Brunson’s poker tournament attracts top professionals

By Case Keefer (contact)

Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.

Cards are scheduled to be shuffled up and dealt in one of the biggest poker tournaments of the year this week at the Bellagio.

The World Poker Tour’s Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Classic, which kicks off at noon Monday and runs through Saturday, will bring all of poker’s biggest names for an event several consider one of the most prestigious tournaments on the circuit.

“As far as I’m concerned, this is probably third on my favorites,” poker pro Justin Young said. “First being the World Series Main Event. Second being the $25,000 WPT Championship. But this one being the end of the year, it always seems to add a lot of excitement.”

The buy-in is $15,000 and each player starts with 45,000 chips. Bellagio tournament director Jack McClelland said he anticipated a slight drop off in number of entrants from last year’s 497.

Then again, McClelland said, he could be wrong. Given the name attached to the tournament, entry numbers can be unpredictable.

“A lot of players play because they want to win Doyle Brunson’s tournament,” McClelland said.

This is the eighth year the WPT has hosted the Five Diamond Classic, but Brunson’s name didn’t accompany the tournament until four years ago.

McClelland said the reason was simple.

“We wanted to honor Doyle, who is one of our everyday players here at the Bellagio, in some way. This is the best way we could,” McClelland said. “He likes to win every chip at the table every time he sits down, so I’m sure he’s looking forward to this.”

Although Brunson has never won his own tournament, Young came awfully close last year.

Young played heads-up against David “Chino” Rheem for the title last year, but busted when he ran into Rheem’s pocket kings. He came in second and took home a $936,760 prize.

Young said it was one of his most memorable tournament runs because he made the final table after losing nearly 80 percent of his chips on the first day.

“I took about a half an hour walking around trying to get my head straight. It seemed like after I did that, some things started going my way and more importantly, I was more concentrated on the table and the people at the table,” Young said. “It was probably some of the most focused poker I’ve ever played.”

It would take a similar effort from Young to return to the final table in this year’s tournament. The field promises to be daunting with poker stalwarts such as Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu and many more involved.

But Young, who ranks in the top 100 in career earnings on the WPT with more than $1.1 million, said he felt prepared. He made the final table in one of the tournament’s preliminary events — a $5,000 HORSE tournament.

“I have one final table, I don’t have any results to brag about,” Young said. “But I feel like I’m playing real well probably dating back just before Thanksgiving. I feel like I’m hitting a good stride and feel like I’m going to break through.”

The field will be narrowed to a final table Friday and the remaining players will return Saturday afternoon to determine the champion. The final table will be televised on Fox Sports.

Young said as the Doyle Brunson Classic stretched on, players started to realize how special winning it would be.

“I don’t know how much it hits everyone on Day 1 or Day 2,” Young said. “But when you start getting closer to the final table, I think it means a whole lot to have your name attached to the most famous poker player in history.”