Returning WPT Legends of Poker Set for Day 1B Action

By Tim Duckworth

Season XVIII continues on the World Poker Tour with the WPT Legends of Poker returning to the schedule at the The Bicycle Hotel & Casino in Bell Gardens, California, after a year hiatus. With two starting flights and a $2 million guaranteed prize pool, expectations will be high for the seventh installment of the WPT Legends of Poker.

The WPT Legends of Poker was the second event on the inaugural season, and has appeared each year except Season XVII. The first installment of the WPT Legends of Poker attracted a total of 134 entrants, and it would be Chris Karagulleyan capturing the $258,000 first-place prize. Since Karagulleyan, the likes of Doyle Brunson (Season III), Dan Harrington (Season VI), John Phan (Season VII), Prahlad Friedman (Season VIII), Andy Frankenberger (Season IX), Will Failla (Season X), Jordan Cristos (Season XII), and Pat Lyons (Season XV) have all collected the title as the biggest field occurred in Season IV with 858 entrants.

The defending champion of WPT Legends of Poker is Art Papazyan (pictured above) who defeated Phil Hellmuth heads-up, and fellow final tablists J.C. Tran, D.J. Alexander, Marvin Rettenmaier, and Adam Swan in Season XVI to win his first WPT title and the $668,692 first-place prize over the 763-entrant field. Later in the season, Papazyan would win his second WPT title at WPT Maryland at Live! Casino and parlay that into WPT Player of the Year honors.

Day 1A of WPT Legends of Poker attracted 191 entrants throughout the day, and when the dust settled after ten levels of play, it would be Kevin Song (pictured below) leading the 72 survivors into Day 2. Sitting behind Song include Brian Altman (303,500), Chance Kornuth (258,500), Owais Ahmed (219,000), Ted Jivkov (208,000), and Philip Scaletta (202,000). Also surviving into Day 2 include WPT Champions Club members Dylan Wilkerson, Adam Weinraub, Daniel Strelitz, Dylan Linde, Sam Panzica, Matt Salsberg, Aaron Mermelstein, and Harry Arutyunyan, along with other notable players Anthony Spinella, Jared Griener, David “The Dragon” Pham, Ken Aldridge, Ray Qartomy, Martin Zamani, and WPT Raw Deal Host Phil Hellmuth.

Hublot WPT Player of the Year Standings for Season XVIII

Erkut Yilmaz claimed the Season XVII WPT Player of the Year honors after winning both the WPT Borgata Poker Open and WPT Rolling Thunder to finish the season with 2,300 points ahead of Dylan Linde (2,150), James Carroll (2,100), and Ping Liu (2,000).

Roger Teska is currently leading the Season XVIII Hublot WPT Player of the Year standings after he defeated the 373-entrant field at the WPT Gardens Poker Festival to capture his first WPT title and the $368,475 first-place prize. With a $2 million guaranteed prize pool, the WPT Legends of Poker Champion will take the top spot in the standings pending Teska’s results here.

With Season XVIII now underway on the WPT Main Tour, great prizes are on offer for whoever can follow in the footsteps of Yilmaz and other WPT legends before him.

Included in the World Poker Tour’s enhancements for Season XVIII are added Hublot WPT Player of the Year prizes. Not only will the Hublot WPT Player of the Year for Season XVIII win a custom Hublot timepiece and complimentary accommodation at select WPT Main Tour stops for Season XVIII, but he or she will earn $15,000 in WPT tournament buy-in credits. Prizes have been added for second- and third-place finishers in the race, as well. The runner-up receives $7,500 in WPT tournament buy-in credits and third place receives $2,500 in WPT tournament buy-in credits.

WPT tournament buy-in credits can be used in any global WPT event, including WPT Main Tour, WPTDeepStacks, WPT500, and WPT Special Events.

WPT Legends of Poker Structure and Schedule
The WPT Legends of Poker features a $5,000 buy-in and players are allowed a single re-entry on Day 1A/1B and one on Day 2 (if they have been eliminated on the previous days) for a maximum of five total entries. Registration is open until the beginning of level 11 on Day 2, Monday September 2; approximately 12 p.m (PT).

As is the case with all Season XVIII WPT Main Tour stops, it comes with the new World Poker Tour structure that includes the big blind ante format and 40,000 in starting chips. The first two levels will be 100-100 and 100-200 with no ante before the big blind ante kicks in for Level 3 and onward. Level 3 will be 100-200 with a 200 ante, and the big blind ante will be the same price as the big blind from there on out.

The WPT Legends of Poker schedule will see play start at 12 p.m. (PT). Day 1A, 1B, and 2 will play ten 60-minute levels with a 15-minute break after every two levels with a 60-minute dinner break at 6:30 p.m. (PT). Day 3 will play eight 90-minute levels or until the final table of six is reached.

The WPT Legends of Poker final table will take place on Wednesday, September 4, at 2 p.m. (PT) and levels will be 60-minutes in duration until heads-up is reached where they will be reduced to 30 minutes in length until the newest WPT Champion is crowned. The WPT Legends of Poker final table will also be live streamed on a 30-minute delay via Live at the Bike! on YouTube and Twitch.

To view complete information on the WPT Legends of Poker structure and schedule, click here.

The stage is now set for the start for Day 1B of the WPT Legends of Poker from The Bicycle Casino at 12 p.m. (PT). Stay tuned right here to WPT.com for the exclusive live coverage of the tournament from start to finish to see who becomes the WPT Legends of Poker Champion, and wins his or her way to the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions.

Photography by Joe Giron and Jamie Thomson / PokerPhotoArchive

Looking to win your way to a World Poker Tour event for your shot at becoming a WPT champion? Play for your chance on ClubWPT.com, where eligible VIP Members can play for over $100,000 in cash and prizes each month, including seats to WPT events, no purchase necessary.