Bodog Beat

Poker pro Michael Mizrachi is one of the big name pros who have cashed in a preliminary event of the Bellagio Five-Star World Poker Classic. (Bodog Beat Image)

The Bellagio Five-Star World Poker Classic has wrapped up seven preliminary events and is halfway through their schedule with seven more to go until the $25,000 buy-in WPT Championship event. Among the poker players who have cashed in these events are several well-known and recognizable players.

Event No. 1 – $2,000 No Limit Holdem – attracted 237 players and among those who walked away with a little jingle in their pocket were WSOP bracelet winner James Mackey, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi and Jason Potter of Aussie Millions mugging fame.

Event No. 2 – $2,500 No Limit Holdem – saw fewer players come out, 148 to be exact, but Peter Neff, David Levi, Thayer "thay3r" Rasmussen, Shannon Shorr, Scott Clements and Francois Safieddine all managed to find there way into the top 18 to cash.

Event No. 3 – $3,000 No Limit Holdem – didn't really have any firepower at the top of the field, except for rising star and he-of-the-unfortunate-name Zach Hyman. Hyman is coming off a deep run to the final table of the 2008 World Poker Challenge in Reno and you'll see further down why we call him a rising star.

Event No. 4 – $5,000 No Limit Holdem – we wrote about earlier and was won by Scott Clements.

Event No. 5 – $2,000 No Limit Holdem – is the reason we called Hyman a "rising star." He won this event against a tough field of 180 entrants, including Team Bodog's own Jean-Robert Bellande, Men "The Master" Ngyuen, Scotty Nguyen, Alan Smurfit, Danny Wong and Hasan Habib. That's three final tables within the last two weeks for Hyman, not too shabby.

Event No. 6 – $2,500 No Limit Holdem – saw a lot of repeat performers. Jason Potter, Peter Neff, Danny Wong and Hasan Habib all cashed for their second time with Allen Kessler, Mark Seif, Eric "sheets" Haber and Amnon Filippi joining the ranks for the first time.

Event No. 7 – $3,000 No Limit Holdem – drew 129 players and saw Nam Le, Justin Bonomo, Shannon Shorr, Michael Mizrachi, Toto Leonidas and Amnon Filippi all walk away with a little something for their troubles.

Man, with these kind of fields for the prelim events, we are stoked about seeing how stacked the field will be for the WPT Championship. Unfortunately, we have to wait over a week for that, but at least the prelims are entertaining.