2004) – $1.8 million
Rehne Pedersen (2005) – $2.1 million
Patrik Antonius (2005) – $1.04 million
Joe Hachem (2006) – $2.2 million
Jim Hanna (2006) – $1.09 million
Eugene Katchalov (2007) – $2.5 million
Ted Kearly (2007) – $1.25 million
Chino Rheem (2008) – $1.5 million
Daniel Alaei (2009) – $1.4 million
Ravi Raghavan (2012 ) – $1.3 million
Dan Smith (2013) – $1.2 million
Mohsin Charania (2014) – $1.5 million
Kevin Eyster (2015) – $1.6 million
James Romero (2016) – $1.9 million
Ryan Tosoc (2016) – $1.12 million
Ryan Tosoc (2017) – $1.95 million
Alex Foxen (2017) – $1.13 million
Dylan Linde (2018) – $1.63 million
Milos Skrbic (2018) – $1.08 million
Three-time WPT Champions Club member Chino Rheem won Five Diamond in Season VII.
$25.1 Million Paid Out to Winners
When it comes to massive payouts, not many events match up to the Five Diamond World Poker Classic. It has a long history of top payouts for winners with every event except three (2002, 2010, and 2011) paying out more than $1 million for the champion.
That totals a hefty $25.1 million in first-place payouts through the years. It’s a good bet another millionaire will be made at Bellagio in December.
1,001 Entries Set Record
Poker may have experienced a bit of a decline after Black Friday, but in recent years the game has been back on a growth pattern. Last season’s Five Diamond can serve as an example and produced a record number of entries.
The Season XVII number of 1,001 entries for Season XVII smashed the previous season’s record of 812, which broke the previous season’s record of 791. Could another record be set in Season XVIII? It will be interesting to see how things develop at Bellagio.
5 Bullets to 5 Diamond Glory
The Season XVII Five Diamond championship certainly wasn’t easy for Dylan Linde. The longtime pro needed a few extra bullets to earn the title. Poker has plenty of Old West references for poker hands and situations including “bullets” for re-entries.
For Linde, the Five Diamond became quite a shootout. In an event that paid 126 players, he needed to finish 24th or higher to have a shot at a profit.
“I’m stunned,” he said after the win. “I was in for five bullets and all I wanted to do is get even. I was like, ‘Okay, I just want to get 24th place and make $8K, that’s great.’ And then I got there and it just felt like freerolling. And I was confident, played my game, and I’m still in shock.”
3 Final Tables, 7 Cashes for Antonio Esfandiari
One of the WPT’s early stars, Esfandiari won the Five Diamond in Season IX (2010). The win was his second tour title and brought him a score of $870,124. It was also a nice birthday present as he turned 32 the same day.
“My win was monumental for me because I hadn’t won anything in seven years,” he told WPT.com. “And so to come back and win a tournament on my birthday obviously gave me a bit of a boost in confidence, to say the least. It felt great.”
Beyond that win, Esfandiari has had a knack for running deep at the event. That includes three finishes at the Five Diamond final table. Along with his win, in Season X he took sixth for $119,418 and finished Season XII for $329,339 in 2012. His others scores include: 59th for $23,420 (2008); 23rd for $28,569 (2009); 43rd for $32,225 (2016); and 66th for $25,886 (2018).
With so much success on the felt at Bellagio, look for The Magician to be among the field again this year.
Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas, and his work appears in numerous websites and publications. Follow him on Twitter @PokerTraditions.