Five Diamond World Poker Classic and 2007 Player of the Year Races

by Bernard Lee

As the poker year was drawing to a close, all eyes turned to the 2007 Five Diamond World Poker Classic held at the renowned Bellagio in Las Vegas. As the last major event of the year, the Five Diamond World Poker Classic was a record setting tournament from start to finish. Commencing on December 12th, the event drew 664 players. Along with the $15,000 buy-in, the nearly $10 million prize pool was the largest amount in poker history outside of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event and World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship Event. In the end, Eugene Katchalov triumphed at the fastest final table in WPT history. After eliminating the five other finalists in less than two and half hours and only 53 hands, Katchalov collected a check worth $2,482,605.

Adding to the drama of this major event was the 11th annual CardPlayer Player of the Year (POY) race. Heading into the event, David Pham held a precarious lead, as four players (J.C. Tran, Jonathan Little, Scott Clements and Bill Edler) had a chance to overtake him with a strong finish in the main event. In mid November while on my radio show, Scott Clements informed me that he planned on not playing in the Five Diamond Main Event due to his wife’s birthday. True to his word, Clements skipped the main event, effectively eliminating him from the POY race. After Tran and Edler (along with Pham) were all eliminated on Day 1, Little was the only remaining player able to catch Pham with a victory or 2nd place finish. However, Little was eliminated near the end of Day 3 in 53rd place, officially crowning Pham the 2007 CardPlayer POY. This title is his second of his career as he claimed his first CardPlayer POY title in 2000. As some consolation, Little still leads in WPT POY standings, which runs until April 2008 when Season VI is completed.

In another POY race, Bill Edler wrapped up the title as 3rd annual Bluff Magazine’s POY. Bluff Magazine’s ranking system focuses on $5,000 and higher buy-in events over the last 24 months with a minimum of 100 players. With his WSOP bracelet in the $5,000 six handed no-limit hold’em event and his victory at the WPT Gulf Coast Poker Championship in August, Edler amassed the largest point total in the history of this POY race, while earning over $2,750,000 in 2007.

Across the country on the East Coast, the WSOP Circuit held an event at Harrah’s Atlantic City. Bringing together 244 players, the tournament was won by a young gun who coincidentally had made his poker debut in this exact same event last year. After turning 21 just before the 2006 event, he made the final table, ultimately finishing 3rd and collecting just over $100,000. In 2007, he finished two places higher, taking home the title, a WSOP Circuit ring and $379,392.

As we say goodbye to another fantastic year in poker, I wish everyone a happy healthy new year and good luck to everyone at the tables in 2008.

E-mail Bernard Lee at BernardLeePoker@hotmail.com with any questions or comments. Lee finished 13th in the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event and has won the $5,000 No Limit Event (2006) and the $2,000 No Limit Event (2007) at the WPT World Poker Finals. Lee is also a columnist for the ESPN.com Poker Club Web site and the Boston Herald. Listen to Lee every Tuesday from 6-7 p.m., Thursday 9-10 p.m. and Saturday 10-11 p.m. on “The Bernard Lee Poker Show” on 1510 AM “The Zone” and on www.1510thezone.com.