Completely overshadowed by the 2009 WSOP Main Event final table taking place in Vegas over the past few days, the 2009 WPT Foxwoods World Poker Open nonetheless pushed on, managing to draw 353 entrants and generate a total prizepool of $3,321,377. Emerging victorious from this field to take down the $910,058 first-place prize was poker pro Cornel Andrew Cimpan.

Despite the remote location and draw of Vegas this past weekend, the event still drew out a large number of recognizable poker pros (hey, you gotta make that money right), including Prahlad Friedman, Gavin Smith, Amnon Filippi, Gavin Griffin, Victor Ramdin, Theo Tran, Liv Boeree, Nenad Medic, Kathy Liebert and Chad Batista. Unfortunately, none of that list survived to the money bubble, but there were those who did like Jason Mercier, Terrence Chan, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, Adam Levy and Kenna James.

However, just when you thought this final table was set to be a bust, much like many have been in recent memory, the list of players at the final table was actually impressive in its own right. Cimpan and eventual sixth-place finisher Lee Markholt are both previous WPT champions, Soheil Shamseddin and Curt Kohlberg have both reached WPT final tables and Matt "AllInat420″ Stout and Eric Froelich are well-known and widely-respected online poker pros. Only one could take home the top prize though, and Cimpan accomplished that for his second career WPT title.

Here are the full final table results:

1. Cornel Andrew Cimpan – $910,058
2. Soheil Shamseddin – $463,332
3. Matt Stout – $265,710
4. Eric Froehlich – $232,496
5. Curt Kohlberg – $199,283
6. Lee Markholt – $166,069

Get in on some poker tournament action of your own with the Bodog $100k Guaranteed online poker tournament. Qualifiers start for as little as $1 and the winner is guaranteed at least $25,000. So, download Bodog Poker today and get started on your way to a huge payday.

Vedes beat out Jason Lavallee in a 51-hand heads-up duel to capture the $1.2 million first-place, giving Lavallee $795,150 for second place. This is the first WPT final table for Vedes and caps a profitable summer for the American. He ran deep at the 2009 WSOP Main Event (19th for $352k), final tabled the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event (5th for $47k) and then cashed at both the WPT Cyprus event and EPT London. Not a bad year at all, one that may make him one of the "well-known" players if he keeps it up.

Here are the full final table placings and payouts for the WPT Festa al Lago:

1. Tommy Vedes – $1,218,225
2. Jason Lavallee – $795,150
3. Craig Crivello – $477,090
4. Freddy Deeb – $278,300
5. Jason Burt – $208,725
6. Shawn Cunix – $168,970

Download Bodog Poker now to get in on some online poker tournament action of your won. Take advantage of the generous overlays and guaranteeds that are part of the daily Bodog online poker tournament schedule.

So, with 245 players registering during Day 1 and 30 during Day 2, there was a grand total of 275 players all coughing up $15,000 to play and thereby generating a $4,001,250 prizepool and a $1,218,225 first-place prize. With Day 3 about to kick off at the Bellagio there are 98 players remaining and among those players is Bodog Poker Justin Bonomo. This is how he ended up the day according to his Twitter (and verified by the official chip counts):

197,500 end of day 2. Avg is 160k.

A man of few words that Bonomo. However, there is a video blog that contains more words that will be going up later today.

Anyway, among the top ten in chip counts as the day begins will be Mark Seif (2nd – 473k), Dutch Boyd (3rd – 453k), Chad 'lilholdem954′ Batista (4th – 425k) and David "The Dragon" Pham (7th – 365k). There are many other notable players still in the hunt but we'll wait until the field narrows down some more before listing them all out.

Stay tuned for more impossibly lazy updates from the WPT Festa al Lago and if you want a chance to play in a major international poker tournament, then check out the Bodog Flight Club promotion and it's generous prize packages.

To give a frame of reference, last year's event drew out 368 players and generated a prize pool of $5.35 million spread out over the 50 players who received payouts. The final table of that event featured pros Nam Le, Nenad Medic, Adam Levy and the eventual champion Bertand "elKy" Grospellier, who walked away with the $1,411,015 first-place prize.

Due to the EPT Warsaw event, Grospellier will not be returning to defend his title this year so we will be crowning a new champion. Who will that be? Therein lies the burning question. One player who made a deep run in last year's event and will be looking to improve his finish this year after bubbling the final table on a questionable hand (which became forum fodder for weeks/months to come) during his last trip is poker pro Joe Sebok.

He's off to a good start already, though, as according to his Twitter account he won a satellite into the event and will now be playing Festa al Lago "on the cheap."

Stay tuned for updates from the WPT Festa al Lago and if you want a chance to play in a major international poker tournament, then check out the Bodog Flight Club promotion and it's generous prize packages.

Over the next couple of months there are several events that will pull poker players from all over the world to Vegas to play for millions. From a big WPT event to the WSOP final table and tournament series hosted by popular casinos, there will be something on tap for every level of player.

Check out the full Fall 2009 Vegas Poker Tournament Schedule over at Bodog Poker and if you can't make it to Vegas any time soon then don't forget to check out Bodog Poker's online poker tournament schedule and play from the comfort of your own home.

Last year's WPT Southern Poker Classic drew out 283 entrants, generating a prizepool of more than $2 million with a $1,025,500 first-place prize that Allen Carter beat out Bobby Suer to win.

