Tournament Details

Bellagio Season 3 Recap

The beautiful Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada was the site for the return of WPT and the 5 Diamond World Poker Classic. In 2002, Gus Hansen battled through a field of 146 players risking $10,000 each, and laid claim to the top prize of $556,480. This year, 6 players carved paths through a field that has more than doubled in just three short years to 376 players, and cost them $15,000 apiece. With a top prize that has more than tripled since then, ballooning to $1,770,218, you can see why. This final table featured some familiar faces, as well as a few dangerous unknowns. This is how it looked at the start of final table play...

In Seat 1, the sole amateur, a rare-coin dealer from Morton, Illinois who qualified by winning a $600, two-table satellite tourney, Steve Rassi, with $950,000. In Seat 2, recent WPT champion at Borgata and current tournament player of the year, Daniel Negreanu, the massive chip leader at $6,865,000. In Seat 3, California journeyman pro and former fast-food restaurant manager Vinny Landrum, with $1,140,000. In Seat 4, popular Costa Rican pro Humberto Brenes, in his 3rd WPT final table, and 2nd straight, on the short stack with $510,000. In Seat 5, poker tyro Nam Le, younger brother of recent WPT Foxwoods champion Tuan Le, with $940,000. In Seat 6, the lovely and dangerous Las Vegas pro Jennifer Harman in her third WPT appearance, with $675,000. Blinds and antes started at $5,000, $20,000, and $40,000.

Early on, the story was all Brenes. El Jefe limped into a big pot with J-T suited and flopped a flush, doubling up on – and crippling – Nam Le in the process. So it was no surprise then that with blinds and antes moving up to $10,000, 30,000, and 60,000, Le found himself on the short stack with Kh-Qs, and decided to make a stand. He pushed all-in, $420,000, over the top of Vinny Landrum's strong opening $210,000 raise, and though he would have preferred to just take down the pot right there, was ecstatic to find he had Landrum's Kd-Jh dominated when the fellow California pro did indeed call. But as seems to happen so often, the fickle finger of fate flicked a first-card Jack off the deck on a flop of Jc-7c-3s. A turn and river of 8c, 9s, sent Le to the rail in 6th place just like that, with a nice $152,468 to add to the Le family winnings.

Daniel Negreanu appeared content to hang around while the shorter stacks took turns pummeling one another, but when he finally decided to get involved, he promptly got spanked. Raising post-flop with top-pair, ace-kicker, he doubled up Humberto, who again made a flush with T-9 suited. A short while later, Landrum snapped off the Canadian's Q-T offsuit bluff with a post-flop all-in check raise on his own pocket 5's, forcing Negreanu to muck. Steve Rassi had earlier in the tourney been dubbed M.I.S. – "move-in specialist" – by Negreanu due to his propensity to push in all his chips instead of messing around betting post-flop with the skilled pros. Finding Qs-Qc, Rassi lived up to his appellation, going all-in, $740,000, only to hit some bad luck and double up Jennifer Harman when she called with Ah-Qh and flopped an Ace. On fumes now, Rassi was blinded in for his last $50,000 with Q-5 offsuit, and Negreanu offered to help him to the side of the road, calling with As-Qs. Sure enough, when the board went 9c-8c-8s, Ad (giving Negreanu an unnecessary pair), 3c, the rare coin dealer was sent back to the land of Lincoln with a 5th place finish and a fat pocketful of newly minted coinage, to the tune of $217,812.

Humberto and Daniel were playfully – and sometimes not so playfully – needling each other all day, and now that Humberto had flushed his way to 2nd chip position, it continued to escalate as the two took turns winning the next 5 pots. With blinds going up to $10,000, 50,000, and 100,000, the two short stacks, Landrum and Harman, decided to take matters into their own hands. With 3s-3d, Vinny decided he was either going to protect or get head up action with his small pair, and pushed in a huge bet, going all-in with $785,000. Harman decided to make a stand, and gambling with her Ac-7h, called. But she found no help from a flop of T-8-5 yard sale, and then her fate was sealed when 3c hit on the turn, giving Vinny unbeatable trips. A perfunctory 6c on the river made it official, and the Las Vegas favorite was accompanied to the rail by a standing ovation from her supportive hometown crowd, finishing 4th, and taking home $299,492.

On the very next hand, Landrum found Ac-Qc, and having vaulted over Brenes for 2nd chip position, took aim on the amiable Costa Rican. But, in a prophetic twist, when Landrum called Brenes's all-in bet, this time he found himself facing pocket 3's, and sure enough, Brenes doubled up when he unnecessarily improved to trips on the turn.

Now on life-support, Landrum was nearly blinded all-in on the next hand. Both he and Negreanu decided to play the hand blind, and Humberto went along, calling with 9d-3h on the button. After the flop came Ad-3d-2d, Landrum pushed his last $25,000 in, and both Humberto and Negreanu called. The turn and river of 7c, Qs were checked down by Daniel and Humberto, and the players flipped up their hands. Vinny's King high was crushed when Daniel turned up 5h-4c, revealing that he had flopped a straight! Just like that, Vinny's plug was pulled, and the happy-go-lucky California pro went smiling to the pay window with a 3rd place finish, and a tasty $462,581 payday.

Now down to two, and with blinds and antes up to a staggering $50,000, 80,000, and 160,000, Negreanu quickly pushed his massive chip lead to $10,415,000 over Humberto's $865,000. But now the self-proclaimed "Cucaracha" (because they're tough to kill) went on the attack, and immediately doubled up with pocket Q's, and then ran a perfect bluff, forcing a bad fold after Daniel had flopped top pair with a weak kicker. Next, Humberto called Daniel's pre-flop bluff, and his pair of K's held up, and lo and behold, it was now a contest, with Humberto having trimmed the lead to $8,435,000 to $2,845,000. Just one double-up and Humberto would just about be even money. It looked good when he was able to limp on the next hand with 8c-7s, and flopped top pair with a perfectly junky 7-4-3 rainbow. Slow-playing his holdings, he raised just $400,000, begging a call. Instead, Negreanu came over the top for $1,000,000 more, and Humberto sprung the trap, quickly going right back over the top, all-in. But as fate would have it, the trap was actually of Canadian origin, as Negreanu flipped over Kc-7d. A turn and river of 6d, 3c made it official – Daniel Negreanu had won his 2nd WPT event of the season, taking home a whopping $1,770,218, and cementing his case for tourney player of the year. Humberto Brenes also stood proud, having finished at the final table in a remarkable two of the three tournaments he played last year, this time going from short-stack to 2nd place, and was rewarded with a hefty envelope of his own, containing $898,475.