WPT Legends of Poker down to final two tables

In the course of thee days of action, nearly 600 players have been eliminated from the 2012 World Poker Tour (WPT) Legends of Poker Main Event. Heading into Day 4 the tournament was already down to just 18 players, with the televised final table of just six players set to be determined today.

A total of 622 entrants registered for the 2012 WPT Legends of Poker Main Event, down from the 757 entrants from a year ago (the first year the tournament featured a $3,500 buy-in) despite allowing reentries on Day 1b.Today’s action will begin at 1 PM local time as the 18 remaining players vie for one of the six spots at the WPT televised final table.

Among the well-known players still in the hunt for the WPT Legends of poker title are, Jeff Madsen, Greg “FBT” Mueller, Max Steinberg, Ali Eslami, Jesse Martin, 2011 WSOP National Champion Sam Barnhart, and 2010 WSOP November Niner and third-place finisher Joseph Cheong. Here is a look at the complete chip counts of the remaining 18 players still alive in the tournament:

1. Cyrus Farzad – 2,600,000
2. Greg Mueller – 2,396,000
3. Stephen Graner – 1,882,000
4. Jeff Madsen – 1,675,000
5. Max Steinberg – 1,125,000
6. Ali Eslami – 1,065,000
7. Jim Willerson – 988,000
8. Jesse Martin – 931,000
9. Ramzi Srour – 838,000
10. Sam Barnhart – 756,000
11. Alan Myerson – 704,000
12. Josh Hale – 680,000
13. Joseph Cheong – 580,000
14. Raouf Malek      – 505,000
15. Efren Abustan – 451,000
16. Art Alaniz – 405,000
17. David Marshall – 400,000
18. Antonios Roungeris – 337,000

On the line for the remaining players is the $500,000 prize that will be awarded to the winner as well as the chance for some TV exposure at the final table of six. Each player is guaranteed a payday of at least $18,100 for making it this far, but as is usually the case, the big money is reserved for the top finishers. Here is a look at the payouts for the final 18 players:

• 1^st place: $500,000
• 2^nd place: $293,490
• 3^rd place: $192,400
• 4^th place: $133,700
• 5^th place: $97,100
• 6^th place: $75,400
• 7^th place: $60,400
• 8^th place: $49,800
• 9^th place: $40,400
• 10^th – 12^th place: $32,000
• 13^th – 15^th place: $23,800
• 16^th – 18^th place: $18,100

Last year Will “The Thrill” Failla won the WPT Legends of Poker Main Event, kick-starting a terrific run for the remainder of the 2011 tournament season that has lasted through much of 2012.