Gold Rush -
Season 1 - Nov 11, 2002
This early World Poker Tour final table included some great
talent including three WSOP bracelet winners (Phil Hellmuth
Jr., Paul Darden and Vince Burgio), future bracelet winner
(Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari), Tommy Garza
and returning for his second final table of the season, Chris
Bigler.
The buy-in for this tournament was $3,000, relatively low
for a WPT Main Event. 152 poker players entered the event,
creating a $456,000 prize pool. The final table was held November
11th, 2002.
After the early eliminations of Garza and Burgio, Antonio
Esfandari and Phil Helmuth mixed it up in a few pots, with
the Magician getting the best Hellmuth eventually eliminating
him in 4th place. Paul Darden had retained the chip lead for
most of the final table, and after some back and forth battles
heads up, Darden came out on top taking down the $171,000
first prize.
