Grospellier may have gone into the final table with a more than two to one chip but his path to victory was hardly a clear one as he was joined around the table by accomplished tournament players Nam Le, Nenad Medic and Joe Sebok, online poker pro Adam "Roothlus" Levy and WSOP $50,000 HORSE runner-up Michael DeMichele. However, in one of the most dominating performances ever seen at a WPT final table, Grospellier eliminated every single one of his opponents personally; not content to let anyone else do his dirty work.

Sebok was the first to fall, followed by DeMichele and Olav Prinz Von Sachsen, cementing the six that would compromise the WPT televised final table. Once play resumed, it was business as usual for Grospellier and they dropped like flies until Grospellier put away Le in a three-hand heads-up match.

Here are the full final table placings and payouts:

1. Bertrand Grospellier – $1,411,015
2. Nam Le – $943,215
3. Odie Dardon – $506,245
4. Nenad Medic – $373,010
5. Adam Levy – $266,445
6. William Mietz – $186,510

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7. Olav Prinz Von Sachsen – $133,225
8. Michael DeMichele – $106,580
9. Joe Sebok – $85,260

Team Bodog poker pro Justin Bonomo also made a good run for the final table and finished in 16th place cashing for $42,630.

The World Poker Tour heads to Connecticut next for the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals and don't forget that you can get started on your way to becoming a WPT millionaire for as little as a $1. Check out how to qualify online for the WPT and get one of the $12,000 Player's Choice packages on offer.

In fact, in a moment that was telling of the whole day, three people busted out in that same bubble hand. It was decided that Jenn Tilly would split 50th place money with Negreanu and Ted Lawson after a somewhat controversial ruling in which she thought that their hand had ended when in fat it was in the same orbit as hers. So, instead of receiving $21,315 for 49th, she walked away with $7,105, a negative return of almost $8,000 on the event. Ouch.

Once the money bubble drama had settled down, the field once again began shedding players and dropped down to 34 before play ended for the day. Among the remaining players are poker pros Joe Sebok, Nenad Medic, Brad Booth, Nam Le, Scott Clements, Daniel Alaei, Andrew "good2cu" Robl, Team Bodog's Justin Bonomo and Erica Schoenberg.

With the final table not scheduled to play out until Sunday, if the field gets down to the final six tonight, then the players will get to take a relaxing day off tomorrow. However, play will most likey tighten up as we get closer to the big bucks, so expect to see two shorter days rather than one full day off.

Stay tuned for more WPT Festa al Lago updates from the Bodog Beat and don't forget that you can get started on your way to becoming a WPT millionaire for as little as a $1. Check out how to qualify online for the WPT and get one of the $12,000 Player's Choice packages on offer.

None left as surprisingly early as the chip leader to start the day, Antonio Esfandiari. The poker magician began the day with a more than 100k chip lead over second place but proceeded to lose half of his chip stack within the first level. Even a minor comeback couldn't help the WPT-sponsored pro pull anything out of his sleeve, and he ended the day by fueling the rise of the new chip leader, Daniel Negreanu. Esfandiari ran pocket aces into Negreanu's set of jacks and then A-J into A-Q to say goodbye.

Negreanu is now the one sitting on a comfortable 50k over second place, but he has several players not too far behind that mark looking to take him down, and if yesterday showed anything, it's that the chip leader isn't safe no matter how big the chip lead may be. Among those players that made moves up the leader board is Team Bodog poker pro Justin Bonomo, who started the day with a below average stack but finished the day sitting in third. He is joined in the top ten by Nenad Medic, JC Tran, Jennifer Tilly and Joe Sebok with many more well-known poker players ranged out below that.

The remaining 104 players return to the Bellagio in just a few hours to play closer to the $1,411,015 first-place price in order to become the next WPT-Made Millionaire. The money bubble bursts with 50 players left standing and if yesterday's pace is any indication, then that should come about 15 minutes after play starts.

Stay tuned for more WPT Festa al Lago updates from the Bodog Beat and don't forget that you can get started on your way to becoming a WPT millionaire for as little as a $1. Check out how to qualify online for the WPT and get one of the $12,000 Player's Choice packages on offer.

Even while the entrant number was higher than many had thought, it was down from 2006 when it pulled in 433. This year's total number does have the distinction of being up from last year's number of zero, as the event was not on the WPT Season Six schedule. However, among the players that did come out were some of the best that the poker world has to offer, with many of them surviving the carnage of the first two flights of Day 1 to head back to the Bellagio this afternoon.

Leading the way into Day 2 is WPT-sponsored poker pro Antonio Esfandiari, who has as commanding of a lead as we've seen this early in a major poker tournament. He holds a solid 129 big blind lead over second place, or just over 100k. Behind him and looking to somehow close the gap are Jenn Tilly, Andrew "good2cu" Robl, Nenad Medic, Joe Sebok, JC Alvarado, Vivek Rajkumar, Allen Cunningham, JC Tran, Mike Matusow, Erick Lindgren, Bodog poker pro Justin Bonomo and Daniel Negreanu.

The remaining 256 players return later today to battle it out for the $1,411,015 first-place price in order to become the next WPT-Made Millionaire.

Stay tuned for more WPT Festa al Lago updates from the Bodog Beat and don't forget that you can get started on your way to becoming a WPT millionaire for as little as a $1. Check out how to qualify online for the WPT and get one of the $12,000 Player's Choice packages on offer.

Phelps, an avid online poker player, final tabled a $1,570 buy-in event at the Caesars Poker Classic (at Caesars Palace). Phelps banked $5,213 for his efforts.

That's pretty much all the information there seems to be. However, since that event, it seems that Phelps has been making some more splashes in the poker world. He showed up at the WPT Festa al Lago yesterday escorted by Phil Hellmuth. Here is the scene as described by BJ Nemeth for WorldPokerTour.com:

The tournament nearly came to a stop when Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps showed up during the third level. Phelps has mentioned in interviews that he loves the game of poker, and would like to start playing some big tournaments. But as Phil Hellmuth escorted him through room, introducing him to top pros like Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, and Daniel Negreanu, it was the players that seemed to be in awe rather than the other way around.

Rumors are now abounding that he will buy into Day 1B today when that gets underway in a few hours. The question is: Can Phelps dominate the poker table as he does the swimming pool? You gotta think that the poker pro's awe will evaporate quickly when he sits down and they start treating him like any other player who has chips that they want.

We'll keep you updated on the happenings at the WPT Festa al Lago as the day progresses. As for yesterday's action, poker pro Antonio Esfandiari opened up a huge chip lead on the field, with a 100k chip lead on second place. Other big names left standing after the first day of play include Jennifer Tilly, Joe Sebok, Johnny Chan, Allen Cunningham, J.C. Tran and the aforementioned Negreanu and Brunson.

Don't forget that you could have the chance to play in a major poker tournament with these big name poker pros or even someone like Phelps with one of Bodog Poker's $12,000 Player's Choice packages. Head over to the Bodog Poker room and see how to qualify online for the WPT for as little as $1.