Mirage Poker Showdown - Season 3 - Jun 1, 2004

The first US based WPT poker tournament of the season was played at the Mirage Casino in the home of poker; Las Vegas, Nevada. This was the first WPT event held at the Mirage, and the high profile names in attendance were a sign that Las Vegas professionals love the action at one of their home casinos. 281 players entered the $10,000 tournament held July 29th-August 1st. A prize pool of $2.7 was created, with the winner taking home an impressive $1,024,574.

All six faces were familiar to the poker community as John Juanda, Scotty Nguyen, Lee Wadkinson, “Minneapolis” Jim Meehan, Eli Elezra and Gabe Kaplan sat at the final table. Some true world class play ensued consisting of great pre-flop laydowns, stone cold reads, and the ever persistent element of the bluff. “Minneapolis” Jim was the first casualty of the day, finishing in 6th place. Scotty Nguyen, who came into the day as the chip leader, could not seem to get anything going and after becoming short stacked pushed all-in with pocket sixes. Unfortunately for the “Prince of Poker” Elezra woke up with pocket jacks and eliminated Nguyen in 5th place.

Juanda’s fading chip stack forced him to move all-in with A-9, but busted in 3rd place after he lost his race against the pocket fives of Lee Wadkinson. Kaplan, of “Welcome Back, Kotter” fame, was eliminated next in 3rd, also by the hand of Lee Wadkinson.
Despite the momentum that Wadkinson held going into the heads-up match, Elezra simply came on to strong and overcame a chip deficit to emerge victorious. This was the high stakes gambler’s first World Poker Tour Title.