This isn't the first major poker tournament McDermott has qualified for. He won his way into the 2009 WSOP Main Event and enjoyed the experience even though he didn't survive the madness to reach the money. Despite that, his confidence is high going into this WPT event:

"I think I have a good chance in this tournament. The field will be smaller and there won't be as many good players in Biloxi like there was in the WSOP Main Event."

So, we wish him luck and all the best. May the cards be with you.

For the full interview, check out "Bodog Flight Club Interview: WitchfinderG."

There's not really much more to say about this event after the dismal showing by those four big name players. The only saving grace is that Rep Porter did make it to the final table and will start tomorrow third in chips. The US poker player has cashed in several WPT prior to this, but this is his first WPT final table. He is not lacking in final table experience though as he has made the trip to four WSOP final tables, including a bracelet win this past summer in the $1,500 Short-handed No Limit Hold'em event.

Here are the full final table chip counts:

1. Rony Jazzar – 1,796,000
2. Uri Keidar – 1,753,000
3. Rep Porter – 1,115,000
4. Thomas Bichon – 1,079,000
5. Steven Fung – 732,000
6. Janar Kiivramees – 727,000

The players return at Noon local time tomorrow to battle it out for the $579,165 first-place prize and to become the next WPT-Made (Half) Millionaire. Stay tuned for more news from the WPT Merit Cyprus Championship.

If you want to travel the globe, playing poker tournaments in exotic locations, then check out the Bodog Flight Club promotion and qualify online for the WPT for as little as $1 or T$1. Winners of the package receive travel and accommodations to the event, their buy-in, spending money, a Bodog swag bag and the chance to make some extra cash based on your performance and exposure.

*amounts may vary depending on tournament’s buy-in, check tournament lobby for full value of prize package that month.
*all buy-ins are in USD.

As of time of publish, poker pro Layne Flack has stormed to the top of the leaderboard to take over the chip lead from Rep Porter, who wrested it away from Nenad Medic earlier in the day. Thos two players are now second and third in chips, respectively. Also in the top ten in chips are Jonathan Little and Huck Seed with November Niner Kelly Kim lurking just out side in 12th place. A little further down the leaderboard we have Dan Harrington and Roy Winston.

The battle for the top spot will be fierce as Medic and Flack are seated at the same table and will most likely trade quite a bit of paint before the day is done. Porter is seated at a different table with his own issues as Seed will be looking to chip away at his stack before the day is done.

The players will grind through another level before calling it quits and heading out to the beach (that's what we'd do anyway) for some relaxation before coming back tomorrow to play down to the six players who will make up the WPT televised final table.

If you want to travel the globe, playing poker tournaments in exotic locations, then check out the Bodog Flight Club promotion and qualify online for the WPT for as little as $1 or T$1. Winners of the package receive travel and accommodations to the event, buy-in to the event, spending money, a Bodog swag bag and the chance to make some extra cash based on your performance and exposure.

*amounts may vary depending on tournament’s buy-in, check tournament lobby for full value of prize package that month.
*all buy-ins are in USD.

As the tournament heads into Day 2, there are only 55 players out of the original 181 who ponied up their $10,000 buy-in for the event. Among those players are poker pros Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson, Allen Cunningham, Andy Bloch, Sorel 'imper1um' Mizzi, Huck Seed, Jonathan Little, Dan Harrington, Layne Flack and current chipleader Nenad Medic. The field also shed a few names during the day including Phil Gordon, Patrick Antonius, Mike Matusow and several others.

Play will resume at Noon tomorrow local time (don't even ask us to figure out what that might be in other parts of the world, time zones are not our thing….) when those 55 players come back to play another five levels of poker. On the line for them will be the $579,165 first-place prize and the chance to make a trip to paradise just that more worth while.

If you want to travel the globe, playing poker tournaments in exotic locations, then check out the Bodog Flight Club promotion and qualify online for the WPT for as little as $1 or T$1. Winners of the package receive travel and accommodations to the event, buy-in to the event, spending money, a Bodog swag bag and the chance to make some extra cash based on your performance and exposure.

*amounts may vary depending on tournament’s buy-in, check tournament lobby for full value of prize package that month.
*all buy-ins are in USD.

Friedman first made a splash on the live poker tournament circuit when he made a deep run at the 2009 WSOP Main Event, eventually finishing in 20th place for $494,797. At that point, he had already racked up more than $1 million in career tournament earnings in a short live career. Before he even stepped up to a poker table in a casino, Friedman had already built up a fearsome reputation online under the handle "Spirit Rock" and was one of the first online superstars, considered by many to be the best online poker player in the world.

Then he virtually disappeared. For about three years. Until this summer. After his 64th-place finish in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, this win at the WPT Legends of Poker puts him squarely back in the poker limelight.

Friedman took on 2009 WSOP November Niner Kevin Schaffel heads-up for the win in a battle that lasted just less than an hour and saw Friedman enter with a 4 to 1 chip lead. Another notable player, Toto Leonidas, finished in fourth place.

The next stop on the World Poker Tour is the WPT Slovakia and then onto the WPT Cyprus before heading back to the US for the WPT Borgata Poker Open in Atlantic City. Qualify online for the WPT with Bodog Poker and win a $12,000 prize package to the WPT event of your choice.