Bodog Beat

Poker pro Erick Lindgren is the chip leader after two days of play the WPT World Poker Open. (Bodog Beat Image)

While the final table of the first major tournament of the year, the Aussie Millions, turned out to be disappointing in the interesting storyline and character areas, the first WPT event has promise to exceed expectations. Alright, admittedly expectations were low, but still.

With only 27 players remaining, a good percentage of the field is recognizable to even the most casual of poker fans, and they are all in the top 15. This bodes well for the possibility of maybe having an exciting final table, maybe. We're a little too gun shy to predict anything after the debacle that happened the last time we did that.

Heading up the pack of talent is All-American poker pro Erick Lindgren, who is followed closely by Dutch Boyd in second. In fourth, fifth and sixth places are three legends of the game; Freddy Deeb, Men "The Master" Nguyen and Barry Greenstein, respectively. A little bit further down are TJ Cloutier, Hoyt Corkins and John Phan, who apparently played most of Day 2 drunk off his ass. He seems to have discovered what we've known for years: If you have to work, doing it in an altered state of mind is definitely the way to go.

The players are now guaranteed at least $12,060, but most will be shooting for the $892,413 first-place prize. Play resumes at 1pm local time when the field will narrow down to the final six – remember, this is the WPT – who will play at the televised final table.

Here are the full top ten chip counts, just to prove that we're not making this shit up:

1. Erick Lindgren – 498,000
2. Dutch Boyd – 440,000
3. Gabe Costner – 402,000
4. Freddy Deeb – 324,000
5. Men Nguyen – 323,000
6. Barry Greenstein – 280,000
7. William McMahon – 265,000
8. Michael Baas – 247,000
9. John Spadavecchia – 223,000
10. Jimmy Tran – 204,000

The next few months are the high season for WPT events as the tour heads to a conclusion. This event is, obviously, just wrapping up and the Borgata Poker Classic is happening, like, tomorrow. Then there's the LA Poker Classic in February, which will be huge. March has the Bay 101 Shooting Star and the World Poker Challenge, and in April the Foxwoods Poker Classic gets squeezed in right before the WPT World Championship signals the end of Season VI of the 2007/2008 WPT season.

All of these tournaments are available with a Bodog "Player's Choice" package. So, head over to Bodog and qualify online for a WPT, EPT event or the 2008 WSOP if the WPT doesn't quite whet your appetite.