WPT Legends of Poker Sees 199 Players Return for Day 2 Action; Registration Open Until Start of Play

By Tim Duckworth

The World Poker Tour continues for Season XVIII with the WPT Legends of Poker taking center stage at The Bicycle Hotel & Casino in Bell Gardens, California. Across the two Day 1 starting flights, a total of 493 entrants took a seat, and with registration open until the start of play on Day 2, it is expected that the total field size will eclipse the 500-entrant mark.

Day 1A of WPT Legends of Poker attracted 191 entrants that saw just 72 players survive into Day 2 as Kevin Song bagged 362,500 for the chip lead ahead of 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, Martin Zamani, and WPT Raw Deal Host Phil Hellmuth.

On Day 1B of WPT Legends of Poker, a total of 302 entrants would take a seat throughout the day as just 128 players would survive into Day 2. Linh Truong snatched the chip lead early in the day and held onto it to eventually finish with 287,500 in chips ahead of J.C. Tran (276,000), Tim Tang (263,500), Ryan Goindoo (235,500), Nicholas Brokin (233,000), Eider Da Cruz (231,500), and Michael Nia (203,500). Also surviving into Day 2 include WPT Champions Club members Viny Lima, Mike Sexton, Pat Lyons, Tuan Le, Jordan Cristos, Craig Varnell, Ryan Van Sanford, Phil Laak, and Mohsin Charania, along with WPTDeepStacks Champions Faraz Jaka and Upeshka De Silva, and WPT500 Las Vegas Champion Sean Yu.

Ray Qartomy (pictured below) was the only player to bag both opening flights as he finished with 43,500 on Day 1A, and 114,000 on Day 1B. His smaller stack will be removed from play, and just 199 players will return for Day 2 action.

The WPT Legends of Poker schedule will see ten 60-minute levels on Day 2 with a 10-minute break every two levels, and a 60-minute dinner break at approximately 6:20 p.m. (PT). Day 3 will play eight 90-minute levels or until the final table of six is reached, while 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.

Registration for WPT Legends of Poker will remain open until the start of play on Day 2, and players will begin with 40,000 chips at 1,000-1,500 and a 1,500-big blind ante.

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

The stage is now set for the start 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

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