Wise Hand Poker

Hey guys, just wanted to point out the final table that seems to be taking shape over at the WPT's LA Poker Championships. Here's a look at the final 18 heading into the penultimate day of play, courtesy of cardplayer.com:

1 Phil Ivey 1,543,000
2 Blair Hinkle 1,541,000
3 Phil Hellmuth Jr. 1,399,000
4 Nam Le 1,254,000
5 Michael Carson 1,029,000
6 Michael Watson 987,000
7 Charles Moore 921,000
8 WeiKai Chang 751,000
9 Quinn Do 695,000
10 Matt Brady 497,000
11 Jennifer Tilly 417,000
12 Jeffrey Schwimmer 413,000
13 Theo Tran 410,000
14 Scott Montgomery 386,000
15 Peter De Best 291,000
16 David Singer 285,000
17 Brian Taylor 228,000
18 Yury Parad 214,000

Neither Ivey or Hellmuth has ever won a WPT, and both have tried and come close more times than either would care to count. What's more, the two have an established history of massive prop betting, so you could see some fun interactions in that regard also.

As big a deal as those two names are, I'd be damn worried abotu Nam Le were I them. Ask anyone on the circuit to name the most consistantly strong performers in the game and his name is going to come up. Plus, he has a little experience with actually winning WPTs.

Finally, there's Jen Tilly. Jen's had her share of questionable TV moments in this game, but i can't help but admire the tenacity with which she's applied herself to learning poker over the last few years, and it shows in results like this one. Oh, and her making the final table wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for poker, know what I mean? Keep an eye on things today...should be a good one.

Gary Wise
gary@wisehandpoker.com