Event #8 - WPT No Limit Hold'em Championship Final Day Results & Report

Scotty 'the Prince' Nguyen is the big chip leader, with Michael 'the Grinder' Mizrachi in second place

Four days ago, the 2006 World Poker Open began with 327 players. Now, four days later, only six players remain. The World Poker Tour's championship event final table at the Gold Strike Casino-Resort is now set.

1998 world poker champion Scotty 'the Prince' Nguyen arrives as the chip leader. He currently has over two-million in chips. Closest to Nguyen is Michael 'the Grinder' Mizrachi, with over one-million. The rest of the pack trails with less than a million each. However, no player is severely short-stacked. This essentially means that it is still anyone's tournament to win. Although Nguyen and Mizrachi are rightly favored because of their sizable stack advantages and depth of tournament experience, all six finalists have played remarkably well over the duration of the tournament, which means the final table should be both exciting and unpredictable.

The six finalists will take their seats, as follows:

SEAT 1: An 'the Boss' Tran - Las Vegas, NV
Chip Count - 845,000
An Tran, a.k.a. "The Boss," was born in Vietnam. He has won one WSOP gold bracelet (in 1991) in addition to two major tournaments at the Legends of Poker and three at the Five Diamond Classic (Bellagio). He has been one of tournament poker's most steady performers for over 15 years and is now in position to earn his biggest payday ever. Tran is 35-years-old and lives in Las Vegas.

SEAT 2: Bau Le - Atlantic City, NJ
Chip Count - 645,000
Bau Le broke onto the poker tournament scene in 2004, when he won an event at the United States Poker Championship. Le also finished fourth in WPO event #2 here in Tunica two weeks ago. Le has survived a number of all-in situations over the four-day duration. He comes to the final table as the shortest stack.

SEAT 3: Raul Paez - Barcelona, Spain
Chip Count - 862,000
The only European at the final table is Paul Paez, from Spain. Paez won a gold bracelet here at the WPO in 2005, and then won another major no-limit hold'em tournament at the LA Poker Classic. Paez has played a good number of poker tournaments in Europe and the United States over the past year and is clearly evolving into one of the game's best performers.

SEAT 4: Gavin Smith - Las Vegas, NV
Chip Count - 774,000
Gavin Smith won $1 million at the World Poker Tour's Mirage championship, last March. Over the past two years, he has steadily become one of tournament poker's most consistent performers, with several in-the-money finishes and final table appearances. Smith, who has been playing poker seriously for about ten years, is originally from Canada and now lives in Las Vegas.

SEAT 5: Scotty 'the Prince' Nguyen - Henderson, NV
Chip Count - 2,144,000
Scotty Nguyen is the first player in WPO history to make two consecutive championship event final tables. Nguyen finished in fourth-place in this event last year, and now has the chip lead at the final table making him the clear favorite to win in 2006. Nguyen is perhaps best known as being the 1998 world poker champion, in addition to winning four WSOP gold bracelets.

SEAT 6: Michael 'the Grinder' Mizrachi - Hollywood, FL
Chip Count - 1,271,000
Michael 'the Grinder' Mizrachi has become a business conglomerate. The 25-year-old tournament pro from south Florida has been one of poker's top earners in recent years. His last major win was the WPT championship event at last year's LA Poker Classic, where he earned a nearly $2 million top prize. Mizrachi has been second in the chip count for three consecutive days. He is one of only two players with over one-million in chips and appears primed to win his second WPT event in less than a year.

The final table begins on Monday at 5 pm CST at the Gold Strike Casino-Resort, inside the Grand Ballroom.

Prize Money Distribution:

1st Place -- $969,421*
2nd Place - 566,352
3rd Place - 298,908
4th Place - 173,052
5th Place - 125,856
6th Place - 88,099

* The winner also recevies a $25,500 entry to the WPT Championship event at Bellagio in April and a gold and diamond WPO bracelet

Gold Strike Poker Room Manager - Robin Fisackerly
Tournament Director - John Nieznanski
Director of Poker Operations - Ken Lambert