By Zach Purgason

08/29/2008

Players have been battling it out at the World Poker Tour’s Legends of Poker tournament this past week at the Bicycle Casino in L.A. California.  They might have had a larger pool of players last year, but WPT event saw some serious competition.  The final table gathered yesterday to decide who would take home the almost $1.1 million top prize.

Here’s how the chip stacks added up before the final table play started.

Amit Makhija - 3,225,000
John Phan - 2,415,000
Zach Clark - 2,025,000
Kyle Wilson - 1,425,000
Paul Wilson - 1,130,000
Trong Nguyen - 980,000

                For all but John Phan is was a first ever experience at a World Poker Tour final table, and it proved to make a difference.  But Phan’s skills were thoroughly tested, especially by Amit Makhija who went he’s up against for 3 ½ hours before Phan took home his first WPT title.

                Phan has had a fairly successful year already.  Not only did he win 2 gold bracelets at this year’s World Series of Poker, but this was his 3^rd final table appearance within the WPT’s last 6 tournaments.  He’s also now the Player of the Year point leader by a landslide.  We’ll just have to see if he keeps up the impressive pace.

Final Standings of the 2008 Legends of Poker Tournament

1st Place John Phan - $1,091,428
2nd Place Amit Makhija - $563,320
3rd Place Zachary Clark - $281,645
4th Place Paul Smith - $246,450
5th Place Trong Nguyen - $211,245
6th Place Kyle Wilson - $176,035