The first of three days of play in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Celebrity Invitational is in the books. The tournament has attracted some of the top names in poker and Hollywood. When the final cards were dealt on Day 1, John “The Razor” Phan held firm as the chip leader with 197,000, just edging out Scott “BigRiskky” Clements, who amassed 196,500 during the first day of play.
John Phan was named Bluff Magazine’s Player of the Year in 2008 on the strength of two World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets. He took down Event 29, a $3,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament, for $434,000. He then showed that his poker skills extended well beyond Hold’em by winning a $2,500 buy-in 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball event for $151,000. The final table of that tournament was chalk full of former WSOP bracelet winners, including Robert Mizrachi, Ben Ponzio, David Sklansky, Billy Baxter (who owns seven), and Mike Wattel.
Scott Clements, who is known in the online poker world as “BigRiskky,” is the proud owner of two WSOP bracelets in Omaha. In 2008, he nearly banked a third, making the final table and finishing seventh in a $2,000 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split Eight or Better event for $36,000. Clements won the 2007 North American Poker Championship, a WPT event held at the Fallsview Casino, for $1.1 million. Heads-up, he defeated poker pro Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little. Team PokerStars Pro member Barry Greenstein and Jeff “ActionJeff” Garza took fourth and sixth in that tournament, respectively.
Here are the top ten chip stacks entering Day 2 on Sunday at the Commerce Casino:
1. John Phan – 197,000
2. Scott Clements – 196,500
3. Ottavio Tassone – 186,000
4. Oddie Dardon – 178,000
5. Doug Robinson – 170,500
6. John Stolzmann – 154,000
7. Joe Tehan – 147,000
8. Tom Hall – 141,500
9. Ralph Perry – 141,500
10. Bob Ruhl – 137,500
Play began with 433 celebrities and elite poker pros. There are a total of 128 who made Day 2. The event will crown a winner on Monday. Among the top 50 survivors who will take to the felts this afternoon are:
13. Phil Laak – 116,000
17. Doug Benson – 111,500
25. Vince Van Patten – 90,500
31. Jose Canseco – 84,000
33. Michael Mizrachi – 82,500
34. David Pham – 81,000
36. Sorel Mizzi – 80,000
44. Joe Sebok – 73,500
45. Marlon Wayans – 73,500
Benson is a contributor on VH1’s popular “Best Week Ever” and has recently toured the comedy circuit. Van Patten regularly provides color commentary for the WPT alongside Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Mike Sexton. Canseco’s book “Juiced” ignited the revelation that many Major League Baseball players had likely used performance enhancing drugs during their time in the league.
Also representing Hollywood in the field are “ER” actor Mekhi Phifer, “American Idol” castoff William Hung, Anthrax band member Scott Ian, actress Shannon Elizabeth, and UFC’s Bruce Buffer. From the world of poker are Mimi Tran, Dan Shak, Maria Ho, Sean Sheikhan, Lee Markholt, Tom McEvoy, Chris Ferguson, Jerry Yang, Andy Bloch, and Lee Watkinson. The average stack size is 63,000 and play concluded on Saturday with blinds at 1,200-2,400 with a 400 chip ante. The tournament is scheduled to play down to a final six-handed televised table on Sunday night.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the WPT Celebrity Invitational.
